Forests for Peace: The Role of Forests in Conflict Reduction
Publisher: UN Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
Author(s): Thomas Woolnough, Jose Carlos Fernandez Ugalde, and Amanda Bradley
Date: 2018
Topics: Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Programming, Renewable Resources
Countries: Colombia, Guatemala, Liberia
Forests sequester carbon, support the livelihoods of 1.7 billion people and act as vital reservoirs for biodiversity. However, as a valuable resource, forests have frequently been the spark that ignites conflict among multiple stakeholders having divergent priorities for the same landscape. When one group — whether inadvertently or deliberately — withholds access to a forest resource or to the decision-making process from another user group, non-violent or violent conflict is more likely. Conflict can also lead to the inequitable distribution of benefits, disputes over land rights and access, and a lack of engagement with the forest management process. It is estimated that between 1970 and 2008, 29 to 56 percent of all civil conflict globally involved natural resources including forests. However, inclusive forest governance arrangements have the potential to contribute to peacebuilding and lasting peace in post-conflict zones.
Forests can also fuel violent conflict. An example of this is UN-REDD Partner Country Liberia, which experienced two civil wars between 1989 and 2009 that were fed by the extraction of resources including diamonds and timber. Following the end of hostilities in 2003, subsequent reforms targeted inclusive forest governance –- particularly community forestry –- as a key requirement to ensure lasting peace. The Liberian Forest Development Authority (FDA) has sought to strengthen forest governance, and is currently working with UN-REDD and FAO-EU FLEGT programmes as well as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and Liberia Forest Sector Project to do so. As part of this work, the FDA is launching a National Forest Inventory to better understand and manage national forest resources and ensure its effective regulation to reduce the likelihood of its use for intensifying social conflict in the future.