Sustainable international
development: conservation conflict
Hilary Homans
ACES conference: 24th August 2011
Overview
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•
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Sustainable international development
Population, consumption
Conflict as cause or effect?
Climate change - displacement and
migration
• Future research and action
Sustainable development
Social
Development
Environmental
protection
Economic
Development
Economic, social and environment process are inter-connected
Rio Summit on Environment and Development, 1992
Need to place people at the centre of development
Development is complex
Development does not fit neatly
into disciplinary boxes.
It requires a transdisciplinary
approach involving a range of
actors, innovation and
collaboration.
http://media.owen.org/Evolution/player.html
Over population?
Are conservation conflicts greatest
where population density is
highest?
2011
Map with countries resized according to the total
number of people living in each country in 2011 (based
on UN estimates) http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/wpcontent/uploads/2011/07/WorldmapperPopulationCartogram2011.jpg
Why do so many think that
population growth is an important
issue for the environment?
• We face many environmental challenges, but
the foremost is the risk for a severe climate
change due to CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
• Many think that population growth is a major
problem in regard to climate change. BUT the
number of children born per year globally has
stopped growing since 1990. (Hans Rosling)
http://www.ted.com/conversations/39/why_do_so_many_think_that_popu.html
Population and poverty
• Hans Rosling – “Only by raising the living
standards of the poorest, in an
environmentally-friendly way, will population
growth stop at 9 billion people in 2050.”
• The only thing that can change this is if the
poorest 1-2 billion do not get access to school,
electricity, basic health services and family
planning..then we may exceed 9 billion.
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth.html
Population and equity
• Over the next forty years, nearly all (97%) of
the 2.3 billion projected population increase
will be in the less developed regions, with
nearly half (49%) in Africa.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa in 2008 contraceptive
prevalence for women (married or in union)
aged 15 to 49 was only 22% and had hardly
increased from 2000 when it was 20% (UN
MDG Report 2011).
Poverty and inequality
• Trickle down theory does not work
• World’s richest 2% hold over 50% of
wealth
• Inequalities in access to resources are
increasing
www.chronicpoverty.org
Conservation and poverty
• Conservation in less developed countries is
affected by:
– high human pressure on natural habitats
– poverty
– low conservation education
– lack of integration of local population
Kanyamibwa, S. ‘Impact of war on conservation: Rwandan environment and
wildlife in agony.’ Biodiversity and Conservation 7, 1399±1406 (1998)
Over consumption
• Benjamin D. Hennig (University of Sheffield)
“Only the few living over their limit are the real
problem, not the many living from so little.”
• Over consumption and overshoot lead to
– famine
– resource conflicts and wars
– mass migrations
– disease and other human tragedies (Global Footprint
Network )
Food insecurity
• Historical data from more than 20,000 maize
trials in Africa found
– About 65% of current maize growing areas in
Africa would experience yield losses for a one
degree C warming even with optimal rain fedmanagement
Lobell, D.B. et al, Nature Climate Change,
1, Pages: 42–45 2011
Maize and total cereal production
(tons) in Zimbabwe 1980-2009
4,000,000
3,500,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
Admos Chimhowu, 2010
Maize
Total Cereals
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
0
1980
Tonnes (mt)
3,000,000
Resource conflicts
• Competition over scarce water and land,
intensified by regional climate change, are a key
factor in local level conflicts in Central Africa
Republic, Chad, Darfur & northern Kenya
• When livelihoods are threatened by declining
natural resources, people can:
– Innovate
– Flee
– Become involved in conflict
•
Natural resource
extraction
Dispossession of land for mining
environmental impacts
• Oil extraction Niger Delta
environmental degradation
• Inadequate distribution
of returns from resource
extraction activities
violence in Niger Delta (Mochizuki, 2004 and Watts, 2001)
• Oil wealth Nigeria dramatic health inequalities
Conflict & environment
• Political and ethnic conflicts (particularly in African
countries), significantly affect all sectors of human
society, the environment and wildlife.
