Conflict and conservation

Conflict and conservation focuses on armed conflict and nature. The theme is highly timely as armed conflicts cause great economic and social harm, as well as environmental damage around the world. Conflicts have stretched societies to their limits in terms of financial and human resources. Lives and property have been lost and disrupted, livelihoods destroyed, and people displaced. Regrettably, policies to better manage and moderate pressures that drive armed conflicts have been unable to prevent their number from reaching what is now their highest level for 30 years. IUCN therefore explores the complex relationships between nature and conflict to inform policies to better advance both peacebuilding and conservation. This is the first report in the IUCN Flagship Report Series. The purpose of this series is to help bring the importance of nature conservation into mainstream political and economic decision-making.