Integrated post-conflict development to protect Prioritized Plant Species in Colombian dry forests

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Integrated post-conflict development to protect Prioritized Plant

Species in Colombian dry forests

Interdisciplinary honours extension bachelor thesis Reineke van Tol Future Planet Studies; major biology

University of Amsterdam Supervision: Dr. ir. Gerard M. Verschoor (WUR),

Dr. Suzette G.A. Flantua (UvA) June 2017

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2 Abstract

The long-lasting armed conflict in Colombia has led to severe environmental damage in some places, however also to protection of biodiversity in many places. Now that a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) has been signed recently, new threats for biodiversity emerge. The expected post-conflict rural development, will likely result in deforestation and environmental damage in order to allow socio-economic development. Particularly vulnerable and endangered plant species in the tropical dry forest are at risk. In this study, the theory of ecological development is applied to provide an integrated strategy for post-conflict rural development that allows for socio-economic development, while conserving prioritized plant species (PPS) in the Colombian dry forest. Results of this study are important for current and future post-conflict development both in Colombia and other conflict nations.

Keywords: Agroforestry, Colombia, Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), Community-Based Recovery (CBR), Conservation, Dilemmas of Common Aversions, Ecological Development, Ecosystem Services, Ecotourism, Environmental Peacebuilding, FARC-EP, Important Plant Areas (IPAs), Post-Conflict Rural Development, Prioritized Plant Species (PPS), Tragedy of the Commons, Tropical Dry Forest (TDF)

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4 1. Introduction

For over half a century, many parts of the biodiverse tropical forests and mountainous regions in Colombia have been terrain of civil conflict. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) is the largest rebel group that has severely impacted humanity and the environment, but other illegal armed groups and paramilitaries have been active as well. The focus in this study lies on the impact of the FARC-EP. In some areas, the conflict has resulted in severe environmental damage and deforestation due to (illegal) crop production and mining practices, such as coca cultivation and gold mining. This has also led to environmental pollution by toxic herbicides used for coca crops and water pollution due to mercury dumping as part of the gold mining process. Moreover, environmental disasters took place due to attacks on oil infrastructure, such as the attack on the trans-Andean oil pipeline in June 2015 (Morales, 2017).

However, although in some parts of the country the armed conflict period has led to environmental damage, many biodiverse areas have benefited from the inaccessibility of conflict regions, mainly occupied by left-wing guerillas and paramilitaries among which the FARC-EP. During this period, human pressure on biodiversity decreased to a great extent, since the population and companies extracting resources were forced to move elsewhere. Biodiversity mainly profited from the absence of large scale mining and agriculture which allowed forests to regenerate or protected them from being cleared in the first place (Morales, 2017).

Recently, a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP has been signed to stop the conflict, at least with the largest guerilla group. Conflict areas now become available again for development, which will likely result in urban-rural movement to expand agriculture, housing and resource extraction. Demobilization of the FARC-EP could however also open up space for other guerillas and paramilitaries, which would impede the development process and continue the critical state for humanity. Assuming that former conflict areas will have the opportunity for socio-economic development, proper policies and their implementation are crucial. If prompt policies are lacking, economic development will likely result in deforestation, causing major losses of biodiversity (Negret

et al., 2017; Morales, 2017).

One example of how peace can threaten biodiversity is the situation in the Leuser ecosystem in Indonesia. Although the end of the civil war (2004) brought peace, since that time logging practices mainly for palm oil plantations have dramatically increased. According to Farwiza Farhan, winner of the Future for Nature Award 2017 and working for the HAkA foundation that protects the forest, nature and environment of Aceh (Sumatra) among which the Leuser ecosystem, says that in fact the consequences of peace are the most serious threat for the forest (Farhan, F., personal communication, June 22th_2017).

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In Colombia, one of the ecosystems that might have been impacted by the conflict, while profiting from inaccessibility and related decreased human pressure at the same time, is the tropical dry forest (TDF). Tropical dry forests are among the most threatened ecosystems in Colombia and have been poorly studied (Wilson, 1988). Over 90% of the TDF in Colombia has already been lost due to deforestation (Pizano & García, 2014) and protection of remaining patches is highly inadequate (Banda

et al., 2016). The prolonged dry season of 4 to 7 months that this forest experiences, creates a unique

habitat for mainly specialized species (Wilson, 1988), among which many endemic and endangered plant species (Pizano & García, 2014). At the same time, dry forest soils are very suitable and easy to clear for agriculture (Murphy & Lugo, 1986). The combination of these factors makes dry forests highly prone to deforestation for rural development and consequently loss of unique biodiversity.

