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Key Message

Human Security is both a pre-condition and outcome of sustainable development and conservation of the world's resources. Environmental degradation, poorly designed trade and aid policies, and reckless exploitation of our natural resources imperil human security.

Team


Henry David Venema· Henry David Venema
Director - Sustainable Natural Resources Management
Alec Crawford· Alec Crawford
Project Manager
Anne Hammill· Anne Hammill
Senior Researcher
Mark Halle· Mark Halle
Director - Trade and Investment, and European Representative
Richard Matthew· Richard Matthew
Senior Fellow

Security

What's New in Security?

  • Conflict-Sensitive Conservation: Practitioners' Manual
    English (PDF - 15 MB) - Français (PDF - 14 MB)
    The Albertine Rift is one of the most biodiverse and ecologically unique regions of Africa. Sadly it has also been the site of some of the world's most violent conflicts in recent history. This turbulent context can pose a range of risks and opportunities to conservationists who are managing resources that can be both a seed of conflict and foundation for peace-building.

    With the financial support of the MacArthur Foundation and the technical support of the Conservation Development Centre, IISD has been working with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) International in Uganda to better understand the context in which they operate and apply a conflict lens to their work. This work led to the development of the "Conflict-Sensitive Conservation Practitioners' Manual," which provides an analytical and decision-making framework to help conservationists understand and address natural resource-based conflict, and integrate this understanding into conservation programming and implementation. In so doing, conservationists can avoid exacerbating conflict and maximize opportunities for peace-building.

Since the events of 9/11, security has dominated the concerns of decision-makers and policy analysts. Increasingly, security is being framed in narrow terms of the terrorist threat to the developed world. At IISD we argue for a wider understanding of security that encompasses resilience to ecological stresses and disasters, political stability, equitable trade and sustainable livelihoods.

Human security and environmental protection are mutually dependent. On one hand, careless depletion of our natural resources undermines livelihoods, increases vulnerability to disaster and imperils human security. On the other, violent conflict and political instability lead to mismanagement of vital natural resources.

IISD is dedicated to understanding the forces that lead to environmental and political insecurity. We promote innovative policy mechanisms that challenge the root causes of insecurity around the world.

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