Environmental Peacebuilding Skills Building Session: Conflict Analysis

At Conservation International (CI), we believe people need nature to thrive. Successful biodiversity conservation is a complex endeavor, hinging on women and men sustainably managing lands and natural resources. For 30 years,... [ view full abstract ]

At Conservation International (CI), we believe people need nature to thrive. Successful biodiversity conservation is a complex endeavor, hinging on women and men sustainably managing lands and natural resources. For 30 years, CI has delivered successful conservation outcomes by empowering rural Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to responsibly and sustainably care for nature. Through partner communities, we work with men and women at all scales to strengthen their voices to advocate for conservation and the myriad benefits for humanity. CI and partners aims to foster effective, locally-led governance of biodiversity and equitable access to and sharing of nature’s benefits.

At the community level, conflict is a significant threat to men, women and children who rely on natural resources for their very survival. Environmental degradation has been directly used as a weapon of war, ecosystems have been physically destroyed or polluted, natural assets have been liquidated by local and displaced populations attempting to survive socio-economic disruption, and environmental management, oversight and enforcement structures have collapsed. These impacts from conflict pose significant risks to the communities’ health, livelihoods and security.

This workshop for community leaders and members will develop and implement skills in conflict analysis and consensus-building. It will increase awareness of multiple dimensions of conflict in natural resource management, and community members will build basic skills in mapping root causes of conflict through case study exercises focused on forest communities in Bolivia and Peru. This will include gender-sensitive analysis and discussion. Participants will leave with a better understanding of how to talk about conflict in their communities and begin to address the underlying causes of the conflict.

The workshop includes an overview presentation on existing approaches to environmental peacebuilding initiatives for communities, followed by a skills building session on conflict analysis. Community members will break into small groups to work through a conflict analysis case study to answer a series of questions about root causes and identify stakeholders key to community-based solutions. Finally, participants will have a brief discussion about next steps to refine these tools for community-led sustainable development.

Partners:

• Conservation International (United States of America, Peru, Bolivia)
• United Nations Environment  

·         Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy 2013-2016

·         IUCN Gender Adviser Office