While clearing the forest gives opportunity for economic development on the short term, on the long term land degradation and the loss of ecosystem services will rather be a threat to society. Negret

et al. (2017) state that there is urgent need for post-conflict conservation planning in Colombia to protect

biodiversity hotspot areas from becoming deforested. Baptiste et al. (2017) also stress the importance of biodiversity conservation for ecosystem services such as flood and drought protection, crop pollination, CO2 storage and food and energy supply. Moreover, they state that environmentally friendly

rural development can contribute to the peace-building process.

The advantage of peace-building through sustainable development is also urged by Milburn (2012), who introduces the concept of ‘ecological development’ to promote peace-building and ensure both biodiversity conservation and human welfare. This theory uses management and development of biodiversity and natural resources for sustainable and peaceful post-conflict rural development. It aims to preserve and promote biodiversity while allowing for social and economic development and political stability, now and in the future. This theory will be used here as a theoretical framework.

This research extends on a spatial analysis study investigating the protection status of endangered and vulnerable dry forest plant species in the Colombian dry forest (van Tol, 2017). Important Plant Areas (IPAs) for conservation have been identified, based on the occurrence of a significant proportion of Prioritized Plant Species (PPS) in an area relative to the local or global population. It was found that the protection status of PPS in the TDF is very poor and urgently needs attention for conservation. To investigate the threat of post-conflict development for TDF-PPS, I expand the previous study with a spatial analysis on subjects related to the FARC-EP conflict. The theory of ecological development is applied to come to an integrated strategy for post-conflict rural development that ensures both human welfare and conservation of prioritized dry forest plant species. First I elaborate on the theory of ecological development (Ch. 2), after which I present my research questions (Ch. 3). All sub-questions are answered chronologically (Ch. 4.1 – 4.6) and are in the end integrated (Ch. 5) to answer the main question and to provide a discussion (Ch. 6) and conclusion (Ch. 7).

Results of this study are important for current and future rural development and biodiversity conservation in Colombia. The study can be used as a tool to implement ecological development in

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former conflict regions. Moreover, successfully integrated post-conflict rural development can be an example for many other conflict nations in the world that will face the same problem in the future.

2. Theory of Ecological Development

The theory of ecological development, introduced by Milburn (2012), is used as a theoretical framework in this study. Ecological development is proposed to be used as a framework to integrate socio-economic development and environmental conservation in a sustainable manner. The theory is based on the idea that all stakeholders in a region depend on the same ecosystem services and natural resources and that all would benefit from sustainable conservation. Unsustainable exploitation by all parties could lead to a tragedy of the commons; although extracting more than your opponent first leads to more gains, in the end all parties lose the resources and are impacted by the consequences. Milburn also uses another term for this and calls it mutual dependence in a shared eco-region. Opposite parties also share environmental threats that emerge from destroying natural resources. Such dilemmas of

common aversions could for example consist of landslides and soil degradation as a result of

deforestation.

Another assumption, that is related to the first, is that cooperation and collaboration in environmental conservation between stakeholders contributes to the peacebuilding process. This process, termed environmental peacebuilding, allows for dialogue and cooperation between opposite parties, which can contribute to the post-war recovery process. Altogether, the necessity to collaborate because of mutual dependence on resources and dilemmas of common aversions should build mutual trust between all stakeholders while conserving the environment.

Ecological development can work in an area if environmental management improves or ensures profit from ecosystem services for all involved parties. These ecosystem services include water quality, water regulation, soil quality, food availability, crop pollination, CO2 storage, climate buffering and

protection against landslides. All these ecosystem services are provided by healthy forests (Nasi et al., 2002) and would thus be promoted by limiting deforestation. Limiting deforestation on its turn contributes to conservation of prioritized plant species (PPS) in the tropical dry forest.

