MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION

The Migration and Conservation Toolkit, published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in 2016, provides a four-phase framework for conservation practitioners to assess and address the impacts of human migration on critical ecosystems. The guide emphasizes a participatory approach to understand the links between migration drivers, livelihood choices, and biodiversity loss, offering specific tools for mapping, stakeholder analysis, and the design of migration-sensitive interventions.

• The toolkit provides a structured four-phase process to integrate migration concerns into conservation: Phase 1 (Getting Started) focuses on scope and planning; Phase 2 (Analyzing the Context) examines migration and conservation backgrounds; Phase 3 (Assessing the Impacts) analyzes links and stakeholders; and Phase 4 (Responding to the Impacts) identifies and implements interventions.
• Migration-sensitive conservation interventions are defined as those that prioritize stresses caused or exacerbated by migration, emphasize livelihood interventions to address pull factors, and treat migrants as a distinct stakeholder group with separate needs and capacities.
• The toolkit utilizes an analytical framework that connects three specific areas: the nature of the migration, its impacts on natural resource use and livelihoods, and the resulting impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity.
• In the Bale Mountains ecosystem of Ethiopia, migration was driven by a combination of environmental push factors (erratic rainfall, drought, pest infestations) and a political pull factor where local leaders informally allocated public land to increase the population to justify re-establishing Harenna Buluk as a separate district.
• In the Lake Albert ecosystem in Uganda, migration from the Democratic Republic of Congo is primarily driven by economic opportunities in the fishery, leading to overfishing and a dramatic change in fish species composition over two decades.
• In the Misotshi-Kabogo ecosystem in the Democratic Republic of Congo, migration is driven by the return of stability, family reunification, and conflict-linked displacements, resulting in the clearing of forests for farmland and artisanal mining.
• The toolkit highlights that gender roles and inequalities significantly influence who migrates and the subsequent impacts; for example, in Uganda, migrant women diversified their livelihoods by establishing businesses like restaurants and bars.
• The guide recommends using 'Migration Impact Chains' to visualize the causal links and feedback loops between migration drivers, livelihood changes, and ecosystem degradation, such as when forest clearing for agriculture creates further pull for new migrants.
• Conflict-sensitivity is critical when addressing migration, as interventions may trigger tensions between migrant and host communities; the toolkit suggests analyzing conflict dynamics to minimize risks and maximize peacebuilding opportunities.
• The toolkit suggests that GIS mapping should be used to support ground-level qualitative research, as satellite imagery can show canopy-level changes (like deforestation) but may miss biodiversity loss occurring beneath the canopy, such as from shade-grown coffee cultivation.

APA

Crawford, A., & Dazé, A. (2016). MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-toolkit.pdf

Chicago

Crawford, Alec, and Angie Dazé. MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-toolkit.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Crawford |first1=Alec |last2=Dazé |first2=Angie |title=MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-toolkit.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{crawford2016migration, author = {Crawford, Alec and Dazé, Angie}, title = {{MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-toolkit.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }