tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/virunga-national-park-28951/articlesVirunga National Park – The Conversation2022-01-16T07:20:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1749002022-01-16T07:20:07Z2022-01-16T07:20:07ZLakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo are contested spaces. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440734/original/file-20220113-8662-12c7wxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The lakes of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) play a big part in people’s lives – socially, politically and economically. But lake fishing communities find themselves at the intersection of geography, war and authority, as rebel groups and conservation managers also claim spaces and resources.</p>
<p>By some estimates there are over 70 armed groups in the country, led by warlords, traditional tribal elders, village heads and politically motivated resistance fighters. </p>
<p>Lake Edward is also a conservation area and park managers try to limit the illegal fishing there. This creates conflict too. People who live around the lake and depend on it for livelihoods have to deal with both rebel groups and park management. </p>
<p>In today’s episode of Pasha, Esther Marijnen, assistant professor in sociology of development and change at Wageningen University, takes us through her <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718521002712">research</a> on the topic. It’s important to get a historical perspective, she says, to understand why the conflict persists. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Photo</strong>
“The fishing village of Kavanyongi on the northern shores of Lake Edward” by Brent Stirton/Getty Images for WWF-Canon. Found on <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-fishing-village-of-kavanyongi-on-the-northern-shores-of-news-photo/455175811?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Music</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p>
<p>“African Moon” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174900/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Some lakes in the DRC should be thought of as rebellious landscapes having their own social, political and cultural dynamics.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/900452018-01-16T13:33:10Z2018-01-16T13:33:10ZAnimals are victims of human conflict, so can conservation help build peace in warzones?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201941/original/file-20180115-101518-1dgifzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">FCG / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 70% of Africa’s national parks have been affected by war in recent decades, and wildlife has suffered as a result. That’s according to a new study by researchers from Yale and Princeton universities, which looked at data on 253 populations of large herbivores from 126 protected areas in 19 countries across the continent. The study’s authors, writing in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25194">Nature</a>, say that frequency of human conflict was “the single most important predictor of wildlife population trends” – better than other factors like frequency of droughts or the size of a protected area.</p>
<p>They conclude by arguing that conservation initiatives can be a positive part of post conflict peacebuilding. This raises an important set of questions: how do we conserve wildlife effectively in a warzone? And what are the challenges of integrating wildlife conservation with a peacebuilding strategy?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201946/original/file-20180115-101514-14egyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An AK-47 wielding ranger in a national park in war-torn DR Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LMSpencer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Armed conflict puts wildlife at risk. Animals can be caught in the crossfire in a very direct sense, or they might be poached to feed armies and raise revenue to fund operations. But conflict also has more indirect effects, as parks departments crumble and enforcement efforts wane, leading to more poaching.</p>
<p>All this has meant that conservation has become part of post-conflict reconstruction strategies in several countries across the world, including in <a href="https://sustainablesecurity.org/2017/10/31/development-conservation-and-peace-in-post-conflict-colombia/">Colombia</a> and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00044.x/abstract;jsessionid=692325B40AAD1D36D6E40B204A9D0114.f03t01">Cambodia</a>. </p>
<h2>NGOs to the rescue?</h2>
<p>One solution lies in the creation of public-private partnerships, in which governments (to a varying degree) transfer the management of a protected area “under threat” to an NGO. The new park directors will typically be from outside the country (often white men) and are presented as “neutral” actors merely “enforcing the law” in a volatile landscape. The assumption is that such approaches will lead to well-governed spaces, which will have a positive trickle-down effect on political and economic outcomes in the wider area.</p>
<p>For this reason Virunga, a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo known for its rare mountain gorillas, is now managed by a British NGO, the <a href="https://virunga.org/">Virunga Foundation</a>, in a move part initiated and funded <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/QU9zQEgRNbJQqvjIqa6z/full">by the European Commission</a>. Something similar has happened with Garamba (also DRC) and Chinko (Central African Republic) national parks which are now run by the NGO <a href="https://www.african-parks.org">African Parks</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201944/original/file-20180115-101514-1xbofax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are fewer than 1000 mountain gorillas left, and most live here in Virunga.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">VUS photography / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea is that these separated areas can function as peace sanctuaries, or islands of good governance. Virunga in particular is often hailed as a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/congo/articles/gorillas-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/">success story</a> of a besieged park that has recovered since the Congolese state transferred management responsibilities to an NGO.</p>