Milburn presents two case studies that implement ecological development. From these studies, it becomes clear that it is important to use a bottom-up, community driven approach instead of a top-down, governmental driven approach. Such a regional approach much better succeeds in bringing stakeholders together and building mutual trust. Milburn terms this community based natural resource

management (CBNRM) leading to community based recovery (CBR).

Also, he introduces the ‘Yellow berets’ concept (referring to the UN Green Helmets soldiers) that aims to involve former armed groups in environmental resource management. This could be an opportunity for, as Milburn calls it, gradual disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR). Moreover, it is a way to improve relations between rebels and communities.

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Furthermore, Milburn stresses the importance to install an ‘incubator of the state’; one organization that operates in many regions of the country. To be a successful incubator for ecological development, this could for example be a powerful nature protection organization.

3. Research questions

Following from my previous study on conservation of prioritized plant species in Colombia and from the current peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP, the theory of ecological development is applied to come to an integrated design for post-conflict development while protecting TDF-PPS. The following questions are answered in this research:

3.1 Main question:

How can ecological development be implemented to ensure both post-conflict socio-economic development and preservation of prioritized plant species in Colombian dry forests?

To follow the theory of ecological development, the below outlined sub-questions are addressed to provide an answer to the main question.

3.2 Sub-questions:

1. Which important plant area (IPA) is under most threat of post-conflict rural development? 2. What are specific threats for prioritized plant species (PPS) in this area?

3. What stakeholders play a role and what are their interests?

4. What are the shared ecosystem services and dilemmas of common aversions in the area? 5. What organization could function as incubator for ecological development?

6. What practical tools can be applied to integrate socio-economic development and plant conservation from a community based approach?

Each of the sections below (4.1 - 4.6) elaborate on one of the above outlined questions. The answers are integrated (Ch. 5) to provide a basis for the discussion (Ch. 6) and conclusion (Ch. 7).

4. Methods & Results

4.1

Choosing a focus area

The first sub-question was: Which important plant area (IPA) is under most threat of post-conflict rural

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To answer this question, data was needed on IPAs, FARC-EP presence and activity and on displacement of people from rural areas. Rural areas in which the FARC-EP has been continuously present and active and in which many people have been displaced are most likely to be subject to post-conflict development, since also many people will return to their land. To apply the theory of ecological development for protecting dry forest IPAs, the distribution of currently unprotected IPAs was used as well. Areas with a combination of these three aspects (unprotected IPAs, FARC-EP attackas and displaced people) would be most suitable for this study. The spatial analysis was done in ArcGIS 10.4.1. GIS data on the FARC-EP conflict was downloaded from the Geographic Information System for National and Regional Land-use Planning and Management in Colombia (Sistema de Información Geográfica para la Planeación y el Ordenamiento Territorial Nacional; SIG-OT), the Colombian environmental information system (Sistema de Información Ambiental para Colombia; SIAC) and the Environmental Systems Research Institute Colombia (ESRI Colombia). Layers of IPAs were obtained from my previous study (van Tol, 2017) in which IPAs were identified and mapped. Layers on the number of FARC-EP attacks, the number of displaced people, the extend of TDF and unprotected IPAs were used for analysis. Appendix 1 provides details of the used layers including a short description and their source.

All used layers were projected into GAUSS_BTA_MAGNA so that they were compatible for analysis. Layers of all years of displacement were merged to one layer (using the MERGE tool in ArcGIS) and then dissolved on department and municipality to obtain the total number of displaced people over the whole range of 1997 to 2011 in an area (using the DISSOLVE tool in ArcGIS, dissolve field: Municipality, Department; Statistics (SUM) on the number of displaced people). Also the FARC-EP attack layer was dissolved on municipality and department, summing the number of attacks over the years 2008-2015 to see which area was the most impacted. Then displacement and attacks were intersected with the layer showing the unprotected IPAs (using the INTERSECT tool in ArcGIS). The input maps are shown in figure 1. The output was dissolved on IPA ID, department and municipality and statistics were given for the number of attacks and the number of displaced people. Using the calculate geometry option in ArcGIS, also the area of each IPA was calculated. Further analysis was done in Excel (2016) and R studio 3.4.0.

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A.

B.

C.

