U.S. soldier from 1st Marine Expeditionary Force stands guard at burning oil well at Rumayla Oilfields, March 23, 2003 in Iraq. Several oil wells have been set ablaze by retreating Iraqi troops in the Ramayla area, the second largest offshore oilfield in the country, near the Kuwaiti border. Story by IW/ac/HB , Photo by POOL – STAFF, REUTERS NEWS PICTURE SERVICE

Our Image of WAR

Context of War Zones: Constraints to Human Survival

• Few food options

• People dependent on extracting resources from forests to survive

• Many people surviving in rural areas

• High economic value for timber

• Corrupt political, institutions common – causes illegal logging

Percent people living in rural areas, % Land Area & Change in Forest Cover

% Rural, 1999

% Land Area in Forests

Change in Forest Cover 1990-

2000 (%)

Africa 63 22 -0.8Asia 63 18 -0.1Europe 25 46 +0.1N/C Am 27 26 -0.1 (US +0.2)Oceania 30 23 -0.2S Am 21 51 -0.4

In the forested Congo River basin near Kinshasa, villagers gather wood to fuel a charcoal-processing plant. The nation's extensive rainforests are suffering under too many human hands. http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/photos/photo_kinshasa_kinshasa.html; Photograph by James P. Blair

Forest Resources Economic Value – per hectare per annum

Logging $200 - $4,400Pharmaceutical ‘hot spots’ for companies

20 cents to $21 to high of $9,177

Recreation $2 - $470

Non-timber products Few dollars to ~$100

Fuelwood $40

Community based wildlife management

-Pakistan, 1997 revenue Ibex hunting to 120 households

-Costa Rica, 1996 revenue turtle eggs to each 200 members community

-Botswana for 230 families from cochineal [either legumes or insects used for traditional red dyes]

Annual Incomes

(Note: not per hectare)

$35 or $0.29 per family

$1,150 or $5.75 per community member

$7,200 or $31 per family

Cambodia – value timber exports (Le Billon 2000)

1995 1996 1997 1998

Est. value (US$ million)

423 248 188 218

Forestry govt revenue (US$ million)

27

<0.1%

11

<0.1%

12

<0.1%

5

<0.1%

This table tells you that a lot of wood was being cut in Cambodia after the war but most was illegal cutting and selling with the government of Cambodia receiving a miniscule portion of those funds.

HOW WAR CHANGES FOREST LANDSCAPES

Rural environmental changes due to people’s behavior and politics

• Forest become Refuge Sites, Emigration, People Mobility

• Colonization Projects Frontier Regions, Political Boundaries

• Forest Conversion, Removal of Forest Cover, Illegal Harvesting Forest Products

Impacts on people• Human & Animal Disease Outbreaks; Lack Clean Water

• Environmental Degradation due to Chemicals used to Eliminate Forest Cover

Impacts of Rwandan Refugees (1994-98):

• Increased deforestation• Increased soil erosion and landslides• Increased poaching• Changes in land uses• Refugees dug up tree stumps for firewood even though supplied

with fuelwood• Refugees took shelter in National Parks• Armed conflict = ~ 3 large-scale forest fires (1996-97)• Animal populations drastically reduced • Lost food plant species adapted to Congo (coffee)

Scenario: international organizations built refugee camps - tents, installed water pipes, public toilets BUT

MAIN IMPACT OF WAR RESULT OF TOO MANY PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO SURVIVE AS RESOURCE EXTRACTORS IN FORESTS

“The first refugees: Bent Rønsen together with the first refugees. Some of them had been refugees for six years and were now hiding in the forest” http://www.crn.no/page?id=1527&section=33&key=12144

“Buried children: Most of the women we have talked to tell us that they have buried one or more of their children in the forest”

Pygmy house made with sticks and leaves in northern

Republic of the Congo. (Photo

courtesy of "Tornasole") http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0702.htm

