ECOCIDE was first floated in the 1970s when, over a period of 10 years, 19 million gallons of powerful herbicides, including Agent Orange, were sprayed across the countryside in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos for the purpose of defoliation to eliminate cover for enemy fighters in jungle areas. After the war, the chemicals sprayed were found to have caused cancer, neurological diseases and birth defects in people living nearby in addition to defoliation of verdant jungles as well as decimation of species of wildlife.

Indeed, environmental destruction often occurs during armed conflict as in the 1991 Gulf War when Iraqi forces set fire to the oil fields as they retreated from Kuwait. It took years to rehabilitate the extensive ecological damage wrought on the country's ecosystems.