Climate Justice for Biodiversity Conservation Conflicts

Introduction

Management of natural resources has been confirmed by observing organizations around the world provoke conflicts when scarcity, poor governance, and unfair distribution of amenities constitute its procedures. These conflicts have, in turn, caused heavy impacts on biodiversity and climate change; most of which are negative and irreversible (IUCN, 2021). The climate justice movement seeks to minimize the different forms of conflicts ranging from socio-economic coercion to wars at stages where dialogue is effective. Poor communities experience armed conflicts over certain natural resources, and the commotions do not get reported; such situations have aroused an outcry for climate justice. The types of conflicts examined in this coursework include those between local communities and the management of protected areas for necessary resources, as well as communities versus nomadic cattle herders. Many communities will lose people and property from conflicts in over-developed cities if the voice of climate justice is ignored.

The problems associated with biodiversity conservation conflicts have been emphasized in this section in relation to its call for climate justice. A literature review of the theoretical framework and some concepts built around efforts made through climate justice to conserve nature will be presented in section 2. Relevant data will be accompanied by information that relates to various conflicts, as well as their impacts on climate change will be highlighted in section 3. Data analysis is done in section 4 to arrive at effective suggestions in using the theoretical framework for climate justice toward resolving biodiversity conservation conflicts. The complex patterns of conflicts connected to natural resources are a limiting factor in the availability of climate justice research. Section 5 will highlight findings regarding reputable ethics to conclude the coursework.

Literature Review

The approach to biodiversity conservation has continued to evolve through the varying interests and activities of people around the world. Deforestation has provoked confrontation in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa more than most other locations around the world where operators against plantation losses always clash with people practicing open grazing and orchestrating tree felling. ‘Conflict’ is a term used to describe occurrences of dispute that escalate beyond social resolutions (Heller, 2001). Conflicts contribute potentially to socio-political development by instigating investigations into causes, and it magnifies situations that seemed tolerable. The forests served people as locations for hunting, rearing cattle, and grazing sheep; these agricultural benefits made livestock farmers and woodland residents perceive coercion from lumber dealers. The demand for timber in Europe was at its peak in the 18th century when military equipment and socio-economic projects needed strong wood as raw material (Shama, 1996). The farmers mostly live a contented lifestyle and prefer to settle in a serene environment to raise livestock, but their villages quickly become EJ communities as deforestation threatens their livelihood.

'Climate justice' fully came into play around 1989 with Edith Brown Weiss's research work; the three directions that policies on climate justice handle include mitigation, adaptation, and impact control. Environmental activists and civil rights advocates have dedicated their voices to creating awareness on this important issue of climate justice (Tikka and Kauppi, 2003). The residents of affected regions have only a little confidence in governments since the many conferences on forest activities and biodiversity conservation conflicts have not accomplished a global treaty. Feminists also clamor for gender equality on climate change to begin with an end to intimidation and sexual violence against women who lend their voices towards climate justice (Hoare, 2018). Non-governmental and Private initiatives have corresponded to policies established for forest conservation right from the 1992 Rio Conference which instigated a decade of legal reforms on forestry in about 90 countries (FAO, 2002). These environmental policies have reflected encouraging impacts on the management of natural resources and conflicts, and they are accountable to climate justice. Some existing policies relating to natural forest conservation include Common Agricultural Policy, and Forest Focus which proposes an extensive community to monitor forest activities and address conflicts in biodiversity conservation. Economic growth influences forests with detrimental impacts (Larsson, 2001) that result from persistent industrialization (Hellstr and Reunala, 1995). The government and politically influential people are responsible for such heavy urbanization that force poor communities and farmers to migrate in search of habitable environments. A theoretical framework drawn from a comprehensive perspective of natural resources, social standards, and conflict management theories will serve climate justice effectively on the subject (Heller, 2001).

There are certain occasions when reforestation could lead to a biodiversity conservation conflict; especially if it is not properly planned and tries to replace a more beneficial ecosystem. This climate justice framework was suggested by E. Heller. I'm will help decision-makers to understand disputes from the dimensions of substance, procedure, and relations for better chances of addressing conflicts (Walker and Daniels, 1997);

Substance: This points to the identification of conflict through the types of biodiversity involved. This is usually a contention between natural and artificial ecosystems.

Procedure: This dimension focuses on how activities are done with regard to biodiversity conservation conflicts. Activities could include legal actions, planning and strategy for agitation, and how stakeholders enforce claims.

Relations: The type of interactions between the stakeholders is observed in this dimension of the framework; their cultural character is an important influence on their view of biodiversity.

Climate justice for biodiversity conservation conflicts will have to examine these three dimensions with the understanding that; firstly, stakeholders can perceive natural resources as cultural, political, economic, or social capital. Secondly, communities may interpret issues according to their social norms, so the situation needs to be defined relatively before establishing a collective opinion. Thirdly, theories on conflict regulations can combine consensus and conflict theories to accomplish climate justice.

