Forest and conflicts seminar Wednesday 12.12.2012 The House of Science and Letters, Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki

1. Forest and conflicts seminar Wednesday 12.12.2012 The House of Science and Letters, Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki Forests and conflicts:Improving forest conflict management and governance tools, based on a global to local understanding of its core issues Pradipta Halder, DSc (Agri & For) Javier Arevalo, DSc (Agri & For) Yohama Puentes, MSc(Agri & For) Blas Mola-Yudego, DSc (Agri & For)

2. Presentationoutline • Background • Objectives • Methodology • Key findings • Discussions/policy implications/ways forward • Conclusions

3. Conflicts and forest conflicts • Global spread of forest conflicts • Categorization of forest conflicts • Conflict intensity and stages Background

4. Conflicts and forest conflicts • ”(Social) conflict is a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the claims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure or eliminate their rival” (Coser, 1956) • Interaction between parties, clash of interests, one party may experience damage from the other, violence • In conflicts related to NRM, not only natural resources but status, values, power, and identity are often at stake (Koning et al., 2007)

5. Forest conflicts • Forest conflicts are a broader natural resource management conflicts, dynamic (ever-changing) • The definition of forest conflicts is often vague bacause of the nature of forest and related conflicts (Hellström, 2001; Yasmi, 2007) • According to the World Bank (2003), “the failure to integrate and adapt legal forms of land and resource tenure with the reality of local livelihood practices almost invariably leads to conflict” • For the study, the conflict type has been defined as the issue at the core of the conflict(Mola-Yudego and Gritten, 2010)

6. Global spread of forest conflicts • Roughly 2/3rd of Africa’s forests, 3/4th of Asia’s forests, and 1/3rd of Latin America’s forests are located in countries that have experienced violent conflicts in the past 20 years (Kaimowitz and Faune, 2003) • 12 of 27 countries in Asia/Near East are affected (Schweithelm, 2007) • Different socio-economic and environmental drivers of forest conflicts in different countries and in different regions within a country(Yasmi et al., 2006) • Quantification is challenging since only violent conflictsare most of the time reported in the media • Database of forest conflicts – 335 forest conflicts worldwide in terms of type and location (Mola-Yudego and Gritten, 2010)

7. Global spread of forest conflicts N=300, Mola-Yudego and Gritten, 2010

8. Forest conflict hotspots according to focus of (a) environmental NGOs (a) and (b) academic publications (a) (b) Dark red and blue shows the higher concentration of forest conflicts reported (hotspots). Lines represent a reasonably high level of concentration of conflicts(Mola-Yudego and Gritten, 2010)

9. Categorization of forest conflicts Mola-Yudego and Gritten (2010)

10. Conflict intensity and stages Adapted from Engel and Korf (2005)

11. Analyzing forest conflicts from some selected countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America • - reasons for the conflicts, identification of key stakeholders and their roles, conflict management strategies • Developing practical tools to identify conflicts based on a wide range of socio-economic and environmental indicators • Recommending possible conflict management strategies for national and international organizations • Identifying implications for the Finnish Development Cooperation in forest conflict management in partner countries (also for non-partner countries) Objectives of the study

12. Selection of the study areas • Sourcing of data • Quantitative and qualitative analysis Methodology

13. Selection of the conflicts Oil palm conflicts in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia Biofuel conflict in Tana Delta District, Kenya Plantations conflict in Niassa Province, Mozambique Conservation and local communities’ rights related conflicts in Mecuburi Forest Reserve, Mozambique Conflicts in the Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal Conflicts in the Bosawás National Reserve in Nicaragua Conflicts over resource extraction in the Imataca Forest Reserve in Venezuela • Representative sample of countries with forest conflicts • Covering Africa, Asia, and Latin America • Conflicts of different types (core issues in focus) • Both old and new conflicts • Availability of data

14. Sourcing of data Following the methodology of previous studies (Mola-Yudego and Gritten, 2010; Gritten and Mola-Yudego, 2010, 2011) Constructing of a database of the selected forest conflicts using academic sources, international forest organizations, and ENGO reports Using key words such as conflicts, Royal Chitwan National Park, forest, Nepal………. Content analysis Forest conflicts

15. Quantitative analysis of the conflicts • Main objective was to use ‘suitable indicators’ of ‘conflict areas’ that can be used for predicting future forest related conflicts • Socio-economic and environmental variables used as indicators (Environmental Performance Index; Biodiversity Protection Index; Environmental Health Index; Ecosystem Protection Index; GDP/capita; Corruption Perception Index; Percentage of forest land; Democracy Index; Political Rights; Civil Liberties; Press Freedom; Human Development Index • Factor Analysis of the variables (Principal Component Method), k-means cluster method • Mapping exercise to identify the conflicts according to their location with respect to their economic cores • ‘Hotspot’ analysis using geostatistical methods to analyze conflict locations

