Report

Conserving the Peace: Resources, Livelihoods and Security

In 2000, IISD and IUCN convened an international Task Force of leading experts to assess the linkages between environment and security and to begin converting what has largely been an academic debate into tools for conservation planning.

The Task Force subsequently commissioned a number of case studies from around the world that illustrate the linkages between environment and security.

By Mark Halle, Richard Matthew, Jason Switzer on August 26, 2002

Based on its research, the Task Force concluded that resource degradation and disaster largely affect the lives and livelihoods of the millions of poor around the world, especially those in indigenous and traditional communities. Loss of livelihoods, in turn, leads to social tension, migration and settlement in inappropriate areas, and often to conflict. It follows then that targeted investments in environmental conservation and the promotion of sustainable and equitable use of natural resources may be significant factors in mitigating disaster risk, reducing social tensions and avoiding costly conflicts.

The Task Force presented its results to the World Conservation Congress in 2000, to wide acclaim. The cases and their recommendations were published in 2002 as a book, launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

Publications

Table of Contents

Participating experts

Report details

Topic
Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding
Project
Conflict-Sensitive Conservation
Focus area
Resources
Act Together
Publisher
IISD
Copyright
IISD, 2002