The stakes for nature are high: Many of the world’s conflict zones are in places where biodiversity is highest. Conservation cannot happen without peace, but the role of nature itself in helping to broker peace is often overlooked. This is where Conservation International is leading the way. Through our Global Policy and Government Relations center, we are committed to fostering nature’s role in resolving conflict — for nature’s well-being and our own.
Why is it important?
— Wangari Maathai
Environmental Peacebuilding Training Manual
Conserving nature requires engagement with the local communities who depend on it — but conflicts can arise over competing stakeholders and priorities. If carried out with care, however, conservation efforts can actually encourage collaboration.
This manual is designed to build the capacity of Conservation International's staff — and other conservation practitioners and organizations — to better respond to conflicts arising from conservation initiatives and to capitalize on opportunities to support peacebuilding in local communities.
See the manualOur role
Our peacebuilding team works across Conservation International's field offices to integrate awareness of human rights into conservation to help create stability in places affected by conflict Through our work, we provide a range of tools for peacebuilding such as land-use planning and community-based natural resource management — creating space for dialogue, cooperation and collaborative decision-making over natural resources. We encourage best practices in environmental peacebuilding based on a “rights-based approach,” which promotes good governance and allows for participation of all.
Case studies
Africa
In Liberia’s East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR), Conservation International is using conservation agreements, a model in which communities receive benefits in return for undertaking specific conservation activities. The conservation agreements help to resolve disputes between government authorities managing the reserve and local people who use the forest for their livelihoods but who were not engaged when the reserve was established. Through the agreements, the ENNR is protected in return for investments in community health, education, infrastructure and jobs. Conservation International is working to expand the program as a model for sustainable development across Liberia.
Asia
Since 2010, Conservation International has been working with three conflict-affected communities in Timor-Leste’s Nino Konis Santana National Park to establish the first model of co-management for natural resources. Using tools to ensure that decision-making processes are inclusive and effectively promoting human rights, Conservation International is working to improve management of the park in order to boost local food security, fight climate change and improve livelihoods for local people. The process has helped reduce local conflict and foster collaboration.
South America
In the contested Cordillera del Cóndor region between Peru and Ecuador, Conservation International partnered with government and scientists to conduct a rapid assessment survey that confirmed the biological significance of the trans-boundary mountain range. This independent, third-party research helped put conservation on the peacebuilding agenda in this region. In 2002, the two governments signed a treaty to create a network of protected areas that called for coordination between national environmental and diplomatic authorities, as well as the strengthening of indigenous organizations and their governance mechanisms.
From the blog
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Activist murders reflect clashes over resource use
Berta Caceres at the banks of the Gualcarque River in western Honduras, where she led a prolonged protest against construction on the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, which poses grave threats to the local environment, river and indigenous Lenca people. She was murdered in her home in March 2016.
© Goldman Environmental Prize -
Reconnecting with nature in the shadow of war
Over several centuries, the people of Timor-Leste have experienced prolonged periods of war and armed conflict. This history consciously or unconsciously shapes the way in which we Timorese relate to one another and to the natural resources upon which we depend for food and livelihoods.
© CI/photo by Lynn Tang
Related content
Conservation International brought together staff from across South America to discuss the linkages between gender, conflict and natural resource management. Through sharing individual experiences, the exchange enhanced the understanding of these links and identified the best practices to use when creating integrated environmental peacebuilding programs. | Learn more at http://ci-intl.org/2a6SSx3 Follow us on: Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ConservationOrg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conservation.intl Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ConservationOrg
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Center for Global Policy and Government Affairs
Our lives are inextricably linked to the health of our planet. Conflicts over scarce and degraded natural resources are widespread. Conservation International's Center for Global Policy and Government Affairs was created to help address these conflicts.
© Sze Fei Wong -
Conservaton Stewards Program
Conservation International’s Conservation Stewards Program works with communities who agree to protect their natural resources, as well as the benefits they provide, in exchange for a steady stream of compensation from investors.
© Cristina Mittermeier -
Respecting human rights in conservation
Every person on Earth has the right to food, water and a healthy environment — and to participate in decisions that affect their lives.
© Benjamin Drummond -
Men and women: Partners in conservation
Men and women alike rely heavily on natural resources to provide households with food, fuel and water — but gender roles and culture are often overlooked in conservation efforts.
© CI/photo by Daniel Rothberg