Figure 1. Input map showing: A. Number of displaced people 1997-2011 B. Number of FARC-EP attacks 2008-2015 C. Unprotected IPAs.

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The intersection resulted in 5 potential Departments to focus on (Table 1).

Table 1 Potential focus areas resulting from the spatial analysis. Showing for each Department the municipalities in which unprotected IPAs occur, the number of IPAs, the total area (ha) of these IPAs, the number of FARC-EP attacks and the number of displaced people.

Department Municipalities IPAs IPA Area (ha) Attacks Displaced

ANTIOQUIA Sante Fe de Antioqia 1 33.2 1 976

CESAR Manaure Balcón del

Cesar

2 4766.3 3 6743

La Paz

LA GUAJIRA La Jagua del Pilar 3 6032.6 15 19540

Villanueva Barrancas Albania SUCRE Chalán 1 643.8 13 42658 Los Palmitos Ovejas Colosó VALLE DEL CAUCA Buga 3 1273.9 18 13075 Dagua San Pedro

A ranking was carried out in R studio (Appendix 2) in order to select the area scoring overall the highest on IPA area, attacks and displacement (Table 2).

Table 2 Result of ranking. Showing the rank numbers per area for each criterium. Highest rank numbers represent highest scores.

Department IPA Area Attacks Displaced Total

ANTIOQUIA 1 1 1 3 CESAR 4 2 2 8 LA GUAJIRA 5 4 4 13 SUCRE 2 3 5 10 VALLE DEL CAUCA 3 5 3 11

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B.

It turns out that La Guajira scores overall the highest. When zooming in on the area however, it turns out that the biggest IPA falls exactly at the border of La Guajira and Cesar (Figure 2 A). Therefore, these two areas were chosen together as focus area for the post-conflict analysis. The focus lies on the biggest IPA that spans over the municipalities of La Paz, Manuare Balcón del Cesar, La Jaqua del Pilar and Villanueva. It also extends over Urumita, in which no attacks occurred, but it contains a large part of the unprotected IPA and is the connection between the part in La Jagua del Pilar and Villanueva (see figure 2A). Therefore Urumita was added as focus area. In total, the combined IPA covers an area of 12228.7 ha. It was assigned the title IPA since it contains more than 1% (6 occurrences) of the global population of the vulnerable species Cavanillesia platanifolia (van Tol, 2017). The area also came out of that study as one of the three priority areas for conservation. Moreover, the two Departments contain more of the severely decreased, fragmented and degraded dry forest areas as well as many other PPS, which makes sustainable protection even more important (Figure 2 B).

Figure 3 shows the focus area for the criteria of FARC-EP attacks (A) and the number of displaced people (B).

Figure 2. The focus area with the combined IPA stretching over La Paz, Manuare Balcón del Cesar, La Jaqua del Pilar, Urumita and Villanueva (A), B shows the surroundings of this focus area with the extend of dry forest and the PPS occurring nearby.

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4.2

Identifying threats

In the second sub-question I asked: What are specific threats for prioritized plant species (PPS) in the

chosen area? This question is answered by analyzing expected sources of development that could form

a threat to TDF-PPS in and around the IPA.

4.2.1 Land use

To start, I analyzed what types of land use occur in around the IPA of interest. The land cover map represents the situation in 2008 (Appendix 1), but still gives a good impression of the threats emerging from the land use in the area (Figure 4). Two urban areas touch the IPA area, being the townships of La Paz and Balcón del Cesar. The main land use types in and around the IPA area seem to be mixed agriculture, pastures and grasslands, indicating intensive agricultural use. Also secondary forest appears as major land cover type, meaning that forest has regrown here after deforestation that apparently took place in the past. Only a minor part is considered as natural forest or shrubs as main land cover type. To verify this, I added a satellite imagery base map (Figure 5). The image shows that mainly on the West and North side of the IPA the land is indeed intensively being used for agricultural purposes. Looking Figure 3. Focus area shown for the criteria of FARC-EP attacks (A) and number of displaced people (B)

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into the official governmental information about the individual municipalities, it becomes clear that the main source of income in the region is indeed through agriculture and animal husbandry (Table 3). The information on the mission and vision of the Departments makes clear that these activities are aimed to expand in the future (Gobernación de La Guajira; Gobernación del Cesar), which might pose a threat to the TDF and its PPS.

