Conservation work in conflict zones and across international borders has impacts on more than just wildlife populations and their habitats. It can also have a profound effect on the peace and conflict dynamics in a region. This report details how while the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) in the Virunga-Bwindi region in Rwanda implements activities with the primary objective of conserving mountain gorilla populations and habitat, anecdotal evidence suggests that these activities have also improved communication and dialogue among different authorities in the region. This has thereby fostered relationships and cooperation that are fundamental to peacebuilding. Conversely, decades of experience have shown that conservation interventions can cause tensions and contribute to conflict. This is especially portentous in conflict zones, where any external intervention can unintentionally fuel tensions and conflict by sending the ‘wrong’ message or entrenching perceived inequities.
This document provides a systematic understanding of how IGCP conservation and development activities affect peace and conflict dynamics in the Great Lakes region. The emergent and adaptive research process outlined here resulted in three case studies on the links between conservation, peace and conflict, as well as lessons on the methodology itself. The authors find that the peace impacts were mostly associated with the fostering of communication and cooperation at different levels, which provide a basis for trust-building and construction of shared identities around conservation issues. The conflict impacts were related to the potential for inadvertently emphasizing politically sensitive differences among groups, trade-offs between peacebuilding at different levels or between conservation and peace/conflict interests, and perceived inequities. Additional points raised include:
- the conservation actors interviewed all agreed that joint or mixed patrols were useful and effective, particularly for catching poachers, and should be continued as part of the regional approach to gorilla conservation;
- replacing mixed patrols with coordinated patrols, some of the peacebuilding mechanisms at the field-level have been sacrificed in favour of peacebuilding considerations at a higher, state-sanctioned level;
- in addition to considering the peace/conflict impacts of adjusting the modalities of transboundary surveillance patrols, one must also look at the limitations of this activity.
