The Political Ecology and Economy of Protected Areas and Violence: a Case Study of the Conflict of the Kivus in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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The Political Ecology and Economy of Protected Areas and Violence: a Case Study of the Conflict of the Kivus in the Democratic Republic of Congo The Political Ecology and Economy of Protected Areas and Violence: a Case Study of the Conflict of the Kivus in the Democratic Republic of Congo Helga Rainer A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography and Environment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, September 2013 The London School of Economics and Political Science 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 71,729 words. I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Alison Porteous, Vicki Harley, Karisa Gichuku and Esmeé Gichuku. 2 Abstract The role that national parks play in violent conflict has rarely been discussed. Conflict literature focuses on the interaction of specific natural resources on the initiation and perpetuation of war and debate has emphasised the degree to which resource scarcity and abundance are pertinent. The role of space, particularly environmentally-significant areas, in shaping these trajectories has been subject to limited interrogation. Drawing from political economy literature, the dissertation explores the relationship between occupation of these spaces by armed groups and the desire to acquire financial and material resources. Furthermore, by situating the study sites within their historical and political context, the dissertation also investigates linkages to political ecology models which seek to explain how environmental changes shape wider political and economic processes and how they in turn shape environmental change. This work undertakes a case study approach, focussing on two national parks in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that have been subject since the 1990s to the world’s deadliest conflict in the post-World War II era. By mapping conflict related health data in proximity to the case study sites, comparisons between the two sites were possible due to similar geographic attributes (namely protected area status) and political context. Positive linkages between levels of violence as a result of the armed conflict were established across both sites. Higher levels of violence in proximity to the national park that lacked valuable conflict-related resources point to the relative importance of location versus the economic benefit of occupying these spaces. This is substantiated by qualitative analysis across the two sites and a household survey around one. Therefore, it is concluded that national parks influence violence by virtue of their status as state-owned entities; by their possession of valuable resources; and by the strategic value of their location. Hence, it may be argued that the role of environmentally-significant spaces in armed conflict is worthy of further empirical analysis in studies of political ecology. 3 Table of Contents Declaration ................................................................................................................. 2 Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures and Appendices .............................................................................. 7 Acronyms ................................................................................................................. 12 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 14 SECTION 1: SITUATING CONSERVATION AND ARMED CONFLICT: THEORETICAL, CONTEXTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................... 16 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 16 Rationale of study ............................................................................................... 20 Thesis structure ................................................................................................... 21 1 Violent conflict, natural resources, borders and national parks ................... 31 1.1 Political economy and grievance based theory of war ......................... 37 1.1.1 Greed and violent conflict .................................................................. 38 1.1.2 Grievance and violent conflict ........................................................... 42 1.1.3 Spatial dimensions to conflict: greed, grievance and borders ...... 44 1.2 Political ecology of violence ..................................................................... 54 1.2.1 Location, classification and type of resources ................................. 56 1.2.2 Geography and civil war .................................................................... 60 1.2.3 Political ecology and protected areas ............................................... 65 1.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 70 2 .....The History of national parks and armed conflict in the Kivus of Eastern DRC ........................................................................................................................... 74 2.1 The creation of the weak state of Zaire ................................................... 75 2.2 Regionalization of the conflict .................................................................. 77 2.2.1 The ‘civil war’ in Zaire and the ‘international war’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo ..................................................................... 77 2.2.2 The end of ‘civil war’ and the transition .......................................... 82 2.3 The Kivus, Kinyarwandans and land ...................................................... 84 2.3.1 The History of Kinyarwandans in South Kivu ............................... 85 2.3.2 The History of Kinyrwandans in North kivu ................................. 87 2.4 Post election factions in the Kivus ........................................................... 90 2.4.1 Formation of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda………………………………………………………………………..91 2.4.2 Rwanda, Nkunda and the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple................................................................................................................ 97 2.5 Communities, conflict and conservation in the DRC: the creation of Virunga and Kahuzi Biega national parks ........................................ 101 2.5.1 Virunga National Park – creation of Africa’s first park and impacts of conflict ......................................................................................... 103 2.5.2 Context and creation of Kahuzi Biega National Park .................. 108 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 112 3 Research design and methodology ................................................................. 116 3.1 Emergence of localized research in conflict studies ............................ 119 3.1.1 Development and value of sub-national datasets ........................ 121 3.1.2 Challenges of identifying relevant variables to analyse and defining local.................................................................................................. 123 3.2 Methods for research ............................................................................... 126 3.2.1 Qualitative data collection ............................................................... 127 3.2.2 Case studies ........................................................................................ 128 3.2.3 Geographic information systems .................................................... 132 3.2.4 Individual level conflict data collection methods ........................ 133 3.3 Challenges of collecting data from conflict areas ................................ 138 3.4 Main research questions and methods used ........................................ 140 3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 142 SECTION 2: ESTABLISHING AND UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATIONAL PARKS AND ARMED CONFLICT IN THE KIVUS OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ............... 146 4 National parks and levels of violence: The case of Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Parks ........................................................................................ 146 4.1 Sexual violence and conflict related injury data collection methods and challenges ....................................................................................... 149 4.2 Sexual violence, conflict related injury and parks: the case of the Central and Southern sectors of Virunga National Park ................ 153 4.2.1 Results of Injury data from the Central and Southern sectors of VNP…………………………………………………………………………..164
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