LANDMINES and LAND DEGRADATION: a Regional Political Ecology Perspective on the Impacts of Landmines on Environment and Development in the Developing World
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LANDMINES AND LAND DEGRADATION: A Regional Political Ecology Perspective On The Impacts Of Landmines On Environment And Development In The Developing World By Asmeret Asefaw Berhe A Masters Paper Submitted to Michigan State University In Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Resource Development 2000 ABSTRACT LANDMINES AND LAND DEGRADATION: A Regional Political Ecology Perspective On The Impacts Of Landmines On Environment And Development In The Developing World By Asmeret Asefaw Berhe Landmines are one of the most serious aftermaths of wars facing the world today. Although the landmine calamity is typically described as a purely medical or social problem, this study examines the environmental concerns of the crisis in the developing world to demonstrate how it transcends both humanitarian and sociological concerns to bring about ecocide. Disruption of land’s stability, pollution, and loss of biodiversity add to limited and already overtaxed natural resource base of countries in the developing world to lower the productivity of land and result in land degradation. This study is designed to illustrate the interrelationships between the different environmental and socio-economic problems in order to understand the problem better and search for practical policy responses. A pioneering application of the conceptual framework for studying human- environment relationships – regional political ecology – is employed in this study. This study endeavors to demonstrate how regional political ecology, a conceptual framework that qualitatively integrates both societal and ecological concerns, can better describe the extensive effects of landmines, in order to contribute to the resolution of the landmine crisis through a more inclusive assemblage for environmental, social, economic and political variables than has been explored previously. Through an electronic mail survey and interview with professionals working in areas related to landmines, peace research, environmental management and law, and extensive archival research, findings from this study demonstrate the ability of the regional political ecology framework to capture many variables and interrelationships related to the landmine-environment nexus. Findings from this research demonstrate the ability of the regional political ecology approach to anticipate various heretofore unaddressed factors in the problem area. This research illustrates the complexity of the issues and interrelationships between the issues surrounding the degradation and management of landmine-affected environments. Findings of this study also indicate some of the impediments to resource management policy initiatives that are meant to assuage the pressing environmental, socio-economic and political crises. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research process has been a great learning experience for me. I am greatly indebted to my advisor in the Department of Resource Development, Professor Eckhart Dersch, for his erudite guidance, boundless patience and assistance in my Master’s research and throughout my graduate studies at Michigan State. I would also like to thank my thesis committee at Michigan State University – Professors Michael Thomas and Larry Leefers – for graciously agreeing to serve on my committee and giving me their invaluable advice. I would like to thank all the practitioners that participated in the study, their knowledgeable and thoughtful contributions to my research has resulted in successful completion of the study. I would particularly like to express my gratitude to Dr. Arthur Westing, at Westing Associates in Environment, Security and Education, Ms. Ananda Millard at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo and Ms. Karen Troll at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research for their invaluable insights and for providing me with many helpful materials. I want to express my dearest thanks to my friends Trish Redeker Hepner and Maite Salazar for their help during the research process. I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to my family, especially my father Asefaw Berhe and my mother Ghidei Woldeslassie, for their belief in me, persistence encouragements, and continuous help with locating and collecting scores of materials. Thank you for always being there to cater to my dreams; I could never find able words to describe my love and appreciation, I am just blessed for having you both. iv Table of Contents List of Tables viii List of Figures ix CHAPTER 1 ARMED CONFLICTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 1.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………….…. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem and Need for Research…………….... 3 1.2.1 Objectives of the Investigation…………………………. 