4.2.2 Mining

Although mining is currently not a main source of income in most municipalities, geographical analysis in GIS as well as literature review indicates that coal mining is one of the biggest industries in the surrounding area and might expand to the focus area in the process of development. GIS data on carbon production for 2016 was obtained from SIG-OT (Appendix 1). The PAX report on coal mining in Cesar unravels the devastating consequences for humanity and the environment (Moor & van de Sandt, 2014). Colombia’s biggest coal mining company, Cerrejón, is situated in La Guajira and actively mines in the Figure 4. Land cover in and around the focus IPA. Figure 5. Satellite image of focus area, showing intensive agricultural

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area surrounding the IPA (Figure 6). From the map it becomes clear that other unprotected IPAs in La Guajira do fall in mining areas and that many PPS do so as well. The local governments consider the mining industry as an important factor for future economic development (Gobernación de La Guajira; Gobernación del Cesar). So although coal mining is not directly related to the FARC-EP conflict, the potential expansion of the sector after the conflict makes it an important threat to PPS in the dry forest IPA.

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4.2.3 Resettlement

Then, related to the expected post-conflict development, it is important to know mainly how many people have been displaced in this specific area over the last decades, since this is an indication for how many people will return to the area. This information was obtained from the combined layer showing displacement data for the years 1997-2011 (Figure 3B) and is displayed in Table 3. The table also shows the number of attacks per municipality to have an indication of the intensity of conflict in the past years (2008-2015). Combining the information on displaced people and economic activity gives an indication of threats related to the post conflict period that can emerge after resettlement (Table 3).

In the final peace agreement between the FARC-EP and the Colombian government is stated that rural development must focus on formerly existing, mostly family based rural production methods (OACP, 2016). These practices mainly consist of traditional small-scale farming practices, that are usually based on local resources and do not harm the environment (Altieri, 2009). As people come back, the agreement states that they get back their land as well (OACP, 2016). As a result, it is likely that more land is being used for agriculture and animal husbandry. To protect the TDF-IPA and its PPS, it is important to sustain the traditional resilient systems that have been used in the past. However, the local governments also stated goals to expand food production to external markets and thus to increase production (Gobernación de La Guajira; Gobernación del Cesar). It is therefore likely that production methods will shift towards more intensive forms that do harm the environment and do deplete resources.

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Table 3 Number of displaced people (1997-2011) and number of attacks (2008-2015) in the focus municipalities

Municipality Population 20151 _{Displaced people} _% _{Attacks Economy}2

La Paz 22.815 5.018 22% 1 Agriculture, livestock Manaure Balcón del Cesar 14.541 1.477 10% 1 Agriculture, livestock

La Jagua del Pilar 3.213 248 8% 1 Agriculture,

livestock Urumita 17.910 944 5% 0 Agriculture, livestock Villanueva 27.338 7.460 27% 1 Agriculture, livestock, mining, commerce Total 85.817 15.147 18% 4 1. DANE (2015)

2. Official governmental websites: http://www.municipality-department.gov.co ; see references for each individual municipality

4.3

Stakeholder analysis

In the process of peace and post-conflict development, different stakeholders have different interests (Figure 7), as well as differential power to defend their rights. In the area surrounding the IPA, the most important stakeholders consist of residents, displaced residents, the local and national governments, mining companies and environmental NGOs. Apart from the FARC-EP, other illegal armed groups and paramilitaries, such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Popular Liberation Army (ELP) and several other emerging organized armed groups known as BACRIM or GAO play a part in the peace process and are included as external stakeholder. The stakeholders and their main interests are explained in the section below.

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The local community will have safety, income, cultural traditions and land ownership as their most important concerns that they would like to defend and assign value to nature in general. These interests are the same for residents that have been displaced and probably return to the area. However, although the interests are the same, these parties may conflict just because of that reason.