16. Key findings

17. Conflict groups Four main groups of conflicts were identified: • Modern conflicts in countries with high indices of both development and overall governance (not relevant in the present study) • Land use conflictsin countries with overall poor governance, and medium development, and medium forest relevance • Preservation conflictsin countries with higher development indices and medium levels of governance • Raw materials conflicts in countries with low level of development, poor governance but abundant forest resources

18. Descriptors of the countries in terms of development, governance, and forest-relevance The points on the left (a and c) correspond to the location of the countries studied versus the axis. The grey circles (b and d) on the right correspond to other countries with on-going forest conflicts, and the size refers to the number of conflicts documented.

19. Probability of conflict occurrence based on Hotspot analysis Conflicts near conflictive areas (as defined) and with low indices of development and governance are candidates for escalation and those indices can help identifying them and predicting potential consequences

20. Analysis of the selected conflicts

21. Conflicts over Oil palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra Large-scale Oil palm plantations took place in the 80’s and 90’s – food and cosmetics industries were main drivers Recent ‘Biodiesel boom’ and Indonesia’s aim to be a major global player (26 million ha by 2025 from current 8 million ha) In addition to severe environmental problems, social problems related to land rights and abuse of human rights from oil palm plantations Perhaps one of the most widely covered forest conflicts by media, ENGOs, and academia

22. Underlying causes of the Oil palm conflicts Forceful land grabbing of indigenous and local communities – both forest and agricultural land Large-scale Oil palm plantations starting in 80’s and 90’s Weak customary land rights Support by GoIN (Suharto regime), both domestic and international Oil palm companies involved Emergence of conflicts - intensity increased after the end of Suharto’s regime Attempt by new GoIN to resolve conflicts and wipe out corruption, economic crisis of 1997-98 slowed down Oil palm plantations Conflicts became violent in many places, use of police force and torture against indigenous and local communities Biodiesel boom and chances of renewed conflicts

23. Involvement of stakeholders and conflict management strategies Stakeholders Indigenous and local communities Governmental organizations within IN Governmental organizations outside IN (EU countries, USA, New Zealand) Oil palm companies – local and international (Wilmar Group) RSPO ENGOs – Greenpeace, FoE Conflict management strategies Practically no conflict management strategy adopted by Suharto’s regime After Suharto’s regime the government attempted to resolve some of the conflicts but with less success Land tenure issues are still contentious Potential conflicts due to biodiesel expansion if not managed properly

24. Conflicts over biofuel crops in Tana Delta District, Kenya Tana Delta is the second most important estuarine and deltaic ecosystem in Eastern Africa (designation of 6th Ramsar Site of Kenya in October 2012) Canadian Bedford Fuel company initiated the establishment of Jatropha plantation in 2011 on 164000 ha land by taking lease from various local owners Although the project got support from local farmers belonging to the ethnic Pokomo group, ‘squatters’ and nomadic pastoralists were opposing RSPB concerns over environmental damage due to the biofuel plantations Conflicts arising from competing land use claims

26. Underlying causes of the Tana Delta conflict Establishment of Jatropha plantation by Bedford Fuel Existing conflicts between different ethnic groups over use of resources, extreme poverty Emergence of new conflicts involving the Pokomos, squatters, and pastoralists over Bedford’s proposed biofuel plantations – issues of land grabbing and loss of livelihoods RSPB’s claim over the damage to the environment because of the biofuels plantations Supported by other ENGOs

27. Involvement of stakeholders and conflict management strategies Stakeholders Indigenous and local communities Governmental organizations in KE (local disctrict admn., NEMA) Bedford Fuel Company RSPB, Birdlife, Nature Kenya Conflict management strategies NEMA suspended two Directors for awarding licenses to Bedford Fuel Setting up of inter-ministerial working group for managing all the deltas in KE NEMA advised the GoKE to halt the plantation of biofuel crops in the Tana Delta region Launching of Tana Delta Planning Initiative involving various stakeholders in Sept 2011 However, Bedford moved on with the plantation project Mostly ad-hoc and no systematic approach

28. Conflicts over plantations in Niassa Province, Mozambique • Large-scale plantation projects by companies in Niassa Province – most controversial being the one by the Chikweti Forests Company • Chikweti is created by the Global Solidarity Forest Fund, received funding from Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands • Niassa Province is important in terms of biodiversity but at the same time the province is the poorest in MZ • Conflicts started over land tenures, also doubts over the benefits from the plantation projects • First media coverage of the conflict in Dec 2011 in the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant

