Local engagement in environmental peacebuilding: protected area development as a pathway to peace in Afghanistan

ABSTRACT

This article interrogates local engagement in protected area development as a mechanism for peacebuilding in Afghanistan. Using interviews with representatives from the Band-e-Amir Protected Area Committee, I argue that protected area engagement produced mixed outcomes. In one sense, local engagement generated confidence that democratic processes introduced through governance reforms could transform power structures and resolve conflict. Yet, these same processes eroded confidence in the state's ability to deliver benefits and serve as a foundation for peace. This case suggests a need to consider how environmental peacebuilding at subnational scales can impede post-conflict peacebuilding through its effect on state-society relations.

KEYWORDS:

• Environment (built and natural)
• governance and public policy
• conflict and reconstruction
• developmental policies
• participation
• livelihoods
• South Asia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Since 2005, the term “post-conflict” does not apply to the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. However, both government and international actors have pursued the idea of “institutional rebuilding,” even amid sustained conflict, which is why the term persists in this context (Johnson 2017).

2 Liberal peacebuilding is the promotion of democratic governance as a means to create conditions for sustainable and positive peace (Call and Cousens 2008). Peace as shared identity indicates using shared environmental challenges to build trust, cooperation, and interdependence between groups. Peace as capabilities emphasises individual/community empowerment and recognises the need for people to have the capacity and freedom “to end, mitigate, or adapt to threats to their human, environmental, and social rights” (Matthew et al. 2010, 18). Peace as substantial integration is defined in terms of state-society linkages and state legitimacy (Krampe 2016).

3 For a detailed explanation of how these mechanisms relate to peacebuilding, see Johnson, Rodríguez, and Quijano Hoyos (2021, 4–5). In short, economic development related to NRM supports livelihoods and can foster human development. Institution building can enhance environmental governance in ways that mitigate conflict. Fostering trust and cooperation can promote recognition of shared interests. Resource sustainability can contribute to livelihood security and help ecosystems recover from the impact of conflict. Education, environmental awareness, and plural knowledges can contribute to resource sustainability by promoting social inclusion, enhancing sustainability, and fostering capabilities.

4 No progress has been made to resolve this dispute to date despite assurances by several government agencies (C. Shank, personal communication).

5 Shank and Alavi (2010, 15) note that “Band-e-Amir residents were told that management planning would incrementally incorporate restrictions on land use commensurate with the benefits derived to ensure that people's standard of living is not jeopardised and support for the Park is maintained.”

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Lewis and Clark Fund from the American Philosophical Society; the James B. Duke International Research Travel Fellowship from Duke University; and the Jennings Randolph Peace Scholarship from the United States Institute for Peace. Writing support was additionally provided by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Funders were not involved in the study design; collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in writing the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Notes on contributors

McKenzie F. Johnson

McKenzie Johnson is Assistant Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr Johnson's research and teaching focuses on environmental politics, environmental justice, and human security. She is particularly interested in understanding how global environmental governance initiatives shape local opportunities to achieve social and environmental justice. Dr Johnson has conducted interdisciplinary research projects in the United States, South Asia, Africa, and South America, with her most recent work focused on environmental peacebuilding in Colombia and extractive governance in the United States. Her work has been published in World Development, European Journal of International Relations, Global Environmental Change, Conservation and Society, and Biological Conservation, as well as other journals. Dr Johnson received her PhD in Environmental Policy from the University Program in Environmental Policy at Duke University. She also holds an MA in Conservation Biology from Columbia University and an AB in Environmental Studies from Vassar College. Prior to joining the faculty at UIUC, Dr Johnson worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society – Afghanistan from 2007–2010.