<h2>Conservation is political</h2>
<p>Yet such transnational efforts to “save nature” have their problems. Though usually motivated by good intentions, they can become entangled within the complex dynamics of violent conflict. Conservation initiatives, including national parks and the wildlife within them, are not merely innocent victims of war, they are an inherent part of the warscape they are situated in.</p>
<p>As many national parks were created during colonisation, some rebel groups regard occupation of these spaces as a form of resistance, or a way to exercise and demonstrate sovereignty over territory and/or populations. Moreover, park guards and their managers are not politically-neutral agents. In the Central African Republic one <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2014/05/13/in-the-car-joseph-zindeko-and-the-seleka-are-here-to-stay-by-louisa-lombard/">park ranger who received paramilitary training</a> funded by the European Union even became military leader of the country’s Séléka rebel movement and was joined by many other foreign-trained park guards. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202081/original/file-20180116-53324-1cc3gyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lelwel Hartebeest: the Central African Republic is a key habitat for this endangered antelope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dmytro Pylypenko / shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In Virunga, the “new” management works together with the Congolese army, despite the fact the army has been <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/?23191/Worlds-largest-population-of-hippos-soon-to-be-wiped-out">accused of mass hippo poaching</a> in the past and has <a href="http://ipisresearch.be/publication/everything-moves-will-taxed-political-economy-roadblocks-north-south-kivu/">facilitated the illegal production of charcoal</a> in the park together with rebel groups. In order to protect the wildlife, local people were removed from the park in military-style operations. Not wanting to give up their livelihoods of fishing, agriculture or charcoal production, these people sought the protection of rebel groups to return into the park and as a result <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2016.1203307">deadly battles between rebels and park guards</a> became even more intense.</p>
<p>We also cannot assume that rebel groups are always hostile towards or “bad” for wildlife. While hippos have fared poorly at the hands of the national army, mountain gorillas have been relatively safe, even from rebel groups. In fact rebel groups in the DRC have offered their own <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/19/congo-rebels-gorilla-tour-insurgency">gorilla tours</a> for international visitors.</p>
<p>So, while the Nature study indicates that war is usually bad for wildlife, and that conservation should be part of post-conflict peacebuilding, this does not go far enough. We need to understand that wildlife protection is not a politically-neutral activity but rather something that should be seen in the context of the conflict. If this is not recognised then there is a risk that conservation will exacerbate armed conflicts and cause more harm to animals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosaleen Duffy receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esther Marijnen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Wildlife conservation is often part of the peacebuilding process, but there is a risk it can make conflicts even worse.Esther Marijnen, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of SheffieldRosaleen Duffy, Professor of International Politics, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/722952017-02-15T13:44:57Z2017-02-15T13:44:57ZWhy fighting fire with fire in DRC’s Virunga Park isn’t helping conservation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156548/original/image-20170213-23350-rl55gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A patrol post in Virunga.
Using the army to fight illegal resource exploitation aggravates conflict.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conserving nature in areas immersed in prolonged violent conflict is challenging. One such area is the Virunga National Park, located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The park management tries to face these challenges head-on with the aim of protecting Virunga’s rich biodiversity. In particular, the survival of the well-known endangered mountain gorilla is at stake.</p>
<p>It would be wrong to question the objectives, dedication, and sacrifices made by the park management and staff. Many rangers have lost their lives in the line of duty. But based on <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2016.1203307">our research</a> in the region, we have doubts about the effects of the park’s current policies on conflict and violence in the wider Virunga area.</p>
<p>As we show certain conservation practices – like strict law enforcement to combat illegal resources exploitation by armed groups – can inadvertently aggravate violent conflict. They may, for example, reinforce the links between populations and the armed groups on whom they depend for their livelihoods. This undermines conservation efforts in the long-term. </p>
<p>Devising alternative policies for addressing armed groups is no easy task. But as we discuss in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718516301993">a recent article</a>, there’s remarkably little debate on this issue. The media and policymakers pay limited attention to the effects of the park’s policies on the dynamics of violent conflict. In fact, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/nov/29/virunga-national-park-congo">dominant story line</a> is that the Virunga National Park contributes to peace building. But the reality on the ground is much more complex, as we discovered talking to people who live in the area. </p>
<h2>Battling armed groups</h2>
