Fires as collateral or means of war: challenges of environmental peacebuilding in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Eklund, Lina LU and Dinc, Pinar LU
(2024)
In Ecology & Society
29(3).
- Abstract
- Environmental peacebuilding broadly refers to how sustainable management of natural resources can support prevention, mitigation, and resolution of conflict, as well as recovery after conflict. Shared natural resources constitute a common environmental challenge around which cooperation may be fostered. Environmentally damaging fires in conflict areas have received little attention from the peacebuilding field, especially compared to conflict related to water and oil, despite research that suggests fires may be caused or worsened by armed conflicts. The purpose of our study was twofold: (1) to investigate co-occurrences of armed conflict and fire in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), which has seen substantial increases in both fire... (More)
- Environmental peacebuilding broadly refers to how sustainable management of natural resources can support prevention, mitigation, and resolution of conflict, as well as recovery after conflict. Shared natural resources constitute a common environmental challenge around which cooperation may be fostered. Environmentally damaging fires in conflict areas have received little attention from the peacebuilding field, especially compared to conflict related to water and oil, despite research that suggests fires may be caused or worsened by armed conflicts. The purpose of our study was twofold: (1) to investigate co-occurrences of armed conflict and fire in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), which has seen substantial increases in both fire events and armed conflict in the past decade, and (2) to consider how the environmental peacebuilding framework could apply in this context, potentially offering a shift from conflict to cooperation around mutual environmental issues. Using data for 2016–2022, we analyzed the spatial patterns of fire/burned areas and armed conflict, considering potential connections between the two. Our findings indicated that one-fourth of the conflict hotspot areas coincided with fire hotspots. Two areas stood out as hotspots of both conflict and fire: the Amedi area in the north, dominated by the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and the Makhmur area in the south, dominated by the conflict with the Islamic State. Though fires should be seen as a transboundary issue, few peacebuilding initiatives around fire and land resources are found in this conflict-ridden region, indicating a need for a long-term peace ecology approach to overcome the consequences of structural inequalities, conflict, and environmental destruction. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/75f7b8c7-23ab-4aa7-a78a-d50f465e620a
- author
- Eklund, Lina
LU
and Dinc, Pinar
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- fires, conflict, war, environmental peacebuilding, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- in
- Ecology & Society
- volume
- 29
- issue
- 3
- article number
- 25
- publisher
- Resilience Alliance
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85205918012
- ISSN
- 1708-3087
- DOI
- 10.5751/ES-15316-290325
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 75f7b8c7-23ab-4aa7-a78a-d50f465e620a
- date added to LUP
- 2024-09-18 21:57:10
- date last changed
- 2025-07-08 17:18:19
@article{75f7b8c7-23ab-4aa7-a78a-d50f465e620a,
abstract = {{Environmental peacebuilding broadly refers to how sustainable management of natural resources can support prevention, mitigation, and resolution of conflict, as well as recovery after conflict. Shared natural resources constitute a common environmental challenge around which cooperation may be fostered. Environmentally damaging fires in conflict areas have received little attention from the peacebuilding field, especially compared to conflict related to water and oil, despite research that suggests fires may be caused or worsened by armed conflicts. The purpose of our study was twofold: (1) to investigate co-occurrences of armed conflict and fire in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), which has seen substantial increases in both fire events and armed conflict in the past decade, and (2) to consider how the environmental peacebuilding framework could apply in this context, potentially offering a shift from conflict to cooperation around mutual environmental issues. Using data for 2016–2022, we analyzed the spatial patterns of fire/burned areas and armed conflict, considering potential connections between the two. Our findings indicated that one-fourth of the conflict hotspot areas coincided with fire hotspots. Two areas stood out as hotspots of both conflict and fire: the Amedi area in the north, dominated by the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and the Makhmur area in the south, dominated by the conflict with the Islamic State. Though fires should be seen as a transboundary issue, few peacebuilding initiatives around fire and land resources are found in this conflict-ridden region, indicating a need for a long-term peace ecology approach to overcome the consequences of structural inequalities, conflict, and environmental destruction.}},
author = {{Eklund, Lina and Dinc, Pinar}},
issn = {{1708-3087}},
keywords = {{fires; conflict; war; environmental peacebuilding; Kurdistan Region of Iraq}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
publisher = {{Resilience Alliance}},
series = {{Ecology & Society}},
title = {{Fires as collateral or means of war: challenges of environmental peacebuilding in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-15316-290325}},
doi = {{10.5751/ES-15316-290325}},
volume = {{29}},
year = {{2024}},
}