• Main effects of Rwandan civil war on the environment
–
–
–
–
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destruction of wildlife (animals killed)
destruction of habitats by bombs
pollution of rivers and aquatic ecosystems
fragmentation of parks and reserves
dispersion and death of local environmentalists and
conservationists
– interruption of research and conservation activities
Kanyamibwa, S. ‘Impact of war on conservation: Rwandan environment and wildlife in
agony.’ Biodiversity and Conservation 7, 1399±1406 (1998)
Climate change
• Survey of nearly 1,400 species found
global warming is causing animals and
plants to migrate further up mountains
and away from the equator in attempts
to avoid the higher temperatures
associated with climate change.
Professor Chris Thomas, Science, 19th August 2011
Movements of animals and people
• Animals to higher plateaus
• People from inhospitable arid areas to urban
areas – “informal settlements” – urbanisation
the “greatest threat to humanity”
• Neglected zoonotic diseases & threats of
disease from rodents
http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/
zoonoses/en/index.html
Humanitarian situations
• Seriously undermine development and tend
to have a disproportionate impact on the
poor who cannot buy their way out of the
problem.
• In 2010, over 90% of disaster displacement
within countries was caused by climaterelated hazards, mainly floods and storms
• Many millions of people displaced annually
as a result of climate-related slow onset
disasters, such as drought
Flooding &
drought
Iridimi refugee camp - Chad
Flooding - Jakarta
Displacement
• Sudden natural disasters displaced 42
million people in 2010 (Norwegian Refugee Council,
2010)
• Conflict and persecution forcibly
displaced 43.7 million people worldwide
in 2010, the highest number in more
than 15 years.
Economic and social cost
• Ten Peacekeeping operations mandated by
the UN Security Council deployed to countries
where natural resources played a key role in
the conflict cost US$ 35 billion (half total
peacekeeping budget ever spent)
• Conflict increases women and children’s
vulnerability to gender based violence and
rape
Future research
Vulnerability assessments
• Determinants of vulnerability
– Elderly, women & children are particularly at risk
from impacts of agriculture and nutrition
– Ability to access commodities and labour markets
– Ability of communities to pool resources
– Access to information and population health
– Existence and effectiveness of national and
international policies to sustain resources and
livelihoods in vulnerable places (Barnett and Adger, 2007)
Consequences of livelihood
insecurity
Need to understand
o how people construct their livelihoods
o choices made when faced when change in the past &
choices likely to be made when livelihoods are
threatened
o local peace movements (Barnett and Adger, 2007)
Role of institutions
• “Ritualised practices that maintain social
cohesion and collective and peaceful
responses to changes”...ranging from marriage
to the UN (Barnett and Adger, 2007)
• Research needed into the capacity of States
and other institutions to protect livelihoods
and sustain peace
• Challenge in terms of State revenues and
company profits from unsustainable activities
e.g. more intensive extraction & insufficient
funds for livelihood protection& security
Good governance
UNESCAP, What is Good Governance?, 2011
Good governance
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Communication – open flow of knowledge
Democracy
Empowerment
Gender equity
Human rights
Governance
Governance assures that:
• corruption is minimized
• the views of minorities are taken into
account
• the voices of the most vulnerable in
society are heard in decision-making.
It is also responsive to the present and
future needs of society.
UNESCAP, What is Good Governance?, 2011
Government responses
• Burkina Faso, the Gambia and Mauritania
recognised security implications of
climate change and natural resource
conflicts in their national policies and
adaptation plans.
• Other countries reflected these risks in
their national security and defence plans.
Conclusion
• Need:
– good governance
– real commitment to poverty alleviation
– protection of human rights
– promotion of equity (including gender equity) and
social inclusion (dispossessed and marginalised)
– build capacity and capabilities of individuals and
institutions for global well-being and zero-based
tolerance for violence
Governance
Poverty alleviation
Social
Development
Environmental
protection
Economic
Development
Rights, equity, social inclusion
Future?