<p>A plethora of armed groups operates in and around the Virunga National Park. Their presence isn’t specific to the park: <a href="http://riftvalley.net/publication/understanding-armed-group-proliferation-eastern-congo#.WJmsMrGcZ0s">tens of dozens of armed groups</a> roam the eastern Congo, reflecting a militarisation that has become <a href="http://riftvalley.net/publication/stable-instability#.WJmsfLGcZ0s">self-sustaining</a>. But there’s a particularly high concentration of such groups in the park. </p>
<p>It provides cover and access to populations and natural resources needed to generate revenue. For instance armed groups are engaged in facilitating charcoal production, poaching, illegal fishing, and “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2014.993623">guerilla agriculture</a>”, or cultivation where it’s forbidden.</p>
<p>The effects of these activities on Virunga’s biodiversity are devastating. Illegal fishing contributes to the <a href="https://enanga.org/testimonies/lake-edward-crossroads/">rapid depletion of fish stock</a>, not least as it often takes place in the waters where fish breed. Charcoal production, for its part, is at the root of intense deforestation, which has grave consequences for the entire ecosystem.</p>
<p>But while depleting the park’s resources, thousands of people living in the Virunga area depend on illegal resources exploitation for their livelihoods. They pay armed groups to access the park and protect such revenue generating activities. The resulting links between people and armed groups complicate efforts to tackle illegal resources exploitation. </p>
<p>As we discuss in <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2016.1203307">recent work,</a> the park management tries to address armed groups by collaborating with the Congolese army. So park rangers conduct joint operations with army soldiers to push armed groups out of the park. As a result, conservation has come to merge with counter-insurgency. But this approach is counterproductive. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The park management tries to address armed groups by collaborating with the Congolese army, this approach is counterproductive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Clashes in the park</h2>
<p>First, the operations are not part of wider political and socio-economic measures to deal with armed groups. Thus far the Congolese government has failed to develop such measures. This means that the armed groups are temporarily dislocated, rather than dissolved. The result is a vicious cycle of attacks and counter-attacks between armed groups and the mixed units of park guards and army soldiers. This rising violence doesn’t only increase the insecurity of inhabitants, but also puts the lives of the park guards further at risk.</p>
<p>Second, the tensions sparked by the operations seem to drive people closer to armed groups, causing the park guards in turn to develop growing animosity towards them. Because populations depend on illegal revenue generation activities in the park, and no alternative livelihood activities are offered after the operations, people feel they have little choice but to solicit the protection of armed groups to re-access the park. </p>
<p>Third, the operations feed into conflicts over land, local authority and between different communities. In the Rutshuru area, for instance, <a href="http://groupelavenir.org/nord-kivu-le-torchon-brule-entre-communautes-hutu-et-nande/">tensions between Hutu and Nande populations</a> have intensified over the past months. This is partly due to military operations by the Congolese army against a Hutu armed group that operates in the park.</p>
<p>Any attack against an armed group alters the fragile power equilibrium between armed groups, allied elite networks, and associated civilian communities which often have the same ethnic background as armed group leaderships. So efforts to push armed groups out of the park risk setting in motion a chain of reactions that may spiral out of control.</p>
<h2>Dominant stories</h2>
<p>It’s widely reported that the Virunga Park is plagued by armed conflict. But this reporting often echoes <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/EthanBaron1/of-blood-and-magma-mountain-56388470">heart of darkness clichés</a> or simple storylines pitting bad guys (savage rebels) against good guys (usually the park guards and staff). These narratives are rarely accompanied by indepth reflections on the causes of the violence, which tend to be simply ascribed to <a href="http://enoughproject.org/reports/mafia-park-charcoal-syndicate-threatening-virunga-africa%E2%80%99s-oldest-national-park">resources plunder</a>.</p>
<p>Also, by stressing that Virunga is the <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/wildlife-watch-rangers-killed-virunga-national-park/">most dangerous park in the world to work</a>, it becomes <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tkq1t">taken for granted</a> that conservation has merged with counter-insurgency.</p>
<p>Attention to spectacular figures like the heroic park guards and evil rebels overshadows attention to the people living in or along the borders of the park. Their <a href="https://www.zammagazine.com/chronicle/chronicle-10/161-machineguns-in-the-mist">voices</a> are <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/09/militarised-conservation-threatens-drcs-indigenous-people-part-1/">rarely heard</a>. But their accounts give a different picture than mainstream representations and show how people are suffering under the rising insecurity. </p>
<p>Another reason why the park’s current policies aren’t questioned is that donors and the park management have institutional interests in diffusing a seductive <a href="http://www.africanconservation.org/wildlife-news/congo-s-virunga-national-park-announces-partnership-for-economic-revival-in-war-torn-eastern-province">“triple-win rhetoric.”</a> They emphasise that the park promotes at once conservation and development as well as peace building. This would prove that Virunga is an area that works compared with the rest of the DRC, which is viewed as a “failed state”. Such narratives of success ensure that aid, mainly coming from the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2017.1282815">European Commission</a>, and donations continue to flow.</p>