Indigenous communities living in forests drastically impacted by huge influx of people trying to survive from forests

Bili, Democratic Republic of the Congo, July 2001 “This traditional hunter uses a poisoned arrow fired from a crossbow. He wears traditional primate-hunting attire. He's trying to get the

monkeys to react to an elephant mask." Conservationist and photographer Karl Ammann http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/photogalleries/bushmeat_1/photo9.html

Rwanda – increased poaching for bushmeat

Rwandan war resulted in 1.5 to 2 million people fleeing into former Zaire

Wild meat significant protein source for landless, rural people in Asia, Africa, Latin America

Without war, half protein consumption from bushmeat; increases dramatically with war since agriculture ceases because it is to dangerous to farm

Uganda KobPhoto by Rhett Butler. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0620-

wcs.html

Silverback gorilla in neighboring Gabon. War-torn Congo Announces Two New ParksWCSSeptember 18, 2006; http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0918-wcs.html

Rebels in eastern Congo have agreed to stop hunting mountain gorillas … after two endangered silverback mountain gorillas were killed and eaten by rebel forces in Congo's Virunga National Park, a protected area …. heavily impacted by civil strife …, starting with the exodus of refugees from Rwanda in 1994 and continuing on through Congo's bloody

civil war. …. refugee put pressure on the Virunga's forests and wildlife for fuel wood and food,

while park rangers were been targeted by soldiers and rebels. Africa Conservation Fund, a London-based conservation group, says that 97 Virunga National Park rangers have died

on duty since 1996. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0124-

gorilla.html

http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/problems/forest_fires/index.cfmButtress roots of rainforest tree in Uganda Image Location: Kibali Forest, Uganda (East Africa)

Photographer/Camera: Photo taken by Rhett A. Butler

After a five-hour trek through the jungle, Australian tourists are greeted by a rare mountain gorilla in Congo's Virunga National Park. Closed last year when war swept the nation (then known as Zaire), Virunga park reopened in September to tourists willing to pay $120 each for a chance to see some of its remaining great apes. The Associated Press http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

getaways/100997/destpix1.html

–Exploitation of forests for economic value to pay for war effort–Illegal exploitation rampant

A clearing in Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesian Borneo reveals an illegal logging operation Photograph by Timothy G. Laman; http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/rainforest-deforestaton/loggingsite.html

Forests cut to pay for war, forests cut and contaminated in search for gold, diamond mining

Forest Exploitation for Timber, Diamonds, etc – mostly illegal and widespread

http://www.diamond.com/detail.asp?pf_id=35190; http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/diamonds.html

WAR IMPACTS ON HUMAN SURVIVAL

1. Increased number of people surviving in forests that only provide subsistence livelihoods

2. Illegal logging competes with fuelwood used for energy

1. Food Production and Food Security - NO– Lack food security– Farmers unable to grow crops– Greater dependence on wildlife

2. Sustainable Hunting, Fishing Practices - NO– Hunting primary protein source for survival– Over-hunting to sell or too many people surviving in

small area

3. Sustainable Logging Practices - NO– Exploitation of forests for economic value– War retributions paid by cutting trees (after WWII,

Germany paid by cutting trees, big building boom in US had demand)

– Illegal logging rampant

4. Livelihoods from Non-timber Resources - NO

FOOD PRODUCTION AND SECURITY

• few options to harvest food crops in tropical forest so bushmeat becomes more important food source

• farming ceases during wars because of insecurity problems

THIS STOPS DURING A WAR

                           

Millions of trees lost in Iraq during 1980-88 war with Iran - once the largest date forest in the world were either burned or felled by shrapnelIraqi dates once more desirable than crude oil , thriving industry gone after war and economic sanctions

James Hill for The New York Times. Feb 2003

Ecotourism ceased with the fighting in Rwanda

Livelihoods from Non-timber Resources

Ecotourism income generation based on conservation lost during fighting

WAR IMPACTS ON CONSERVATION

1. Positive Influences

2. Negative Influences

Positive Influence on Conservation

Indirect – biodiversity protected since people kept

out of military training sites, or lands used for military exercises or maintaining demilitarized zones between two fighting countries

