War, by Conservation

Abstract

In this paper I argue that there has been a critical shift towards war by conservation in which conservation, security and counter insurgency (COIN) are becoming more closely integrated. In this new phase concerns about global security constitute important underlying drivers, while biodiversity conservation is of secondary importance. This is a significant break from earlier phases of fortress conservation and war for biodiversity. In order to develop a better understanding of these shifts, this paper analyzes the existing conceptual approaches, notably environmental security analyses which seek to understand how resources cause or shape conflict, and political ecology approaches that focus on the struggles over access to and control over resources. However, this paper indicates the limitations of these existing debates for understanding recent shifts, which require a fresh approach.I chart the rise of the narrative I call poachers-as-terrorists, which relies on the invocation of the idea that ivory is the white gold of Jihad, a phrase which is closely associated with an Elephant Action League (EAL) report in 2012 which claimed Al Shabaab used ivory to fund its operations. This narrative is being extended and deepened by a powerful alliance of states, conservation NGOs, Private Military Companies and international organizations, such that it is shaping policies, especially in areas of US geo-strategic interest in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result conservation is becoming a core element of a global security project, with significant implications for conceptual debates and for conservation practice on the ground.

Comparing Discourse to Officer Perceptions: The Problems of War and Militarization in Wildlife Crime Enforcement

“…While the article's analytical approach is thematic coding of interview text (Gibbs, 2007), the discussion is motivated by discourse theory as it is concerned with the intrinsic connection between linguistic and social processes, and its implications for the way we think and act (George, 1994, p. 191;Milliken, 1999). Here, the 'war on wildlife crime' is considered as a rhetorical tool and a security offensive, having led to a normalization of violence in the enforcement of conservation laws (Neumann, 2004) and to military interventions with little effect in countering insecurity and poaching (Duffy, 2014(Duffy, , 2016a(Duffy, , 2016b). An introduction to wildlife crime and the 'war' and securitization discourse is given before an account of the methodology.…”

“…Led by a powerful global 'back to the barriers' narrative stressing the urgency of conservation action and authoritarian approaches (Hutton et al, 2005) strict exclusionary policies and military-style responses have started to displace community-oriented approaches in parts of Africa (Büscher, 2015). Identifying security as the main driving objective, Duffy (2016b) proposes that biodiversity conservation is actually of secondary importance in this new phase.…”

“…Poachers can pose a genuine threat to Ugandan rangers; UWA records show that at least ten rangers have been killed by poachers since 2014 following clashes in protected areas across Uganda (Onyango, 2016). Illustrating how coercive policies may be utilized and extended by precedents set in other African countries (Duffy, 2016b), President Yoweri Museveni has granted UPDF and UWA the power to shoot suspected poachers inside the country's national parks (Tetana, 2014).…”

“…Although the links between poaching and terrorism have been questioned (see e.g. Duffy et al 2015;Maguire and Haenlein 2015), this narrative is shaping policies in Sub-Saharan Africa, making conservation an element of global security with material consequences at the ground level (Duffy, 2016b). Today, illegal sourcing of wildlife and trade is presented as a grave economic, social and security challenge and concern (UNODC, 2015), threatening sustainable development and peace and stability in areas of Africa and Asia, where it is linked to weak governance and corruption (Fajardo del Castillo, 2016).…”

Counterinsurgency for wind energy: the Bíi Hioxo wind park in Juchitán, Mexico

“…This paper thus builds upon the notion of the greening of counterinsurgency outlined by Dunlap and Fairhead (2014), which roots 'green violence' within a specific military doctrine and history emerging from asymmetric colonial wars that has become increasingly popular, gaining widespread application within militaries (Owens 2015), police departments (Williams 2007;Williams, Munger, and Messersmith-Glavin 2013), resource extraction companies (Rosenau et al, 2009;Javers 2011) and even marketing agencies (Copulsky 2011). Not only does counterinsurgency establish a strong historical link with previous military, paramilitary and police operations within a region, but it also unravels the 'conflict management' approaches of dominant public, private and non-governmental actors (Verweijen and Marijnen 2016;Duffy 2016;Dunlap and Fairhead 2014;Peluso and Vandergeest 2011). The following case of Bíi Hioxo wind park illuminates the relevance of adopting counterinsurgency as a lens to analyze efforts to break popular opposition to wind energy development in the name of mitigating anthropogenic climate change.…”