Examining complexities of forest cover change during armed conflict on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast

Abstract

The effects of armed conflict on biodiversity are an emerging concern in conservation due in part to the occurrence of war in biodiversity hotspots, though few studies have addressed it. We investigate this topic by examining changes in forest cover on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua from 1978 to 1993, a period covering their civil war. We predict an increase in forest cover between pre-and post-conflict periods as residents abandoned agriculture plots and migrated from conflict areas. We used a remote sensing approach to detect changes in forest cover area and fragmentation at two study sites. Results confirmed that in the first 5-7 years of the conflict, reforestation was greater than deforestation, but in the latter years of the conflict deforested land almost doubled that which was reforested. Although some forest loss was due to Category 4 Hurricane Joan, several conflict-related factors were partially responsible for these results, such as mass human migration and land reform. Understanding how and why forest cover changes during periods of conflict can help conservationists protect resources both during war and in the tumultuous period following the cessation of violence when nascent governments lack the power to effectively govern and community institutions are fractured by war. In areas where the livelihoods of people are directly dependent on local resources, anticipating ecological and social impacts can help improve future conservation efforts.

Impacts on the Urban Environment: Land Cover Change Trajectories and Landscape Fragmentation in Post-War Western Area, Sierra Leone

“…Results from the two dominance indices (LPI and PLAND) at the class level are congruent with Dewan et al's [44] argument that a positive correlation exists between increased human activities and dominance indices. The fragmentation and aggregation indices also support earlier research, which hypothesised that an increase in fragmentation will happen in areas of human habitation because of uncontrolled exploitation of forest resources, especially in settlements triggered by war [11].…”

“…The analysis of LCC trajectories and landscape fragmentation both at the class and landscape levels undertaken here has extended our understanding of LULCC in the WA [5, 7,9] and that of previous research on the impact of conflict on the environment [2,[11][12][13][14][15]. Our research provides the first detailed assessment of the extent and magnitude of landscape fragmentation and trajectory trends in the WA, findings that are useful to conservation planning and management efforts for WAPFoR.…”

Conservation and conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo: The impacts of warfare, mining, and protected areas on deforestation

“…While the scale of our model (i.e., the secteur level) precludes us from identifying causal mechanisms at the scale of the individual actor, which some argue is ultimately important in linking conflict to deforestation (Lambin et al, 2003;Ostrom and Nagendra, 2006), local research suggests that high levels of violence are related to militia rule, where charcoal production for export or use in refugee camps, as well as illegal logging and mining -all activities that accelerate deforestation -are commonplace (Nellemann et al, 2010). Hence the key proximate cause of deforestation may be the short-term extractive activities of rival militias rather than the fighting itself (Stevens et al, 2011).…”

“…Direct impacts of conflict include road building, defoliation and unsustainable use of forest resources (Machlis and Hanson, 2008). Indirect impacts may include decreased economic activity during times of conflict, which could reduce forest cover loss, and changing discount rates, which could increase the propensity to harvest forest resources (Stevens et al, 2011). These effects have been shown to remain well after conflict ends (Nackoney et al, 2014).…”

Satellite-Observed Nighttime Light Variation as Evidence for Global Armed Conflicts

“…Detecting fire with remote sensing images is another important application, since armed conflicts are often associated with burning campaigns [7]. In addition to the direct evaluation, some studies focus on the aftermath of the conflicts, the impact of the conflicts on land cover type [8]- [11], ecosystem [12], [13] and environmental contamination [14]. Besides, remote sensing also has played a role in analyzing the cause behind the outbreak of armed conflicts [15].…”