Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa

This report examines the impacts of human migration on ecosystems in the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa, focusing on case studies in Uganda, Ethiopia, and the DRC. It finds that while migration is not the sole driver of environmental degradation, it exacerbates existing issues such as overfishing in Lake Albert, deforestation in the Bale Mountains and Misotshi–Kabogo, and land-use conflicts. The report recommends that conservationists implement migration-sensitive strategies, including inclusive governance and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods for both migrants and host communities.

• Migration in the Great Lakes region is driven by a combination of voluntary economic motives and forced displacement. Voluntary migration is often linked to the search for natural resource-based livelihoods, such as fishing and farming, and is influenced by pull factors like market access and transportation infrastructure. Forced migration has been heavily influenced by armed conflicts and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burundi, with a significant portion of displaced people settling in rural areas, which increases the risk of biodiversity impacts.
• In the Lake Albert ecosystem of Uganda's Buliisa District, migration has contributed to the overfishing of the lake. The availability of cheap labour provided by migrants has led to a rapid increase in the number of fishing boats, exceeding natural population growth rates. This has resulted in a steady decrease in the size of fish caught over the last five years, particularly for the endangered Nile perch, and has pushed fishers to use illegal methods and encroach on breeding grounds.
• In Ethiopia's Bale Mountains ecosystem, specifically in the Harenna Buluk woreda, migration has driven significant land-use change. Local political elites promoted migration to increase population numbers to regain administrative status as a separate district. This resulted in the conversion of forests and grasslands to farmland for subsistence agro-pastoralism, with the area of land used for agriculture or settlements increasing by 385 per cent between 1995 and 2011, leading to forest fragmentation.
• In the Misotshi–Kabogo ecosystem of the DRC, improved security has led to an influx of migrants, including returning refugees from Tanzania. This population growth has accelerated deforestation, with forest loss rates tripling between 2006 and 2011. Migrants have introduced slash-and-burn agriculture and increased the harvesting of forest resources for charcoal and building materials, which stakeholders link to a reduction in wildlife.
• The report identifies several common themes across the case studies: migrants often provide economic benefits to host communities (such as cheap labour or increased political representation), but their presence is often facilitated by 'open access' resources and weak governance. Local authorities may ignore or promote illegal settlements due to these economic benefits, and the lack of formal protection for customary land rights can lead to tenure insecurity and social tensions.
• To mitigate the negative impacts of migration on biodiversity, the report recommends that conservation practitioners adopt migration-sensitive interventions. These include analyzing the differing needs of migrants and non-migrants, facilitating inclusive dialogue, integrating migration trends into land-use and conservation management plans, and strengthening the participation of migrants in natural resource governance structures.

APA

Dazé, A., & Crawford, A. (2016). Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/human-migration-ecosystems-great-lakes-region-east-central-africa.pdf

Chicago

Dazé, Angie, and Alec Crawford. Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/human-migration-ecosystems-great-lakes-region-east-central-africa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dazé |first1=Angie |last2=Crawford |first2=Alec |title=Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=January 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/human-migration-ecosystems-great-lakes-region-east-central-africa.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{daz2016human, author = {Dazé, Angie and Crawford, Alec}, title = {{Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/human-migration-ecosystems-great-lakes-region-east-central-africa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }