Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa
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Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa © 2014 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Angie Dazé Alec Crawford JANUARY 2016 © 2016 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Head Office The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is 111 Lombard Avenue, Suite 325 one of the world’s leading centres of research and innovation. The Winnipeg, Manitoba Institute provides practical solutions to the growing challenges and Canada R3B 0T4 opportunities of integrating environmental and social priorities with Tel: +1 (204) 958-7700 economic development. 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Tel: +41 22 917-8683 Fax: +41 22 917-8054 Cover photo credit: Alec Crawford Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa January 2016 Angie Dazé and Alec Crawford © 2014 The International Institute for Sustainable Development ii IISD REPORT JANUARY 2016 HUMAN MIGRATION AND ECOSYSTEMS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 2.0 Drivers and Impacts of Human Migration ........................................................................... 2 3.0 Migration in the Great Lakes Region ................................................................................... 4 4.0 The Case Studies ................................................................................................................. 6 Uganda: The Lake Albert Ecosystem ................................................................................... 7 Ethiopia: The Bale Mountains Ecosystem ............................................................................ 8 DRC: The Misotshi–Kabogo Ecosystem .............................................................................. 9 5.0 Analysis............................................................................................................................. 11 6.0 Recommendations for Conservation Practitioners .............................................................. 12 7.0 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 14 8.0 References ....................................................................................................................... 15 ACRONYMS BFE Bale Forest Enterprise BMNP Bale Mountains National Park BMU Beach Management Unit CBO Community-Based Organization DFR Department of Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries, Uganda DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ICCN Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature ICGLR International Conference on the Great Lakes Region IDMC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IDP Internally Displaced Person IISD International Institute for Sustainable Development ILO International Labour Organization IOM International Organization for Migration UNHCR United Nations Refugee Agency USDS United States Department of State WCS Wildlife Conservation Society © 2014 The International Institute for Sustainable Development iii IISD REPORT JANUARY 2016 HUMAN MIGRATION AND ECOSYSTEMS 1.0 INTRODUCTION For centuries, people in east and central Africa To achieve these objectives, the project carried have used migration as a strategy to respond to out research at three case study sites: the Bale shocks, sustain livelihoods and adapt to changes Mountains ecosystem in southern Ethiopia,1 in their environment. The drivers of migration the Misotshi–Kabogo ecosystem in the eastern are varied, ranging from the traditional seasonal Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and migration practised by livestock herders to the the Lake Albert ecosystem in Buliisa District in crisis-driven migration of those fleeing political northwest Uganda. The research was carried out persecution and conflict. Environmental through a mix of desk research, site visits and on- degradation is both a cause and a consequence the-ground surveys. The International Institute of migration, making it difficult for people to for Sustainable Development (IISD) conducted sustain their livelihoods in their communities the research in partnership with the Conservation of origin and exacerbating natural resource Development Centre, the Wildlife Conservation management challenges at their destinations. In Society and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Great Lakes region of Africa, these dynamics with the generous support of the MacArthur are increasingly complicated, with the drivers Foundation. and impacts of migration increasing in both scale and complexity. Beyond the direct impacts The purpose of this document is to synthesize of migration on the local environment, there learning from the three case studies and provide is a risk that the growing socio-environmental analysis and recommendations for addressing the impacts of migration may incubate or reinforce impacts of human migration on ecosystems. It is existing social tensions and institutional failures, intended for conservation practitioners working in turn further threatening the region’s critical in areas under pressure from migration, as well as ecosystems and the livelihoods these ecosystems development practitioners interested in gaining a support. better understanding of migration-conservation links. Conservation actors, including both policy- makers and practitioners, are not fully aware of the dynamics of migration and the potential impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity. The Migration and Conservation in the Great Lakes Region project attempted to address this gap by: (a) developing a methodology to better understand the drivers and impacts of migration on livelihoods, natural resources, ecosystems and biodiversity; (b) developing recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners working on these issues; and (c) developing a toolkit for conservation practitioners to help them design and implement conservation interventions that are sensitive to the existing and potential impacts of human migration on critical ecosystems. 1 Although Ethiopia is not typically considered to be part of the Great Lakes region, the MacArthur Foundation’s definition of the region includes the southern part of the country – see Section 3. © 2014 The International Institute for Sustainable Development 1 IISD REPORT JANUARY 2016 HUMAN MIGRATION AND ECOSYSTEMS 2.0 DRIVERS AND IMPACTS OF HUMAN MIGRATION In December 2014, the International natural disasters, environmental degradation or Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated the decreasing availability of important resources that international migrants, those people such as water and agricultural or grazing land who have left their home to settle in another (Oglethorpe et al., 2007). Migration decisions are country, represented 3.2 per cent of the world’s also influenced by the agency of the individual or population, or approximately 232 million people. household, which is “shaped by people’s social In addition, there are an estimated 740 million position in terms of gender, generation, class, internal migrants, who have moved within ethnicity and other social cleavages” (Van Hear, their own countries (IOM, 2014). Given the Bakewell & Long, 2012, p. 11). difficulties in accurately tracking migration, these numbers are likely underestimates. Among the Where migrants settle is often determined by international migrants, the number of South- “pull factors” that make a particular country or South migrants slightly exceeds the number of community an attractive option for those seeking people migrating from South to North. At the safety and security, new opportunities or a fresh end of 2014, almost 60 million people had been start. The availability of resources such as land, forcibly displaced, including 19.5 million refugees water and forests, employment opportunities, (86 per cent of which were hosted in developing and access to markets are often key factors, as countries), 33 million internally displaced people these are critical for initiating and sustaining and 1.8 million asylum seekers (UNHCR, 2015). livelihoods in the destination community. Other Among the internally displaced, approximately factors include safety and security, access to 19 million were displaced by natural disasters, services, and family or social connections. with 91 percent of them fleeing weather-related Depending on the context, migration may be hazards (IDMC, 2015). Given the dynamic temporary (for example, seasonal movements nature