Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution

Although the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a Kenyan environmentalist, fewhave considered whether environmental conservation can contribute to peace-building in conflictzones. Peace Parks explores this question, examining the ways in which environmental cooperation inmultijurisdictional conservation areas may help resolve political and territorial conflicts. Itsanalyses and case studies of transboundary peace parks focus on how the sharing of physical spaceand management responsibilities can build and sustain peace among countries. The book examines theroles played by governments, the military, civil society, scientists, and conservationists, andtheir effects on both the ecological management and the potential for peace-building in these areas.Following a historical and theoretical overview that explores economic, political, and socialtheories that support the concept of peace parks and discussion of bioregional management forscience and economic development, the book presents case studies of existing parks and proposals forfuture parks. After describing such real-life examples as the Selous-Niassa Wildlife Corridor inAfrica and the Emerald Triangle conservation zone in Indochina, the book looks to the future,exploring the peace-building potential of envisioned parks in security-intensive spots including theU.S.-Mexican border, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, and the Mesopotamianmarshlands between Iraq and Iran. With contributors from a variety of disciplines and diversegeographic regions, Peace Parks is not only a groundbreaking book in International Relations but avaluable resource for policy makers and environmentalists.Saleem H. Ali is Associate Professor ofEnvironmental Planning at the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources at the University of Vermontand holds adjunct faculty appointments at Brown University and the United Nations mandatedUniversity for Peace. He is the author of Mining: The Environment and Indigenous DevelopmentConflicts.ContributorsDramé-Yayé Aissetou, Saleem H. Ali, Rolf D. Baldus, Charles Besançon, KentBiringer, Arthur G. Blundell, Niger Diallo Daouda Boubacar, K. C. (Nanda) Cariappa, Charles Chester,Tyler Christie, Sarah Dickinson DeLeon, Bill Dolan, Rosaleen Duffy, Christina Ellis, Wayne Freimund,Stephan Fuller, Rudolf Hahn, Anne Hammill, Bruce Hayden, Ke Chung Kim, Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo,Jason Lambacher, Raul Lejano, Maano Ramutsindela, Michael Schoon, Belinda Sifford, Anna Spenceley,Michelle L. Stevens, Randy Tanner, Yongyut Trisurat, Michele Zebich-Knos