Ex:

• Ft. Lewis, Washington

•Camp Pendleton, California

•Lands used for military exercises in Germany

•Demilitarized zone between North and South Korea

“Ironically, twenty years of war saved Cambodia’s forests from the destruction associated with economic growth in the ASEAN region. Despite heavy US bombing and the murderous agrarian utopia of the Khmer Rouge, forests survived the 1970s. Their exploitation during the 1980s remained limited, the result of continuing war and a trade embargo by the West.” (Le Billon 2000, p. 785)Le Billon P. 2000. The political ecology of transition in Cambodia 1989-1999: War, peace and forest exploitation. Development and Change Vol. 31, pages 785-805.

Germany – sites of military exercises (Hopkin 2005)

• Lands used for military exercises have more endangered species present than even found in national Parks

• Two American bases in the state of Bavaria, Germany comprise less than 1% of land area of the state but contained 22% of its endangered species

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9711/18/panama.watershed/index.html

Positive Influence on Conservation

US controlled Panama Canal for 90 yrs until 1999 – a 10-mile strip along canal protected deforestation

70% of Panama’s forests already cut down

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9711/18/panama.watershed/index.html

Contains most undisturbed forests in Central America – many endangered animals & plants

Forests preserved by US Army – critical watershed (streams, rivers flowing into lakes supply fresh water needed to operate the canal’s locks); erosion, sedimentation threaten canal’s future

Deforestation claims a swath of tropical rain forest along the Rio Chagres river basin. The river is a primary water source for the Panama Canal, and deforestation of the surrounding rain forest causes erosion and sedimentation that can clog the canal and

increase the need for dredging.Photograph by Tomas Munita/AP Photos

http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/rainforest-deforestaton/deforestationpanama.html

Today Threat is uncontrolled urban expansion, not slash and burn agriculture

Mt. Gorillas, Rwanda –not killed directly by war but indirectly by people moving into area and searching for food

-Loss of biodiversity

-Nature reserves not protected, managed (used subsistence survival)

-Animals living in forests picking up diseases from closer contact with humans

-Economic gain from selling animals or parts of animals for medicinal qualities

Negative Influences on Conservation

50% of elephants poached and eaten by Rwandan refugees who fled to a Park in Zaire

Negative Influence on Conservation

Conservation and wildlife management stops – which had goals of reviving populations becoming depleted

Thriving trade -refugees planning ahead to make money in future by illegal hunting, trading in wildlife (and parts of wildlife as medicinals);private collectors & even zoo’s buy since people want to see exotic animals

Negative Influence on Conservation

Human / Animal Disease Outbreaks1) Poor nutrition

2) Contact with disease vectors (malaria), disease carriers eaten as food source (Ebola virus)

3) Chemicals used

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1207-gorillas.html

Last Wednesday’s lecture

Chimpanzees & gorillas in West Africa populations reduced due to: HUNTING, EBOLA VIRUS.

Bushmeat trade threaten near town, Ebola virus in remote regions.

Ebola spreads from apes to humans when apes hunted for food or human contact dead infected ape.

Commercial poachers hunt bushmeat for sale in urban regions of Africa, most West African immigrants buy ape meat. Used to think unsustainable exploitation was poverty & have-to-eat-today principle but increasing prosperity in Asia led to booming commercial markets

Environmental Degradation and Human Health Problems resulting from Chemical Use during Wars

• Many weapons of war comprised of chemicals toxic to humans and other animals

1. Long-term chemical legacy in Vietnam - Agent orange (contaminated with dioxin)- Human health effects – leukemia, cancer (10 diseases linked to spraying)