For the local as well as the national governments, peace and socio-economic development in the Departments will be the most important goals. This will include expansion of farming, livestock and mining practices, which generate most income in the area. However, the national ministry of environment also stated goals for nature conservation, among which the conservation of the Tropical Dry Forest (IAvH, 2014). The local governments of La Guajira and Cesar set up a mission and vision for 2032 for their Departments in which they stated development of the tourist industry and expansion of both the agroindustry and the mining industry as most important goals. They want to become leader in organic food production and coal production to reinforce their trade position. All developmental practices should accompany social development and safety as well as water and food security and the preservation of the environment and its natural resources (Gobernación de La Guajira; Gobernación del Cesar). This is quite an ambitious vision and probably conflicting at some points. Meeting the goals would ask careful management, taking into account rights and needs of all involved parties, as well as considering the needs of parties without their own voice, such as the forest. The national versus local governmental parties differ mainly in their rights and power to make decisions in the area.

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Mining companies were considered as separate stakeholder, since actual mining practices are not carried out by the governments themselves, but by mining companies that have their own interests in the area. The main interests of these companies will be profits from mining practices and lasting resources so that they can continue mining. Cerrejón is the biggest coal mining company in Colombia and is situated in La Guajira. Their mission and vision is to become a leading producer and exporter of coal worldwide, while contributing to the development of municipalities and respecting the environment (Cerrejón, n.d.). The employees of the mining company live in the area and will have income as their main interest. At the same time they will share the affection with the surrounding nature with other locals. In the end, the employees don’t have much of a choice. Working for the mining company ensures income that they need to make a living.

Then the FARC-EP acts as another important stakeholder in the post-conflict period. Now the agreement has been signed, a phased process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) must evolve. The first needs of former combatants will be a safe place to live, to reintegrate to the community and the ability to earn money in an equal manner. The FARC-EP also agreed on sustainable agricultural development to protect important biodiversity areas (OACP, 2016).

Other guerrilla movements and paramilitaries such as the ELN, ELP and BACRIM/GAO must be taken into account as external stakeholder. They might not directly be involved, but they probably are interested in the space that is opening up after the FARC-EP is demobilized. Also for these actors it all comes back to making money and fighting for equality. However, as long as there is no peace agreement with these parties and the national government, it is best to prevent them from taking over the area and do not get them involved in the process too much, since they act with violence. For the peace for the people in the area around the IPA, presence of armed groups would only form a threat and ecological development will likely be impeded.

As last party in the peace process there are the NGOs and scientists that aim to conserve valuable nature while respecting and supporting local communities. The Nature Conservancy (NC) is one important actor that protects biodiversity in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain region, which is very close to the focus area. The NC is a privately owned, international nature conservation agency that could potentially act as coordinating actor in the area to manage the peace process. Initiatives for more local nature conservation foundations must be taken into account as well. They could play an important role in the process of ecological development.

The ambitions for socio-economic development stated by the local and national governments as well as by the FARC-EP and also the right and wish of the community to own land for agriculture and livestock farming, might conflict with the goal of nature conservation shared by several stakeholders. Careful management, probably in the form of ecological development must be applied to satisfy all the needs and ambitions while conserving the forest and its resources.

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4.4

Identifying shared ecosystem services and dilemmas of common aversions

Although the different stakeholders have different and often conflicting interests in the development process, one important fact is that they all depend on the same ecosystem services provided by the dry forest. Maass et al. (2005) identified the ecosystem services provided by a Tropical Dry Forest ecosystem, that are assumed to apply to the TDF in Colombia as well. These ecosystem services include (1) Water regulation and related provision of freshwater for consumption, agriculture and industries. Improved water regulation also prevents droughts and floods. (2) Climate regulation which expresses in buffering CO2, temperatures and precipitation, which helps preventing droughts, floods, storms and

extreme temperatures. (3) Soil fertility and stability through nutrient retention and prevention of soil erosion. (4) Bioregulation, in the sense of pest and disease control and crop pollination by natural pollinators. (5) Provision of food and other forest products such as wood and medicinal plants (6) Recreation and aesthetic value (Figure 8).

