ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

Chapter 11Environment and Conflict: AReview of Nepal’s ExperienceIntroductionHuman history is rich with examples of conflictthat have plundered the environment. Todaythe imprints of civilizations are not only thedeserts from deforestation, soil erosion, and miningbut also include sewers of rivers, eutrophied lakes,dumping sites of industrial waste and nuclearmaterials, and military test sites. Although in the pastmany quietly suffered the sad consequences of theseenvironmental atrocities, today affected parties arebeginning to raise their voices and go to court oreven take up arms and stake their claims for rightingpast wrongs. Environment-related conflict isincreasing and attracting attention as a developmentagenda item along with poverty and human rights.Research to better understand the dynamics of theenvironment-conflict relationship has increased.Some are trying to understand the linkages, whileothers are searching for ways to restore peace andcooperation.At the local level, conflicts are closely related tolack of access to critical resources. With changingprices, markets, and breakdowns in traditionalinstitutional mechanisms for mediation, conflictshave become more the rule than the exception in theuse of forest, water, pasture, and other naturalresources. While many of these local conflicts arenot violent and are resolved peacefully, in othercases disagreements and tensions are very high andviolence has erupted in some (Homer-Dixon 1999;Conca and Dableko 2002).At the national level, mainstreaming theenvironmental agenda, adoption of livelihood-basedapproaches to poverty reduction, and the movetowards greater democracy and human rights havestrengthened efforts to overcome past environmentalinjustices. Development has not only displaced manygroups of people in the past, but has also failed toprovide adequate compensation. Today there isincreasing discussion about who benefits fromdevelopment, who loses, and the transparency of theunderlying decisions. Development projects mayChapter 11: Environment and Conflict: A Review of Nepal’s Experienceincreasingly become subjects of court battles tosafeguard the traditional environmental entitlementsof people whose livelihoods have been closely linkedwith the diversity of environment (PANOS 2002).At the global level, many internationalagreements such as the Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora (CITES) 1973 and the Convention on BiologicalDiversity 1992 have tried to curb trade in endangeredflora and fauna. With high stakes in someenvironmental products, conflicts are rampant inmany areas with shared ecosystems and sharedresources like water (IDRC 2005; APCSS 1999). Effortsto exploit resources have been a source of unendingconflict in some parts of the world (Ehrlich et al.2000). Problems related to the management of theglobal commons—air, climate, oceans—have alsobecome a source of continuing conflict, fortunatelynot a violent one so far.The issue of environment and conflict hasbecome serious at all levels of society. While there isgrowing recognition of the problems, ways to dealwith them are less clear and filled with controversy.This chapter will review the changing environmentconflictnexus generally and for Nepal in particular.Before discussing the Nepal scene, it is necessary tosummarize recent discussions on this topic. Thesituation in Nepal clearly indicates that conflictconditions are abundant. However, while some arequick to identify the “green roots of the red rebellion”in Nepal (Bhurtel and Ali 2003), some caution isnecessary in trying to establish a cause and effectrelationship in this complex issue.Environment, Resource Scarcity,and ConflictWebster’s Dictionary defines “environment” as “thetotality of the physical conditions of the earth or partof it, especially as affected by human activity”. Itincludes all ecosystems. “Ecosystems” are defined as“a dynamic complex of plants, animals, and155