2. Exploded / Unexploded ammunition remaining in the landscape

Vietnam – agent orange;1961-1971, US sprayed defoliants (chemicals cause trees to drop all their foliage) over >10% of South Vietnam,~14% forests of Vietnam destroyed (Mydans 2003)

Reasons used chemicals:1) remove forest cover so can’t hide in forests2) easier to mobilize troops, move vehicles to conduct war3) remove food source

Pre-application Post-application

Vietnam– Agent Orange (herbicide contaminated with dioxin)

3) Increased killing of animals as a food source - frequently contaminated since animals eating plants chemically contaminatedResults chemical defoliant use:

1) toxic chemical residues in soil, plants, humans (high levels lead and nickel in plants – dangerous pollutants);2) contaminated food production systems

Human health problems – not only US soldiers but millions of Vietnamese exposed

Vietnamese Boy Disabled by Agent Orange in a Ho Chi Minh City Hospital VIETNAM : February 28, 2005

A Vietnamese boy disabled by Agent Orange gets the attention of a volunteer while sitting in his cot in a Ho Chi Minh City hospital, February 25, 2005.

“On Monday, a New York court will begin hearing a lawsuit brought by more than 100 Vietnamese seeking compensation and a clean-up of contaminated areas from more than 30 firms, among them Dow Chemical Co and Monsanto Co, the largest makers of Agent Orange. Agent Orange, named after the colour of its containers, is blamed for nightmarish birth defects in Vietnam where babies appeared with two heads or without eyes or arms.” Story by Adrees Latif AL/CCK, Photo by ADREES LATIF, REUTERS

NEWS PICTURE SERVICE

Story by FK/AH, Photo by FAYAZ KABLI, REUTERS NEWS PICTURE SERVICE

Not only direct effects but chemical legacies: CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION OF THE SOILS AND FOOD CROPS

Kashmiri Villagers Walk Past a Crater Caused Due to a Landmine

Explosion at Village Pahloo INDIA: October 1, 2002

Romanian Soldier Wearing a Gas Mask Checks a Tester to Detect a Possible

Chemical Contamination ROMANIA: February 20, 2003

WHY DO THESE CHEMICAL PERSIST IN THE ENVIRONMENT?

Many chemicals derived from complex polyphenolics (= plant derived secondary chemicals used by plants so animals don’t eat them because they are toxic or cause indigestion) - MANY FROM TROPICAL PLANTS

They have long persistence in environment because of chemical composition resistant to microbial breakdown

Six-carbon ring structure (benzene) – same structure as pesticide

Makes plants woody

Very resistant to decay

Complex enzymes needed to break down

Removed from wood to make paper, what is left after composting

http://www.eng.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/FUNDAMNT/lignin.htm

LIGNIN

Forced translocation of people:1) fleeing war, fighting,

2) maintenance of political boundaries in contested border areas (e.g. Guatemala) using colonization projects run by governments to move people to border regions

Amazon – Large areas of the borders isolated (easily occupied by inhabitants of adjacent countries)

Building roads to develop political boundaries where multiple ownership claims

Governments encourage, subsidize people to move to borders

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10 34 40 100 200

Population Density (persons/km2)

Fore

st re

mai

ning

(% o

f Tot

al)

WA-state (1992)

Maya

Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) eastern region with 8 national parks & reserves had human density = 49 persons/km2;Rwandan civil war 1994, Zairian civil war 1996-97 = 1.5-2 million refugees

Rwanda has population density of 293.3 people/km2 in 2000 (ANY FORESTS LEFT BASED ON DIAGRAM BELOW?)

Rwanda has 12.4% land in forests in 2000

Significant portion – 93.9% - live in rural areas in 1999

No room for forests to be safety valve during war; lost 15% forest cover 1990-2000

This increase in population density bad when subsistence survival dominates

Zaire has 64.6% of land in forests

38.3% of the people live in rural areas in 1999

Zaire loosing capacity of forests to provide safety valve for people since lost 17% of its forest cover between 1990-2000