<p>The current park management is based on a <a href="https://virunga.org/who-we-are/">public private partnership (PPP)</a> between the Congolese state agency for nature conservation and a British NGO, the Virunga Foundation. The NGO has assumed full responsibility for the park’s management. As it’s a European NGO who supervises the park guards -– who moreover have received <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151014-virunga-women-rangers-mountain-gorillas-congo/">military training by former Belgian commandos</a> -– western audiences appear to ask less questions about the ways in which violent force is employed and how this affects conflict dynamics and people’s security.</p>
<p>So the blind spots in the complex interplay between conservation and violent conflict stem to a large extent from deeply rooted unequal power relations between the North and the South. These inequalities cause certain narratives, policy options and voices to be heard, and others to be excluded. This means that the decolonisation of nature conservation is a precondition for its demilitarisation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Verweijen receives funding from the Swedish Research Council and Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esther Marijnen receives funding from the Max Batley fellowship, University of Sheffield. </span></em></p>The Virunga National Park is home to many people living off the land. Clashes between the army and those illegally extracting resources is causing huge problems for conservation.Judith Verweijen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow Conflict Research Group, Ghent UniversityEsther Marijnen, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/618692016-07-06T03:36:55Z2016-07-06T03:36:55ZConservation efforts can’t afford to shy away from high-risk conflict zones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129063/original/image-20160702-18337-389wb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite ongoing conflict in the DRC, the number of endangered mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park has increased.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Between 1950 and 2000, 80% of the world’s armed conflicts took place within <a href="http://www.livescience.com/5315-wars-occur-biodiversity-hotspots.html">biodiversity hotspots.</a> These are places that contain unusually high concentrations of animals and plants. The correlation between biodiversity hotspots and conflicts is striking. It has complex beginnings, and gives rise to both opportunities and challenges.</p>
<p>There is a high prevalence of conflict in biodiversity hotspots for a variety of reasons. Biodiversity hotspots are often expansive areas of forest in remote places. Here, it is possible for militias to <a href="http://islandpress.org/book/state-of-the-wild-2010-2011">remain hidden</a> from government control. </p>
<p>Many of these hotspots also house valuable species that can be harvested to <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/the-illicit-wildlife-and-resource-trade-is-financing-militias-and-terrorists">fund paramilitary activities</a>, including those of some high-profile groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army, for example. This is a rebel group that is known to operate in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is believed to have <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tracking-ivory/article.html">acquired funds</a> from the ivory trade.</p>
<p>The isolated nature of biodiversity hotspots may also mean that the impact of the conflict is magnified. Refugees may be forced to rely heavily on natural resources for subsistence. This is demonstrated by the <a href="http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnadt022.pdf">deforestation of 113km²</a> near Goma, at the edge of the Virunga National Park in the DRC, after the settlement of refugees.</p>
<p>The potential for conflict to affect biodiversity necessitates strategic planning, active intervention and good management. Understanding the spatial overlap between <a href="http://www.livescience.com/5315-wars-occur-biodiversity-hotspots.html">high conflict risk and high biodiveristy</a> is important to achieve this.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mammal richness index and conflict
history map.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edward Hammill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Successful conservation is possible in conflict zones</h2>
<p>Conflicts and effective biodiversity conservation are not mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>The eastern side of the Virunga National Park – one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet – is home to the world’s critically <a href="https://virunga.org/">endangered mountain gorillas</a>. The area has experienced sustained instances of armed conflict over the past 40 years. Yet it has managed to sustain African <a href="https://wildnet.org/updates/new-protections-put-place-embattled-elephants-virunga-national-park">elephants</a> and seen an <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?206716/Mountain-gorilla-population-grows">increase in mountain gorilla</a> numbers, despite the conflict.</p>
<p>The most crucial factor in Virunga’s continued success has been the willingness of staff to maintain operations in times of conflict. Park rangers have vowed to continue working <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/12/africa/virunga-national-park-mountain-gorilla/">despite mortal danger</a>. Director Emmanuel de Merode, a high-profile <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhnGzaEOE34">conservationist, anthropologist</a> and Belgian prince remains dedicated to working within the park, despite <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27049627">an attempt on his life</a>. </p>
<p>From a government perspective, managing conflicts can reduce the relative priority of biodiversity conservation. During times of conflict this can lead to domestic spending being diverted away from conservation and towards military activities or protecting vital infrastructure. But during ongoing conflicts within sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan, <a href="http://www.iucn.org/content/rising-murder-toll-park-rangers-calls-tougher-laws">provision of resources</a> by the Wildlife Conservation Society, USAID and the United Nations Environmental Programme enabled effective biodiversity conservation to continue. It also aided rapid post-conflict development.</p>
