Managing Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Societies:
Lessons in Peacebuilding

The Environmental Law Institute, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), University of Tokyo, and the Specialist Group on Armed Conflict and the Environment of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law are partnering on a project to assess experiences in post-conflict natural resource management.

This project seeks to engage practitioners, decisionmakers, and scholars in identifying and analyzing the ways that effective natural resource management can facilitate the transition to peace. In particular, the project addresses the role that effective natural resource management can play in:

• assisting in processes for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants;
• reintegrating refugees and displaced persons;
• meeting basic human needs for people in post-conflict societies, including food, water, shelter, and livelihoods;
• addressing grievances that may have contributed to the conflict (such as access to land); and
• providing opportunities to build confidence among former combatants.

By examining the role of natural resources in peacebuilding in a wide range of post-conflict experiences, the project will identify lessons learned and develop a roadmap for strengthening post-conflict natural resource management and peacebuilding.

To develop the empirical foundation for improving peacebuilding and post-conflict natural resource management, the partner institutions are soliciting papers for an edited book. Chapters address specific case studies of post-conflict natural resource management in particular countries; thematic analyses examining cross-cutting issues, such as the role of natural resources in peace agreements, high-value natural resources (e.g., diamonds, oil, timber, gas), land tenure, water, and governance; and opportunities and tools for improving post-conflict peacebuilding and natural resource management.

In addition to research identifying lessons learned and effective methodologies, the project will develop a global dialogue on how natural resource management can improve post-conflict peacebuilding.