Transboundary Environment Peacebuilding in East Africa and beyond

William John Walwa, University of Dar es Salaam, (Tanzania)
Claudia D’Andrea

Co-presentation from Tanzanian Political Scientist William J.Walwa and myself: Political economies around wildlife tourism, land investments, and hunting concessions in the context of climate change are generating deepening inequalities among the local communities and deep mistrust of conservation authorities. Our research in Eastern Africa found that national wildlife and conservation approaches and policies in biodiversity significant areas are mismatched across borders, failing to accommodate climate change impacts, driving rent-seeking behaviors and impacting wildlife populations, and affecting community livelihoods and attitudes toward conservation objectives. The many civil society organizations and private sector operators invested in landscape protection have been testing different approaches. Many international institutions contribute technically sound policy recommendations, but these recommendations fail to connect with political support needed to implement these policies. Meanwhile, local level struggles over land and climate-driven environmental conflicts over access to land and water points, wildlife trafficking, and increasing human-wildlife conflict are only growing. Alternative understandings of territoriality support resolution of complex transboundary resource management problems and highlight opportunities for meaningful local-level solutions.