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The chapters in the book’s third section efforts to decentralize and link up with local identify proposed peace parks and their possible communities are just window-dressing for top- benefits. While all the proposals demonstrate down, market-oriented interventions by inter- potential, the feasibility of several is question- national bureaucracies. able—not due to lack of resources (as donor As mentioned earlier, donors find the inter- interest is high), but because of lack of politi- national peace parks model attractive and may cal interest. This section, while inspiring, is help galvanize the establishment of shared weaker than the first two, because the feasibility management between border communities, for of implementing the proposed parks depends which state governments are not well-equipped. heavily on external factors. For example, Blundell and Christie call on A number of chapters discuss the different international partners to provide the funds processes that have been and could be used for a proposed international peace park along when creating an international peace park. Liberia’s borders in order to promote dialogue Some level of decentralization is inherent— between West African countries. and in itself problematic in most developing Ali concludes that “environmental coopera- countries, points out Dramé-Yayé et al. The tion is both a result of conflict mitigation and decision-making capacity of communities and leading to conflict reduction itself, in a dialecti- a cooperation model driven by bottom-up cal process of a non-linear and complex series of technical and situational demands are critically feedback loops in the conflict de-escalation pro- important to the success of such efforts, some cess” (p. 6). Peace Parks is a must-read for anyone authors argue. However, Duffy contends that interested in transboundary conservation areas. People on the Move: Reducing the Impacts of Human Migration on Biodiversity By Judy Oglethorpe, Jenny Ericson, Richard E. Bilsborrow, and Janet Edmond Washington, DC: World Wildlife Fund & Conservation International Foundation, 2007. 93 pages. Available online from http://www.panda.org Reviewed by JAMES D. NATIONS James D. Nations heads the Center for prompted and stymied by factors such as politi- State of the Parks at the National Parks cal boundaries, population growth, and envi- Conservation Association in Washington, DC. ronmental damage. As they work to protect he is the author of The Maya Tropical Forest: Earth’s biological diversity, conservation plan- People, Parks, and Ancient Cities (university ners and practitioners must increasingly con- of texas Press, 2006). sider the effects of human migration. In People on the Move: Reducing the Impacts of People have been migrating from one place to Human Migration on Biodiversity, co-authors Judy another since the first humans walked out of Oglethorpe, Jenny Ericson, Richard Bilsborrow, Africa into an uncertain future. Over the mil- and Janet Edmond point out that “responding lennia, our movement has become increasingly to migration is a relatively new concept for the complicated. Human migration today is both conservation sector” (p. viii). To help focus this 112 ECSP REPORT • ISSUE 13 • 2008–2009 response, this book provides conservation plan- rural, and rural-to-rural migration, pointing out ners and protected area managers with an excel- that studies of rural-to-rural migration are less lent overview of contemporary human migra- prominent in the literature than the other types, tion, emphasizing its impacts on biodiversity. despite the fact that it can have the most serious They stress, however, that they “seek solutions consequences for natural ecosystems. that work for people as well as the environment: In a chapter titled “Deciding Whether and for both local residents and, where possible, the How to Intervene,” the authors write that no single migrants themselves” (p. viii). blueprint can be applied “to prevent migration or People on the Move offers a clear, concise dis- avoid its environmental impacts” (p. 25). Rather, cussion of the movement of human populations interventions must be carefully selected for each across landscapes and across international bor- situation. This well-constructed chapter reviews ders. As the authors point out, approximately interventions that may help conservation planners three million people migrate across interna- and protected area managers prevent migration, tional borders each year, and the number of influence its course, or reduce its adverse impacts internal migrants may be 100 times as large. on biological diversity and local populations. The The book’s survey covers long-recognized fac- text is complemented by a detailed matrix of pos- tors in migration, such as growing populations sible migration interventions—from local to glob- and increasing natural disasters, but it also dis- al scales—that considers such factors as areas of cusses emerging issues, such as globalization, origin, areas of destination, armed conflict, poli- climate change, and the increasing number cies, and the parties involved. of civil wars in the last century. Most impor- As the authors point out, People on the Move tantly, the authors provide documented case reviews “what’s in the tool kit” for confront- studies, maps, and graphs, as well as an action ing human migration in biodiversity-rich areas plan to improve our understanding of migra- (p. 29). They acknowledge that “it is too early tion and create effective approaches to mitigat- to draw conclusions about the most effective ing its impacts on the biological foundations interventions, because there are few docu- of human life on Earth. As they indicate, their mented examples and little monitoring of out- goal is to prompt “the development of practi- comes” (p. 55). However, their action plan is cal tools and new approaches for conservation designed to remedy these gaps and help coun- practitioners in the future” (p. viii). ter the ecological problems human migration After defining migration and outlining its can cause. potential impacts, the authors dedicate the In sum, these nine brief chapters of well-writ- bulk of the book’s chapters to 13 case studies in ten text present a state-of-the-art guide to human high-priority natural areas in Africa, Asia, and migration for conservation researchers, planners, Latin America. Each case study presents the fac- and practitioners. The book concludes with an tors that prompted the migration, the resulting illustrated and annotated list of published and impacts on ecosystems and human populations, online resources in this too-long neglected field. and what, if any, attempts were made to alter the As population growth, climate change, and outcome. Ten of these cases involved some form civil unrest continue, People on the Move will of intervention that altered migratory patterns in help guide our search for viable solutions to the high-biodiversity environments or mitigated the environmental impacts of human migration. impact on natural ecosystems and local people. The book will be useful to strategic planners Together, the case studies provide an excellent and on-the-ground practitioners of biodiversity overview of the complex “push” and “pull” fac- conservation throughout the world, as well as tors that prompt individuals, families, and com- to researchers seeking to understand the causes munities to move from one location to another. and consequences of the increasing movement of The authors look at rural-to-urban, urban-to- human populations in the 21st century. 113 ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND SECURITY PROGRAM.

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