Western Sahara has been carved in two since the 1980s by a wall that Morocco built to hold on to territory it occupied in 1975. Fifty years on, the conflict remains unresolved and the wall – known as the Berm – remains one of the world’s most militarised borders. The region is the focus of a project at the University of Porto exploring prospects for biodiversity restoration. Joana Castro Pereira, a professor of politics and international relations, and postgraduate researcher Simón Pardo de Donlebún Versaci explain the history of the wall and its political and ecological risks.