All stakeholders benefit in one way or another from these ecosystems that are provided by the TDF. Loss of ecosystem services due to unsustainable exploitation or even deforestation would lead to a tragedy of the commons; although extracting more of the resources than others first benefits one stakeholder, in the end the lost ecosystem services impact all actors. Moreover, overexploitation with the loss of the shared ecosystem services as a result can lead to dilemmas of common aversions that are disastrous for all parties. These dilemmas can include landslides, water pollution and scarcity, yield loss, climate extremes such as floods, storms, droughts and temperature extremes, soil degradation and economic losses. Although some stakeholders will be more directly impacted by the loss of certain

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ecosystem services, all actors would benefit from protection of this ‘shared ecoregion’. Also more distant stakeholders, such as the national government are impacted by the dilemmas relating to lost services, since these will inevitably be expressed in economic losses and deterioration of the area.

The fact that all stakeholders profit from the ecosystem services delivered by the dry forest and that they would all suffer when these services are lost, makes the situation suitable for the application of ecological development. The next sections discuss who should be responsible in this process of ecological development and how the theory could practically be implemented.

4.5

Allocating an Incubator for Ecological Development

The theory of ecological development is founded on the idea that environmental resource management is the key to a sustainable peace-building process. Involving all stakeholders in the process of shared resource management, would lead to mutual trust between parties, since they all depend on the same resources and would thus all benefit from sustainable management (Milburn, 2012). At the same time, endangered plant species, such as the PPS in the TDF-IPA would be protected.

Although it is important that all stakeholders are involved in the process, one party must lead the development. In the process of environmental peacebuilding, Milburn suggests to assign one actor that operates in several parts of the country to manage natural resources and that can be trusted. In the case of Colombia, this might not be a governmental organization, since Colombia scores quite poor on political stability and high on corruption (Mauro, 1995). Most conflict nations will have similar political problems. Therefore Milburn suggests to appoint a nature conservation agency as incubator to manage the peace building process in a specific area. Also Shackleton et al. (2002) stress that NGOs have a key role in successful resource management. In the case of Colombia this could be The Nature Conservancy, that is active through the whole country as well as internationally. This non-governmental organization focusses on protection and conservation of nature as well as supporting local communities and their traditional way of life. They implement methods to combine the two, such as sustainable cattle ranging and alternative forms of agriculture (The Nature Conservancy, n.d.). However, also smaller, more local nature conservation foundations could act as incubator. These could probably be initiated in the area.

After an incubator for ecological development has been assigned to lead the process of ecological development, it is important to mobilize all stakeholders to set up a form of community based natural resource management (CBNRM), since in the end it is not the incubator that should do the work, but the community that organizes its own community-based recovery (CBR). Only this way, real trust and willingness can be built in order to establish a future-proof peaceful development process that conserves the forest and its resources. In order to reach environmental peace from a regional, community-driven approach, local people must get the tools to do so. The next section elaborates on practical implementations to establish CBNRM in the focus area.

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In the 6

th

sub-question I asked:

What tools can be applied to integrate socio-economic development and plant conservation from a community based approach? These tools or practical steps

include mobilization of stakeholders, searching for alternative sources of income and reintegration of ex-FARC-EP combatants. These aspects are outlined below.

4.6.1 Mobilization

To initiate the process of ecological development it is important to make sure that all stakeholders get involved and get the opportunity to explain and defend their needs. Stakeholder sessions must be organized by the incubator or local actors to share knowledge on the ecosystem services provided by the dry forest. It is important that all actors realize what the forest brings them and how they could profit most from it. Although no actor will have bad intentions to the environment, it is important to stress the tragedy of the commons that will occur if resources are unsustainably extracted. When all actors are aware of the dilemmas of common aversions and how to prevent these, a state of mutual trust evolves and stakeholders see the necessity for collaboration. This will enhance the peace process.

What is important to take into account is what Farwiza Farhan (HAkA foundation) called ‘radical listening’ (Farhan, F., personal communication, June 22th_{2017); often the local communities has a}

traditional way of living that is in harmony with the environment. These people often know best how to respect and use local resources. Unsustainable exploitation is most often caused by external actors with no direct connection to the environment. It is therefore important to listen carefully to the locals.

4.6.2

Alternative sources of income

4.6.2.1 Renewable energy

To ensure sustainable use of resources while allowing for economic and social development, some traditional practices must find a new approach. Coal mining is inherently not a sustainable practice, since it exploits unrenewable resources. To ensure profits and lasting resources for mining companies, it would be wise to invest in alternative forms of energy, such as solar, hydro or geothermal power, which would be viable options for Colombia (Gaspary, 2008). This would ask a huge organizational transition, but would be a future proof solution and prevent dilemmas of common aversions that impact the mining company as well. A transition to renewable energy would in this case be better than simply leaving the area, since many people in the area are employed by the mining company and are dependent on it to make a living.

