Conflict-Sensitive Conservation Practitioners’ Manual

The manual defines conflict-sensitive conservation (CSC) as programming that accounts for the causes, actors, and impacts of conflict to avoid exacerbating tensions and to support peace. It outlines a three-step institutional process for organizations to adopt CSC—assessing capacity, allocating human resources, and developing guiding principles—and a two-step project-level process involving conflict analysis and the design of sensitive solutions. The manual emphasizes that conservation can inadvertently fuel conflict by restricting resource access, imposing economic burdens, or distributing benefits unequally, but it can also foster peace by addressing root causes of resource scarcity and creating non-threatening spaces for dialogue.

• Conservation activities can inadvertently contribute to violent conflict in three primary ways: by restricting access to key livelihood resources, introducing new economic burdens or risks (such as crop loss from wildlife), and creating an unequal distribution of conservation-related benefits.
• In conflict zones, traditional conservation disputes can escalate into violence when reinforced by prevailing social, economic, or political tensions, such as ethnic identity or income disparities.
• Conservation can support peacebuilding by addressing the root causes of conflict, such as environmental degradation and resource scarcity, or by rehabilitating ecosystems to help societies recover from conflict.
• Conservation interests can create a 'non-threatening space' for dialogue between conflicting parties, allowing them to interact based on a shared professional identity rather than divisive political or ethnic labels.
• To make an organization conflict-sensitive, it must first ensure minimal conditions are met, including leadership commitment, openness to change, support for staff development, strategic partnerships with flexible donors, and accountability mechanisms.
• The project-level CSC process involves a Conflict Analysis Workshop using three specific tools: the conflict tree (to analyze causes and effects), the conflict map (to examine actor relationships and power), and stakeholder profiles (to identify underlying interests and needs).
• Gender-sensitive analysis is essential because men and women experience conservation and conflict differently; for example, women may face increased domestic violence due to men's absence while guarding crops, but they may also be more effective at initiating cross-community dialogue.
• Monitoring conflict sensitivity requires comparing trends in the conflict (using an Impacts Matrix) with the implementation of CSC activities to determine if changes in the conflict can be attributed to the conservation intervention.

APA

Hammill, A., Crawford, A., Craig, R., Malpas, R., & Matthew, R. (2009). Conflict-Sensitive Conservation Practitioners’ Manual. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/csc_manual.pdf

Chicago

Hammill, Anne, Alec Crawford, Robert Craig, Robert Malpas, and Richard Matthew. Conflict-Sensitive Conservation Practitioners’ Manual. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/csc_manual.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hammill |first1=Anne |last2=Crawford |first2=Alec |last3=Craig |first3=Robert |last4=Malpas |first4=Robert |last5=Matthew |first5=Richard |title=Conflict-Sensitive Conservation Practitioners’ Manual |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2009 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/csc_manual.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hammill2009conflictsensitive, author = {Hammill, Anne and Crawford, Alec and Craig, Robert and Malpas, Robert and Matthew, Richard}, title = {{Conflict-Sensitive Conservation Practitioners’ Manual}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2009}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/csc_manual.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }