Mapping Minefields Around the World

The HALO Trust is an organization that specializes in the removal of landmines and bringing added transparency to humanitarian landmine clearance.

Angelina Jolie first learned about the landmine issue and the work of The HALO Trust while filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia and has since been an ambassador of HALO’s work, both visiting and supporting mine removal in various war-torn countries including Cambodia, Kosovo and Sri Lanka.

This time around Jolie teams up with the group to narrate tours of mine-affected areas, which are created for viewing in Google Earth software. Explore a Minefield shows how mine-clearance has allowed communities to rebuild their homes, land to be used for agriculture, roads to be re-opened and children to walk to school again safely. It also showcases minefields that remain in villages, which are yet to be cleared.

Funded by Google Earth Outreach, HALO uses Google Earth Pro in thirteen countries to produce maps for donors and NGOs, to collect data and create minefield surveys.

Founded in 1988, The HALO Trust is the world’s oldest and largest humanitarian landmine clearance organization with a clear mission of “getting mines out of the ground, now.” HALO has cleared over 414,000 acres of land and removed over 13 million landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

The tours can be viewed here.