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Case Study Background

This coursework is set around conflict situations relating to ecological conservation activities that demand climate justice for fair resolutions. There has been an annual record of up to 7,000 armed conflicts that have displaced nearly 70.8 million people including asylum seekers, internally displaced people, and refugees. The average number of annual conflicts over the past 30 years around the globe reaches between 4,000 to 5,000 (UCDP, 2013). Many of these conflicts are connected to limited natural resources and land use disputes that have resulted in more than 2 million fatalities according to Uppsala reports. Countries like Nigeria and Rwanda are recording their highest amounts of fatal conflicts recently with about 61 percent of deaths from conflict occurring in Africa. The fatalities from armed biodiversity conservation conflicts in South and East Asia is 12 percent while that of West Asia is 17 percent of the global record.

Data from a research paper on Cross River National Park, Nigeria revealed that 90 percent of respondents in the local community and 78 percent of Park staff recognize disputes between the community and Park management. Some of the disagreements were reported to arise from failed promises by the Park management in form of inadequate employment and lack of alternative sources of livelihood for communities located in and around the National Park. Another instance is the Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria where a study captured nearly 64 percent of grazing, 30 percent of hunting, and 6 percent of farmland encroachment in the Park. Conflicts in these areas have resulted in injuries and deaths especially since communities were made to give up ancestral wildlife resources and land forcefully when the conservation plan was implemented (FAO, 1990b; 1990d). The case of herdsmen clashing with farmers in Nigeria has stretched for years and affected states like Abia, Bauchi, Benue, Enugu, Gombe, Ibadan, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, and Zamfara among some others that may not have officially made it to public media. About 1,700 people have been killed in the herdsmen and farmers conflicts in Nigeria according to a report by Global Terrorism Index from January to September 2018. Other cases of similar conflicts in African countries include park rangers battling poachers in locations like Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zakouma National Park in Chad.

Displacements and migration have been recorded in large amounts from affected communities in the states and from Nigeria generally, increased insecurity is a major factor in the movements. Climate change is making natural resources like water scarce in nearly 43 countries around the world where some 700 million people suffer harsh conditions and migrate away from these economic challenges that trigger disputes. Women, children, and old people usually get seriously affected by migration and its resultant conflicts; this promotes a perspective of emergency on climate justice. The United Nations (UN) predicts that 70 percent of the world's population will settle in urban areas by 2050; so, vulnerable internal migrants will struggle for natural resources as climate change causes more scarcity. Nomadic cattle farmers in the East and West of Africa seek out water for their animals through seasonal migration, and they experience clashes with local farmers when their cattle eat up farm crops. The injustice which humans do to nature through aggressive industrialization, unsustainable lifestyle, and continuous conflicts is the basis of climate change studies; the damages heavily affect both environment and less privileged people. The unfair privileges associated with affluence on the matter of biodiversity conservation are a huge influence on the related conflicts. The discourse continues to grow through education and activism that expands awareness of the urgency of climate justice on the causes, processes, and effects of climate change orchestrated by biodiversity conservation conflicts

Critical Analysis

It is important to approach climate justice arguments with relevant evidence of unjust procedures in climate action. Some of the conflicts are activated by raping women and kidnapping children; these activities contribute to demands by feminists for gender justice in climate change. Unstructured conflict management aggravates the inequity directed toward vulnerable people living around scarce natural resources by depriving their human rights. This section will focus on the basic factors that influence conflicts in order to propose a framework for resolving disputes that arise from biodiversity conservation. The following technical, political, and cultural directions should be used;

Substance: The value in both quality and quantity of natural capital is relevant to monitoring this dimension of conflict substance. Primarily important indicators like a specific forest, landscape, and socio-cultural indicators can contribute to the substance of a conflict (Larsson, 2001). This direction is quite technical because it measures the conservation of natural capital by the implemented climate actions.

Procedure: Conflict management processes can be monitored through organizations and individuals in the local communities. This is a political direction where social capital is observed; (1) to implement climate justice using information from meetings, areas to become protected, funding, and extent of media coverage. (2) The observance will note the opinions of stakeholders on the productivity of conflict management, the probability of stakeholders' engagement, and correspondence. (3) The dedication towards mitigation will be monitored through policies, strategy changes, legislation, and stakeholder correspondence.

Relations: The cultural background of stakeholders involved in the conflict resolution process will be relevant to how climate justice is addressed. Stakeholders' relationships will be observed at the individual, organizational, and community levels.

This theoretical framework can be deployed to detect an imminent dispute, during an active conflict, and post-conflict. The people who would suffer the highest damages have to be protected through the process while the conflict is being resolved, and every stakeholder can be guaranteed that they will get a fair representation (Sovacool et al., 2019a).

Conclusion

The elements of biodiversity conservation conflicts are not easily identifiable, especially when climate justice becomes the context within which resolution is pursued. The case study data has been analyzed to establish technical, political, and cultural directions that the theoretical framework accommodates in the substance, procedure, and relations of conflict. The suggested framework in this study can be used to identify factors that instigate disparity between communities and conservation processes for environmental damage control, mitigation, and adaptation. It is clearer that threatened communities need to be prioritized for careful climate action to limit damages; policies, participation, and funding should encourage biodiversity conservation instead of concentrating on economic activities only.

Bibliography

1. Adetoro, A. O., Oyeleye D. O., and Henry M. Ijeomah, 2011, Causes and Impacts of Conflict on Biodiversity Management at the Buffer Zone of Old Oyo National Park, Oyo State, Nigeria, Viewed 19 July 2021