Local Lessons for Environmental Peacebuilding: Campesino–Conservation Conflicts in Colombia

Beth Sua Carvajal, WWF Colombia (Colombia)

Environmental peacebuilding (EPB) has become an important framework for understanding how environmental cooperation can contribute to peace. Yet, its application in grassroots, intrastate conflicts are still in its early stages of exploration. This thesis examines tensions between campesino communities and conservation areas in Colombia, where overlapping histories of armed conflict, land inequality, and biodiversity protection converge. Drawing on interviews, focus groups, and public forums, the study applies the EPB framework to analyze stakeholder strategies. Findings reveal that while technical and sustainable strategies—such as conservation agreements and participatory planning—are prevalent, restorative approaches tied to rights, justice, and reconciliation remain underdeveloped. This imbalance highlights a critical gap in EPB’s current design, which often privileges technical solutions over social and legal dimensions of peace. By foregrounding local perspectives, the study calls for a reimagined EPB that is more inclusive, rights-based, and attentive to the lived realities of communities in conservation frontiers.