<p>Providing financial support can also lead to positive outcomes beyond saving species, and in some cases provide a pathway to peace. This can be seen in the success of <a href="http://www.tbpa.net/newsletters/39_TB_BPG_-_FINAL_WEB_COMPLETE3.pdf">transboundary protected areas</a>. These areas can foster communication between separated communities, and provide a common goal that allows conflicting factions to <a href="https://biol420eres525.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/transboundary-protected-areas-making-peace-with-nature-melanie-c-berger/">work in partnership</a>.</p>
<p>Given the increased impact of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/20/armed-conflict-deaths-increase-syria-iraq-afghanistan-yemen">armed conflict globally</a>, it is prudent to explicitly account for this type of risk in conservation decision-making.</p>
<h2>Incorporating conflict risk</h2>
<p>The resources available for biodiversity conservation are limited. They must be used wisely. A basic requirement is data, particularly data that looks at where threatened species occur, how much conservation would cost in these areas, and what risks are associated with conserving those areas.</p>
<p>There are examples of how conflict data have been used effectively in the past. Several national-scale conflict risk maps have been created showing where conflicts have taken place before and where they’re happening now. These mapping exercises have been done by the <a href="http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Global-Peace-Index-Report-2015_0.pdf">Institute for Economics and Peace</a> and work led by <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233727516_Predicting_Armed_Conflict_2010-2050">Håvard Hegre</a>, a professor of peace and conflict research. </p>
<p>But conflicts are not distributed evenly across nations. The <a href="http://www.acleddata.com/visuals/maps/dynamic-maps/">Armed Conflict Location Event Data Project</a> shows how conflict risk varies substantially within countries. For example, the DRC has experienced some of the highest levels of conflict within Africa. But the majority of these conflicts occur along the eastern border, leaving a comparatively safe area to the west.</p>
<h2>An expensive process</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edward Hammill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/full/ncomms11042.html">High conflict risk areas in Africa</a> could be avoided entirely when planning and implementing conservation. But this will lead to the avoidance of many highly biodiverse areas, which is far from ideal. So if the placement of new African protected areas were conducted without accounting for the dangers posed by conflict, this could lead to losses that result in half of all species receiving <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/abs/ncomms11042.html">insufficient protection</a>. </p>
<p>Accounting for, and mitigating conflict risk is, however, a costly undertaking. A protected area network that would protect Africa’s 236 endangered mammals and <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/abs/ncomms11042.html">mitigate the effects of conflict</a> is predicted to be 50% more expensive than one that ignores conflict risk. </p>
<p>This 50% increase in costs would lead to 100% more conservation targets being met. This means returns on investment would be considerably higher. The funds required to conserve all 236 endangered mammals in Africa while accounting for the risk of armed conflict would be substantial, amounting to <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/abs/ncomms11042.html">US$9.1 billion</a>.</p>
<p>The key issue is that decisions around protecting biodiversity in conflict areas must go beyond simply avoiding areas perceived as being unstable. In Africa, opting simply to avoid conflict-prone areas would result in iconic mammals like the eastern lowland gorilla being essentially abandoned. </p>
<p>It is crucial to incorporate conflict risk into conservation. Understanding and incorporating conflict risk will allow managers to make informed decisions about the placement of protected areas and recruit rangers willing to work under these challenging conditions. Only through a continued commitment to long-term management will conservation in Africa’s conflict-affected, biodiverse regions continue to succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Hammill receives funding from the River Reclamation Commission (Utah), the Division of Natural Resources, the Utah State Legislature, and Utah State University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Tulloch receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hugh Possingham receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of the Environment. He is affiliated with the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and Bush Heritage Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerrie Wilson receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Department of Environment,
Woodspring Trust and the University of Queensland.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niels Strange receives funding from the Danish National Research Foundation (grant number DNRF96). He is affiliated with Department of Food and Resource Economics & Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at University of Copenhagen. </span></em></p>For the survival of iconic species in Africa, it is crucial that conservation efforts do not ignore conflict zones.Edd Hammill, Professor of Watershed Sciences, Utah State UniversityAyesha Tulloch, Research Fellow, Australian National UniversityHugh Possingham, Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, The University of QueenslandKerrie Wilson, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, The University of QueenslandNiels Strange, Professor in Management Planning of Forest and Nature, University of CopenhagenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.