29. Underlying causes of the Niassa conflict Without proper consultation with the local communities Speed in securing land deals by the companies to get profits within short time Putting pressure on district administration and local chiefs by GoMZ to rush through consultation and approvals Emergence of conflicts – burning of plantations by angry locals Existing land tenure issues

30. Involvement of stakeholders and conflict management strategies Stakeholders Local communities Governmental organizations in MZ Companies and foreign investors NGOs and ENGOs Conflict management strategies Obtaining FSC certification and contribution to the CSR side by Chikweti Re-examining the large existing land concessions and cancelling some of them by the Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Environmental Assessment for the whole Niassa Province with funding from SIDA is planned New zoning of the province to be completed in 2013 GoMZ is divided over large-scale foreign investments in the forestry and agricultural sector

31. Conflicts over local communities’ rights in Mecuburi Forest Reserve, Mozambique Conservation efforts in the MFR by the GoMZ Exclusion of local communities from management of MFR Complex land-tenure systems, ineffective policies, lack of local institutions Emergence of conflicts Main stakeholders: local communities (farmers), governmental institutions, small merchants, political parties, NGOs and ENGOs, international organizations

32. Conflicts over conservation efforts in the Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal Establishment of the RCNP in 1973 High biodiversity area Original settlers of Terai were indigenous Tharus – later dominated by the migrants from the hill areas Restriction of local communities to the park due to conservation efforts Forceful relocation of the Tharus and others from the RCNP area Emergence of violent conflicts One of the most widely studied forest conflicts

33. Underlying causes of the RCNP conflicts Large-scale deforestation in the Terai for human settlement Influx of people from hilly regions Indigenous Tharus became the minority in the Terai 1950s Nationalization Act of 1957 – complete monopoly of the state over commercial profits from forests Nationalization Act of 1957 – complete monopoly of the state over commercial profits from forests Nationalization Act of 1957 – complete monopoly of the state over commercial profits from forests Nationalization Act of 1957 – complete monopoly of the state over commercial profits from forests Encroachment upon forests by Tharus and local communities Encroachment upon forests by Tharus and local communities Encroachment upon forests by Tharus and local communities Encroachment upon forests by Tharus and local communities 1960s 1960s Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Creation on RCNP, forceful resettlement of the Tharus without providing adequate compensation Violent conflicts erupted, deployment of army in the RCNP Violent conflicts erupted, deployment of army in the RCNP Violent conflicts erupted, deployment of army in the RCNP Violent conflicts erupted, deployment of army in the RCNP Violent conflicts erupted, deployment of army in the RCNP Violent conflicts erupted, deployment of army in the RCNP Possibility for new conflicts Possibility for new conflicts Possibility for new conflicts 1970-now 1970-now

34. Involvement of stakeholders and conflict management strategies Stakeholders Tharus and other local communities Governmental organizations – DNPWC, Army ENGOs – IUCN, WWF International bodies such as the UNDP Local politicians Conflict management strategies Decentralization of Forest Control Act of 1976 Grass Cutting Programme in 1976 Parks and People Project of 1994 Buffer Zone Management Act of 1996 Plan for handing over management of conservation areas to grassroots organizations other than the CFOs

35. Conflicts over violation of indigenous rights in the Bosawás Reserve, Nicaragua • Bosawás Reserve is a hilly tropical forest area and a UNESCO Biospehere Reserve • Acronym formed from the first letters of the Bocay River, the Saslaya Mountain, and the Waspuk River • The area used to be inhabited by the indigenous Mayangna communities • The Bosawás conflict was an example of conflicts over property rights when such rights were poorly defined • The conflict also involved some of the most ‘complex’ issues – land rights, wars, conservation, development, etc.

36. Underlying causes of the Bosawásconflicts “The struggle to control the exploitation of natural resources in the Reserve area; financing the war activities of rebellions through the exploitation of natural resources from the Reserve; and abundance of natural resources in a remote area with poor land rights of the people living there” David Kaimowitz, 2002

37. Underlying causes of the Bosawásconflicts Settlement of people after the ‘Contra War’ in Bosawás, original settlers were deprived of their lands Harrison-Altamirano Treaty of 1905 – issues with land allocation to theMayangna communities Creation of Bosawás Reserve in 1991 without any clear management plan and consultation with indigenous local communities Colonization of land by the Mestizos in Bosawás in 1960s Bosawás Reserve conflict Distribution of land by Sandinista govt. to people not belonging to Bosawás Restriction of indigenous people to access the resources in the Bosawás Reserve, exploitation by mining communities Starting of the ten year ‘Contra War’ in 1980 and displacement of Mayangna and other communities from Bosawás Three armed conflicts during 1991-2000 over the land tenure issues in Bosawás

