Promoting Conflict Sensitivity in Transboundary Protected Areas

The document examines the complex relationship between protected areas and conflict, noting that conservation efforts can either fuel social tensions or be exploited by military groups. It specifically analyzes transboundary protected areas (TBPAs), which are often established in conflict-prone regions with the intent of promoting peace, but may introduce complexities related to national sovereignty and border inequities. The authors propose the use of Peace and Conflict Impact Assessments (PCIAs)—tools derived from the humanitarian sector—to systematically evaluate how conservation interventions affect local and regional peace dynamics. The paper concludes that because TBPAs are often self-described as peacebuilding projects, they require rigorous, ground-tested measurement tools like PCIAs to ensure they 'do no harm' and actually support stability.

• Protected areas can act as catalysts for conflict, particularly in economically disadvantaged regions where policies restrict access to livelihood resources or force relocation from traditional lands, often symbolizing legacies of imperial domination.
• Protected areas often play a strategic role in sustaining military conflicts because their remote locations provide refuges for guerrilla groups and their natural resources—such as wildlife, timber, and minerals—are plundered to finance military operations.
• Transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) introduce specific complexities, as international borders often mark where 'inequities surface and conflicts erupt,' and the top-down nature of their establishment can marginalize local communities and exacerbate inter-state disparities.
• Peace and Conflict Impact Assessments (PCIAs) are planning and management tools used to evaluate whether an intervention increases or diminishes the prospects for long-term peace, focusing on 'peace-added' or 'peace-reducing' value rather than just traditional project objectives.
• The implementation of PCIAs typically involves a multi-step process: conflict mapping/analysis (examining structures, actors, and dynamics), project mapping, assessing the impact of conflict on the project, assessing the project's impact on conflict, and formulating recommendations.
• PCIAs face conceptual and practical challenges, including the difficulty of attributing specific changes in a conflict setting to a single intervention and the logistical constraints of conducting participatory research in active conflict zones.

APA

Hammill, A., & Besançon, C. (2010). Promoting Conflict Sensitivity in Transboundary Protected Areas. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_promoting.pdf

Chicago

Hammill, Anne, and Charles Besançon. Promoting Conflict Sensitivity in Transboundary Protected Areas. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_promoting.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hammill |first1=Anne |last2=Besançon |first2=Charles |title=Promoting Conflict Sensitivity in Transboundary Protected Areas |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_promoting.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hammill2010promoting, author = {Hammill, Anne and Besançon, Charles}, title = {{Promoting Conflict Sensitivity in Transboundary Protected Areas}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_promoting.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }