Fauna & Flora has been magnetically drawn to many of the world’s conflict zones. The reason is simple: biodiversity is at its most vulnerable in these situations. Wildlife – and nature in general – is often the forgotten casualty of war.
Mountain gorillas threatened by armed militia in Central Africa. South Sudan’s national parks neglected and unprotected during decades of civil conflict. Ukraine’s rivers poisoned and choked by toxic chemicals washed downstream from Russia.
The impacts of conflict on nature are overwhelmingly negative, but the relationship between nature and conflict can also be flipped on its head and viewed through a positive lens. Here are five examples of how nature conservation can help prevent and reduce conflict.
© Juan Pablo Moreiras / Fauna & Flora
Ensuring the right people are included in decisions on nature
Poor governance and unequal distribution of resources is an acknowledged catalyst for conflict, particularly where those resources are scarce. Those pressures can be alleviated by:
- Ensuring that local communities are actively involved in decision-making;
- Achieving clarity on land tenure and resource rights;
- Recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples;
- Promoting gender equality and empowerment of women;
- Enhancing national coordination
Traditional leaders meeting in Sapo National Park, Liberia. From left to right: Stanley Juneweah, David Sarwonie, Prince Targben, Charles W. Klarry, Stephen K. Wiah, Nelson Kieh, Chief Emmanuel S. Wesseh, Victoria M. Seebae, & Sam Kergbeh. © Christian Cooper / Fauna & Flora
Where this has worked: Liberia
In 2023, Fauna & Flora played a key role in arranging the Liberian Conservation Area Land Dialogue, which reached consensus on a rights-based approach to the establishment of protected and conserved areas in Liberia, a biodiversity hotspot in West Africa. The groundbreaking Gbehzohn Declaration ensures compliance with the Land Rights Act of 2018, which means that communities who hold customary rights to land will be the central decision-makers regarding whether, and how, that land is managed for conservation.
Our work in LiberiaWestern chimpanzees, Liberia. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora
Ensuring sustainable use of nature
The overexploitation of nature, which can quickly lead to a shortage of the resources on which people depend for their livelihoods, is a classic cause of conflict. Conservation interventions can help to address these issues by:
- Establishing and strengthening management of protected areas including local fisheries;
- Promoting sustainable use of land, water and wildlife;
- Introducing environmental safeguards;
- Increasing agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change through agroforestry.
Where this has worked: South Sudan
Fifty years of political turbulence have devastated lives and livelihoods – and wildlife – in what is now South Sudan. Fauna & Flora has been a constant presence in the country since its independence in 2011, helping to reverse decades of conservation neglect. We have worked closely with communities and government officials to build bridges, defuse conflict and secure commitment to a shared conservation goal.
Peace through conservation in South SudanLion looking at a camera trap in Southern National Park. © Fauna & Flora / South Sudan Wildlife Service
© homocosmicos / Adobestock
Restoring landscapes and seascapes
It is possible – and necessary – to halt and reverse the destruction and degradation of the natural world. By restoring and reviving once-thriving landscapes and seascapes, we can reverse nature loss and develop nature-based solutions to many of the social, economic and environmental challenges faced by people across the globe. One example, the Great Green Wall initiative, aims to restore nature and promote peace in the Sahel region of Africa by creating a network of green and productive landscapes across 11 countries in one of the world’s most impoverished and war-torn regions.
Promoting peace across borders
Nature can be a uniting force that helps encourage dialogue and cooperation between warring factions or neighbouring countries that don’t normally see eye to eye. A shared interest in conserving economically valuable species and their ecosystems can promote peace-building through, for example, co-signing and joint enforcement of international agreements; transboundary collaboration to conserve species whose range straddles international borders or tackle illegal wildlife trade; management of shared marine resources.
© Michel Sakele Diawara / Fauna & Flora
Where this has worked: Mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif
The majority of the world’s mountain gorilla population is confined to the Virunga Massif, a chain of volcanic peaks that straddle the montane forest where Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo meet. These great apes wander at will, so cross-border collaboration is crucial to the success of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme that Fauna & Flora co-founded. In 2016, that cooperative approach was formally recognised through the signing of the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration, a treaty that has unified action for mountain gorillas and fostered dialogue between the states where they range.
International Gorilla Conservation ProgrammeMountain gorilla. © Camilla Rhodes / Fauna & Flora
© Juan Pablo Moreiras / Fauna & Flora
Sharing economic benefits
To succeed in the long term, conservation needs to ensure that action for nature on the ground is socially inclusive and economically viable. By promoting local livelihoods that benefit people as well as biodiversity, nature conservation can relieve some of the hardships that foster insecurity, discontent and a sense of injustice. Wildlife tourism, and the equitable sharing of the benefits it provides, is just one example of a unifying solution that helps to win hearts and minds, instil hope and a sense of collective identity, and build peace and security.