Why Illegal Deforestation Should be Treated as a Security Issue
Publisher: United Nations University Centre for Policy Research
Author(s): Adriana Erthal Abdenur and Adam Day
Date: 2021
Topics: Conflict Causes, Renewable Resources
The links between illegal deforestation, transnational criminality, and armed group activity mean that deforestation needs to be treated as more than an environmental problem – it is also a security challenge, not only in conflict-affected settings but also regions suffering from high rates of violence and crime. Illegal deforestation tends to be considered as a standalone crime, disconnected from other criminal activity and without victims and only occurring in low-income countries, but this is increasingly being contradicted by a growing body of evidence.
In many parts of the world, including large rainforest areas, environmental crimes are increasingly carried out by organized criminal networks, including of transnational nature, operating with a clear division of labor and relying on cutting edge technologies and machinery that allow for large-scale operations. Many of these criminal networks are also directly linked to armed groups that actively destabilize fragile settings around the world. Looking at the Amazon Basin and the Congo River Basin, the case for a climate-security approach to illegal deforestation becomes urgent.