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Green Militarism and Its Effects on Local Inhabitants ______ Green Militarism and its Effects on Local Inhabitants ___________________________________________________________________________ Master Thesis Political Science: International Relations Author: Flynn Nash Supervisor: Michael Eze Student Number: 1159885 Second Reader: Luc Fransen 22, June 2018 Word Count: 17,582 1 Contents Acknowledgements: ................................................................................................................................ 3 Abstract: ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Abbreviations: .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Literature Review ................................................................................................................................. 9 3.0 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Conservation ................................................................................................................................ 14 3.2 Neoliberal Conservation .............................................................................................................. 15 3.3 Conservation Security .................................................................................................................. 19 4. Research Design ................................................................................................................................. 20 4.1 Methodology................................................................................................................................ 20 4.2 Case Selection .............................................................................................................................. 22 4.3. Data ............................................................................................................................................. 24 5.0 Case Study ........................................................................................................................................ 24 5.1 Historical Overview of the Conflict in the DRC ............................................................................ 24 5.1.2 Belgian Congo 1885-1960 ..................................................................................................... 25 5.1.3 Independence ....................................................................................................................... 26 5.1.4 Congolese Wars .................................................................................................................... 27 5.1.5 Present Day Crisis ................................................................................................................. 28 5.2 International Involvement and Influence .................................................................................... 29 5.3 Natural Resources ........................................................................................................................ 30 5.4 Virunga National Park .................................................................................................................. 31 5.4.1 History ................................................................................................................................... 31 5.4.2 Funding ................................................................................................................................. 32 5.4.3 Militarization and Legitimization .......................................................................................... 33 5.5 Neoliberalizing Conservation in Virunga National Park............................................................... 35 5.6 Militarization and Increase in Displacement, Refugees and Attacks .......................................... 36 6.0 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................ 38 6.1 Creation of Virunga brought Profound Change ........................................................................... 38 6.2 Present Resistance and Growing Distrust ................................................................................... 41 6.3 Local Inhabitants and Armed Groups .......................................................................................... 43 6.4 Further militarization ................................................................................................................... 45 6.5 Effects on Aid ............................................................................................................................... 47 2 7.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 49 8.0 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 51 3 Acknowledgements: I would like to express my gratitude to my Professor, Michael Eze, for his support, patience, knowledge and invaluable feedback throughout my studies. I am also grateful to my fellow classmates in the African Renaissance research project, for their support and friendly advice. Lastly, I would like to thank Mom for her unrelenting love and encouragement, without her my studies abroad would not have been possible. 4 Abstract: In response to the loss and destruction of biodiversity, we have witnessed an rise in green militarization, also known as armed conservation, which refers to an increase in the use of military tactics and methods by nature conservation groups in 'defense of the environment'. Green militarization primarily takes place in protected areas that are already experiencing internal conflict and violence. Yet, how does this ongoing militarization affect local inhabitants and communities? This thesis examines the historical and contemporary drivers of the conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic of the Congo, and what led to the militarization of Virunga National Park. I follow up with an in-depth analysis of the adoption of green militarization undertaken by Park management in response to conflict with various armed militia groups, as well as the consequential impacts this has had on local inhabitants in and around the Virunga area. 5 Abbreviations: AFRICAN CONSERVATION FUND ( ACF) ALLIANCE DES FORCES DÉMOCRATIQUES POUR LA LIBÉRATION DU CONGO (AFDL) ALLIED DEMOCRATIC FORCES (ADF) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC) EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC) FORCES ARMÉES DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO (FARDC) FORCES DÉMOCRATIQUES DE LIBÉRATION DU RWANDA (FDLR) INSTITUT CONGOLAIS POUR LE CONSERVATION DE LA NATURE (ICCN) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION (IO) INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC) MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES (MSF) NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP) PROTECTED AREAS (PAS) RWANDAN PATRIOTIC FRONT (RPF) RWANDAN ARMED FORCES (RAF) UNITED NATIONS (UN) 6 1. Introduction In response to the destruction of biodiversity, green militarization, also known as green violence, armed conservation or the militarization of conservation, has been increasing at an unparalleled rate, especially in Africa (Verweijen and Marijnen, 2016; 1; Lombard, 2015; Lunstrum, 2014). Green militarization refers to the increase of military tactics and methods used by nature conservation groups in defense of the environment (Lombard, 2015; Lunstrum 2014; Duffy 2014). However, we have seen a shift in these conservation groups, from ‘defenders of the environment’, to a war by conservation, in which an evolved militarized response has put these groups on the offensive instead of the defensive (Duffy, 2014). Scholarly descriptions of green militarization often show two distinct groups of people involved. The first group is comprised of militarized actors or protectors of biodiversity, such as Park guards or other armed forces, who use varying kinds of authority and violence in pursuit of ‘saving the environment’. The second group consists of local inhabitants who are usually the victims of this control; they are uprooted from their homes and lands and are forced to face new inexplicable challenges (Duffy, 2014; Lombard, 2015). This aggressive militarized response has expanded beyond protected areas (PAs), into the local communities that surround it (Duffy, 2014). In such descriptions, the effects of armed conservation on local inhabitants is devastating, and only reinforces a prevailing narrative that prioritizes the livelihood of biodiversity to the lives of local inhabitants (Lombard, 2015). Engagement between these militarized actors and local inhabitants generally include descriptions of use of force, dispossession of land and resources, the redrawing and enforcement of borders and other objectives relating to control and power that connect economic benefits to conservation practices (Lombard, 2015). Green militarization draws upon techniques from imperialism, in which a militarized response to conservation is normalized and justified through a narrative of security and through establishing control over military matters
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