Ecosystem services and sustainable peace in Afghanistan: Gaps in national policy and its security implications

Abstract

While previous studies underscore the importance of climate‐sensitive approaches to peacebuilding, the relationship between ecosystem services and peace and security, especially at the local level, has been insufficiently studied. We argue that ecosystem services are often neglected by national‐level actors and insufficiently integrated into peacebuilding interventions and project design. In fact, policy discourse at highly aggregate levels of analysis silences local, community understandings of ecosystem services and its potential for contributing to sustainable peace. For example, despite investment in community development in Afghanistan via the Citizens' Charter Afghanistan Project, there is scant reference to ‘ecosystem services’ on which Afghans are so reliant, much less any policy planning informed by it and directed at addressing climate and environmental risks. Drawing on evidence from Kabul and Herat provinces in Afghanistan, we illuminate the intersections among insecurity, environmental sustainability and ecosystem services. Specifically, we examine water‐related services in Chest‐e Sharif district in Herat province and demonstrate how the lack of water availability and (mis)management of water infrastructure contribute to local communities' sense of precarity and government neglect. The findings inform our policy recommendations which are intended to address these gaps.