Forests, Fragility and Conflict : Overview and Case Studies

This book provides a synthesis of key
themes and current knowledge about the links among forests,
armed conflict, poverty, and various aspects of state
fragility. The main themes addressed are: how predatory,
incapable, or absent states are fragile in different ways,
and their diverse relationships to forests and conflict; the
mechanisms by which forests facilitate or prolong conflict,
including financial flows from logging to state and
non-state belligerents, the use of forests as patronage, the
traffic of weapons by loggers, and the employment of
belligerents by logging companies for security; the impact
of conflict and fragility on forests and forest livelihoods,
with a focus on cross-sectoral issues associated with
managing forests after conflicts end; and the focus of
reform in post conflict interventions to more effectively
protect forests and forest-based livelihoods, and to
mitigate further conflict. Because forests have multiple
and often competing constituencies for commercial,
subsistence, and cultural uses, they are frequently at the
center of struggles over control of access and use. While
these contests can be widespread, they tend to be
nonviolent, or if violence breaks out it tends to be
localized. Indeed, the quantitative evidence shows that
countries with large amounts of forest (either in total area
or as a proportion of national territory) are no more likely
to experience civil war than those without forest. There is,
however, an association between the likelihood of conflict
and the size of the forest industry. And for countries
experiencing civil war that have other extractive resources
available, the abundance of forest increases the duration of
the conflict. This effect is heightened with increasing
accessibility of forest. That is, forests do not cause
conflict, and armed conflicts tend not to be fought over
forests. Instead, armed conflicts are often exacerbated by
certain aspects of forest use, especially when forests are
lootable (requiring low cost and low skill for extraction).