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U.S. soldier from 1st Marine Expeditionary Force stands guard at burning oil well at Rumayla Oilfields, March 23, 2003 i

Our Image of WAR. This is our Image of War but not reflect reality on ground. U.S. soldier from 1st Marine Expeditionary Force stands guard at burning oil well at Rumayla Oilfields, March 23, 2003 in Iraq.

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U.S. soldier from 1st Marine Expeditionary Force stands guard at burning oil well at Rumayla Oilfields, March 23, 2003 i

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  1. Our Image of WAR This is our Image of War but not reflect reality on ground 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

  2. 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

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

  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

  5. Highest value is timber

  6. Cambodia – value timber exports (Le Billon 2000) Corruption means Governments don't get revenues from timber 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.

  7. 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

  8. Impacts of Rwandan Refugees (1994-98): Scenario: international organizations built refugee camps - tents, installed water pipes, public toilets BUT • 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) MAIN IMPACT OF WAR RESULT OF TOO MANY PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO SURVIVE AS RESOURCE EXTRACTORS IN FORESTS

  9. “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” Refugees Surving 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

  10. Indigenous communities living in forests drastically impacted by huge influx of people trying to survive from forests Pygmy house made with sticks and leaves in northern Republic of the Congo. (Photo courtesy of "Tornasole") http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0702.htm 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

  11. Rwandan war resulted in 1.5 to 2 million people fleeing into former Zaire Rwanda – increased poaching for bushmeat Uganda KobPhoto by Rhett Butler. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0620-wcs.html 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

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

  13. Tree stumps fuelwood Forest Fires Buttress roots of rainforest tree in UgandaImage Location: Kibali Forest, Uganda (East Africa)Photographer/Camera: Photo taken by Rhett A. Butler http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/problems/forest_fires/index.cfm

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. Forest Exploitation for Timber, Diamonds, etc – mostly illegal and widespread Forests cut to pay for war, forests cut and contaminated in search for gold, diamond mining http://www.diamond.com/detail.asp?pf_id=35190; http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/diamonds.html

  17. WAR IMPACTS ON HUMAN SURVIVAL • Increased number of people surviving in forests that only provide subsistence livelihoods • Illegal logging competes with fuelwood used for energy

  18. 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

  19. few options to harvest food crops in tropical forest so bushmeat becomes more important food source • farming ceases during wars because of insecurity problems FOOD PRODUCTION AND SECURITY THIS STOPS DURING A WAR

  20. 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 shrapnel Iraqi dates once more desirable than crude oil, thriving industry gone after war and economic sanctions James Hill for The New York Times. Feb 2003

  21. Livelihoods from Non-timber Resources Ecotourism ceased with the fighting in Rwanda Ecotourism income generation based on conservation lost during fighting

  22. WAR IMPACTS ON CONSERVATION 1. Positive Influences 2. Negative Influences

  23. 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

  24. “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.

  25. 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

  26. 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

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

  28. Today Deforestation Occurring - Loss of Protection 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

  29. Negative Influences on Conservation • 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 Mt. Gorillas, Rwanda –not killed directly by war but indirectly by people moving into area and searching for food

  30. Negative Influence on Conservation Conservation and wildlife management stops – which had goals of reviving populations becoming depleted 50% of elephants poached and eaten by Rwandan refugees who fled to a Park in Zaire

  31. Negative Influence on Conservation 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

  32. Human / Animal Disease Outbreaks 1) Poor nutrition 2) Contact with disease vectors (malaria), disease carriers eaten as food source (Ebola virus) 3) Chemicals used

  33. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1207-gorillas.html Last Wednesday’s lecture

  34. 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

  35. 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 • Long-term chemical legacy in Vietnam - Agent orange (contaminated with dioxin)- Human health effects – leukemia, cancer (10 diseases linked to spraying) • Exploded / Unexploded ammunition remaining in the landscape

  36. 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) Pre-application Post-application 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

  37. Vietnam– Agent Orange (herbicide contaminated with dioxin) 3) Increased killing of animals as a food source - frequently contaminated since animals eating plants chemically contaminated Results 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

  38. 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

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

  40. 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 longpersistence in environment because of chemical composition resistant to microbial breakdown Romanian Soldier Wearing a Gas Mask Checks a Tester to Detect a Possible Chemical Contamination ROMANIA: February 20, 2003

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

  42. 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

  43. 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

  44. 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?) Maya Forest remaining (% of Total) WA-state (1992) Population Density (persons/km2)

  45. This increase in population density bad when subsistence survival dominates 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 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

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