4 1.2.2 Research Questions………………………………….…... 6 1.3 Impacts of War on the Environment……………………………… 7 1.4 Landmines ………………………………………………………….... 10 1.4.1 Background to the Global Landmine Crisis………….. 10 1.4.2 The Landmine Crisis of the Developing World – Issues of Paramount Concern…………………...……… 20 1.5 A Conceptual Framework for Problem Identification and Analysis……………………………………………………… 27 1.5.1 Introduction to Land Degradation……………………... 27 1.5.2 Theoretical Context ………………...………………….… 29 1.6 Plan for the Thesis ………………………………………………….. 32 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Paradigms in Land Degradation Research…………………….… 34 2.1.1 Regional Political Ecology………………………………. 34 2.1.2 Land Management, Managers………………………..... 39 2.2 Land degradation: Concepts, Principles and Causes…………… 40 2.3. Landmines and the Environment – Causal Links………...…… 44 2.3.1 Environmental Impacts of Landmines……………….. 44 2.3.2 Land Degradation through Warfare, Landmines……... 48 2.3.3 Causal Links……………………………………….…….. 49 2.4 Sustainable Development……………………………………….…. 52 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Qualitative Research……………………………………………. 57 3.1.1. Qualitative Paradigm for the Research………………. 57 3.1.2. The Research Approach……………………………... 58 3.2 Research Design………………………………………………... 61 3.2.1. Data Collection………………………………………. 62 3.2.2 Analysis Procedures…………………………………. 64 v CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 General Statement of the Results ………………………………. 67 4.2 Categorization of Landmine Effects …………………………… 69 4.2.1 Environmental Dimension: Effects of Landmines on Land Degradation………………………………... 69 4.2.2 Socio-Economic Dimension: Effects of Land Degradation on Society…………………………….. 87 4.3 Interrelationships in the Landmines-Environment Nexus… 90 4.4 Implications for Sustainable Regional Development: Development With Landmines and in the Aftermath……….. 96 4.5 Political Dimension: Implications on Management and Conservation Policies…………………………………………... 99 CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Summary: Regional Political Ecology and Landmines…….. 110 5.2 Challenges Ahead………………………………………………... 114 5.3 Limitations of this Study……………………………………….. 115 5.4 Recommendations for Future Study…………………………. 116 5.5 Concluding Thoughts……………………………..………………... 118 Appendixes 1. The Most Common Types of Anti-Personnel Landmines….. 120 2. Description of Blast and Fragmentation Mines………….…. 122 3. Countries Worst Affected by Landmines…………………….. 124 4. Questionnaire Cover Letter…………………………………….…... 126 5. Questionnaire………………………………………………….... 128 6. Unprocessed Responses from the Questionnaire…………… 134 Bibliography……………………………………………………………….. 145 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Number of landmines per square kilometer in some of the affected countries of the world………………………………………………….. 15 1.2 Number of landmines per person in some of the affected countries of the world………………………………………………………………. 16 1.3 Human development ranking of mine affected countries………… 21 1.4 Countries with reported severe landmine problems………………. 22 4.1 Average heavy metal concentrations after landmine detonation… 76 4.2 Average heavy metal concentrations at the center of explosion after landmine detonation……………………………………………. 76 4.3 Species of living things facing risk of endangerment ……………. 78 4.4 Levels and elements in decision-making………………………….. 106 6.1 Description of blast and fragmentation mines…………………….. 119 6.2 Unprocessed responses from the questionnaires …………………. 131 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Countries most threatened by landmines………………………………….. 13 1.2 Source and destination of landmines…………………………………..….. 25 4.1 Increasing land degradation over time……………...……………… 82 4.2 Triangular relationship between landmines, environmental degradation and underdevelopment………………………………… 90 4.3 Explanation of the phenomena and policy responses for land degradation and rehabilitation for developing countries………… 101 6.1 Most common types of antipersonnel landmines ………………… 117 6.2 Countries most affected by landmines ………………………….…. 121 viii CHAPTER 1 ARMED CONFLICTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 1.1 Introduction This research contributes to the understanding of the environmental1 repercussions due to landmines. It explores the environmental and socio-economic impacts2 of landmines within the framework of land degradation. Furthermore, this inquiry provides a renewed opportunity to examine the different ways landmines can affect the natural environment, a society’s relationship with the environment and regional development. Regional political ecology is a recently emerging area of critical thinking and analysis that combines the concepts of political economy and ecology in the process of trying to understand the relationships between society and the natural environment (Keil et al., 1998). The menace of landmines left behind after an armed conflict is an enormous threat for both people and the environment.