Geographic Overlaps between Priority Areas for Forest Carbon-Storage Efforts and Those for Delivering Peacebuilding Programs: Implications for Policy Design
Publisher: Environmental Research Letters
Author(s): Augusto Castro-Nunez, Ole Mertz, and Chrystian C Sosa
Date: 2017
Topics: Climate Change, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: Colombia
Of the countries considering national-level policies for incentivizing reductions in forest-based greenhouse gas emissions (REDDþ), some 25 are experiencing (or are emerging from) armedconflicts. It has been hypothesized that the outcomes of the interactions between carbon-storage and peacebuilding efforts could result in either improved or worsened forest conservation and likewise increased or decreased conflict. Hence, for this study we explore potential interactions between forest carbon-storage and peacebuilding efforts, with Colombia as a case study. Spatial associations between biomass carbon and three conflict-related variables suggest that such interactions may exist. Nonetheless, while priority areas for carbon-focused conservation are presumably those at highest risks of deforestation, our research indicates that forests with lower risk of deforestation are typically those affected by armed-conflict. Our findings moreover highlight three possible roles played by Colombian forested municipalities in armed groups’ military strategies: venues for battle, hideouts, and sources of natural resources to finance war.