38. Involvement of stakeholders and conflict management strategies Stakeholders Indigenous and local communities Governmental organizations – MARENA (Ministry for Natural Resources and the Environment) and INAFOR (Forestry Institute) International organizations and ENGOs – GTZ, TNC Rebel groups Conflict management strategies The creation of the reserve was without consultation with the indigenous and local communities – less attention to the conflicts due its remote location and a weak government at the centre Land use planning under pressure from GTZ and TNC Granting of land rights to the indigenous communities in 2005 and the resolving the conflict

39. Conflicts over resource extraction, preservation and indigenous rights in Imataca Forest Reserve, Venezuela IFR was created in 1961-mainly for commercial exploitation of the forest IFR is an important site for biodiversity in VE – one of the last freshwater and forest reserves in the world In addition to high biodiversity, there are also precious minerals deposited in the IFR Resource extraction and conserving forests in the Reserve have led to conflicts

41. Underlying causes of the IFRconflicts Mining and logging concessions were given simultaneously Nationalization of the gold industry without any public debate- loss of job among local people Land use zoning plan (1997) divided IFR in two parts – conservation was given less priority Illegal mining by Brazilian and Guyanese miners caused much damage to the indigenous people IFR conflicts Increase in illegal mining and death of indigenous people in the hands of the miners New land use plan excluded the high biodiversity areas

42. Involvement of stakeholders and conflict management strategies Stakeholders Indigenous and local communities Governmental organizations –Ministry of Mining, Ministry of Environment, Army International mining companies Illegal miners University of the Andes Conflict management strategies Land use plan was made to control mining in the IFR Nationalization of the gold industry without consulting with the indigenous and local communities Less effective in controlling the illegal miners from Brazil and Guyana Practically no such conflict management strategy in place

43. Identification of future conflicts/conflicts prediction (qualitative approach) Discussions/policy implications/ways forward • Deeper engagement with local stakeholders involved in conflicts - by governmental agencies, NGOs, researchers • Increasing dialogue competency of various governmental organizations with local stakeholders in a conflict - by training and capacity building • Rights-based approaches and Stakeholder management system • Development of partnerships among government, industry, and academia

44. Intervention opportunities in a forest conflict Disputes Loss of livelihood and resources Intimidation and low level of violence Widespread use of deadly violence Armed conflict Conflict thresold USAID 2007*

45. Recommendations for practitioners, policy makers, and companies • Resolving issues related to land/tenure rights as it appears to be the most common cause of conflicts - Responsibility of governmental organizations • Engagement by international communities with countries in conflicts - Pursuing governments against using military to suppress conflicts • Implementation of FPIC by companies and setting up mechanisms to address forest conflicts – FPIC is still very new! • Applying participatory methods in forest conflicts research

46. Implications for the Finnish Development Cooperation • Finland is one of the top countries in providing developmental aid to poor countries - Poverty eradication, improving environmental condition and NRM (conflict avoidance is important) • Long-term partner countries areKenya, Mozambique, and Nepal plus four others (forest conflicts are quite common) • Wider opportunities to contribute to these countries’ NRM sector • Different approaches for different countries • Climate induced conflicts affecting forestry sector – a new challenge!

47. Possible country level strategies by FDC Finnish Development Cooperation Socio-economic improvement and forest management, capacity building and avoid future conflicts Kenya and Mozambique People oriented forest policy, facilitating the transition process, funding forest programmes Nepal Nicaragua Engagement with CSOs, facilitating the transition process Support to local initiatives, NGOs through Finnish Fund for Local Cooperation Indonesia and Venezuela

48. Conclusions The study has provided a broad understanding of the processes that cause conflicts with a wider geographical coverage Conflict prediction tools are useful but it can be developed further Perhaps it is difficult to avoid conflicts in the forestry sector and new conflict could arise in different parts of the world with new types Prediction of a forest conflict occurring is important as at the initial stages it could be possible to resolve the conflicts Engagement with local stakeholders’ (indigenous and local communities) is important as it could provide the early indication of a future forest conflict There is a need to revisiting all the government policies in NRM, environment, land-use sectors as they might be overlapping and could lead to future conflicts Conflict studies should be on a continuous basis rather than a one time approach – need for studies in countries where conflicts are emerging

49. Thank you for your attention Acknowledgements: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (funding support)AnttiRytkönen and Arttu Pienimäki (Formin)Dr. David Gritten (RECOFTC)Prof. Paavo Pelkonen (UEF) Disclaimer: Pictures downloaded from the internet are subject to verification and have been used in the presentation only for illustrative purpose www.uef.fi