Peace on the ground, through ecological conservation

Jan 28, 2014 | The Jerusalem Post
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To Prof. Saleem Ali, transforming a slab of greenery sandwiched between northern Israel and Jordan into a shared ecological park would be nothing less than a rational step toward generating peace dividends in a fundamentally tense neighborhood.

“The commitment from the people is there,” Ali, a professor of environmental planning and Asian studies at the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

“If you would ask the average citizen if a peace park would be a good idea they would say yes,” he said. “But if you would ask them if it would practically happen, they would laugh it off.”

A preeminent expert on environmental peace parks, Ali is the editor of the 2007 book Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution, which considers whether environmental conservation can contribute to peace-building in conflict stricken regions.