Managing Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Societies

In partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Specialist Group on Armed Conflict and the Environment of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law, and the University of Tokyo, ELI organized an international meeting on “Managing Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Societies: Lessons in Making the Transition to Peace.” Approximately 35 people participated in the meeting, which was held in Geneva from September 17-18, 2007. The meeting identified a range of post-conflict countries in which natural resources have played an important role in peacebuilding and recovery. The participants shared observations regarding lessons learned and considered a range of follow-up actions to improve post-conflict management of natural resources, particularly as it relates to peacebuilding.

This meeting was part of a broader initiative among the institutions involved to take stock of experiences regarding how natural resource management can facilitate the transition to peace in post-conflict societies. ELI Senior Attorney Carl Bruch serves as co-chair of the Specialist Group on Armed Conflict and the Environment.

The ELI Armed Conflict and the Environment Program works with partners worldwide to better manage natural resources and the environment both during and after armed conflict. We strive to protect people and ecosystems by strengthening laws, policies, and institutions that:

effectively manage the natural resources that fuel armed conflict;
prevent, mitigate, and redress the environmental consequences of war; and
assist post-conflict countries in the transition to peace through strengthening post-conflict peacebuilding through natural resource management.

Program News

Submission of Draft Chapters (March 2009)

Review and Strategy Meeting on Managing Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Societies: Lessons in Making the Transition to Peace (Fourth Experts' Meeting) (IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, October 2008)

Third Experts' Meeting and Joint Forum on Managing Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Societies: Lessons in Making the Transitition to Peace (Columbia University, New York City, September 2008)

Second Experts’ Meeting on Managing Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Societies (February 2008)