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4.6.2.2 Agroforestry

To meet the interests of most of the stakeholders as well as reaching a state of peace and conserving IPAs, one multifunctional concept is worth considering, namely agroforestry. Agroforestry is put forward as a concept that combines production and conservation in order to protect vulnerable species and biodiversity as well as to stimulate human well-being in areas where human development and nature are in conflict (Jose, 2012). This system allows more biodiversity in the farmland, which stimulates ecosystem services from which the system and its users benefit. Forest is combined with land for production and enhances both. It can also be applied on lands used for livestock farming.

Often the traditional farming practices of the community already are some sort of agroforestry, since they usually have only small patches of farmland and use local resources in a sustainable way (Altieri, 2009). However, through globalization and economic development after the conflict there might arise pressure for upscaling to satisfy the goals of the government to expand export of food. Upscaling is often thought not to be possible through agroforestry. However, if the principles of agroforestry are applied in the right way and local resources are thus used sustainably, this type of farming can be applied on larger scales as well (Altieri, 2009).

The ecosystem services provided by agroecosystems are practically the same as ecosystem services provided by the dry forest itself (Altieri, 1999; Jose, 2009) (Figure 8). Agroforestry systems are no substitute for natural forests, but they can contribute in conserving and enhancing the forest ecosystem services and can act as refugee areas for endangered species as well as a corridor habitat between forest fragments (Jose, 2009). These benefits make agroforestry production systems are future-proof and have already been proved effective and viable in the tropics (Steffan-Dewenter et al., 2007).

Looking back at the needs and interest of stakeholders and the shared ecosystem services that must be protected in order to achieve sustainable development, agroforestry could play a big role in bringing all of this together. It meets the needs of local and displaced communities in having land for production and generating income. Agroforestry could also boost the economy, which will satisfy the local and national governments. Former rebels could contribute to the conservation of resources through direct protection of the forest or by participation in agroforestry and generate income through this. As the land around the IPA is sustainably being used by means of agroforestry, the forest area will be protected and able to sustain its ecosystem services, which benefits all actors.

4.6.2.3 Ecotourism

Ecotourism could be an additional source of income for the local community and the local government. Ecotourism is aimed to be a sustainable way of traveling to biodiversity areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. This type of tourism generates direct income for local communities and for conservation purposes and contributes to a better status of an area (Barna,

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2009). However, in practice, ecotourism often does not meet its promises and should therefore be handled carefully. In many examples, ecotourism is top-down regulated by national governments or large investors. In the end they make the profit out of it, and local communities do not get their part (Coria & Calfucura, 2012). Though, in the concept of ecological development, ecotourism could work well since one core pillar is that processes are regulated bottom-up, which makes the local community more powerful to defend its rights. Still, financial and practical support will be needed from higher up. This would probably work best again by involving The Nature Conservancy as incubator. Successful ecotourism could not only contribute to the wellbeing of the local community, but as it conserves the forest it would also help protecting the PPS in the dry forest. Moreover, ecosystem services provided by the forest are preserved as well, which contributes to sustainable development of the area.

4.6.3 Reintegration: Yellow berets

To enhance the reintegration process of former FARC-EP combatants, the so called ‘Yellow Berets’ concept (Milburn, 2012) could be applied. In this approach former rebels are actively engaged in nature conservation practices, for example as forest rangers. They could also take part in the above outlined alternative sources of income. This approach would enhance the protection of the IPA and at the same time gives former combatants a new source of income, which helps preventing the generation of income through illegal practices such as cocaine production and gold mining. It also gives the disarmed rebels a good reputation in the community, which can smoothen the process of reintegration and collaboration.

5. Integration

When the theory of ecological development is applied as it should and all above aspects are taken into account, it could be a way of creating peace and development while conserving natural resources. The alternative sources of income that could be practically applied to meet the conditions of ecological development can satisfy the needs of basically all stakeholders, while enhancing or conserving ecosystem services (Figure 9).

To make the process of ecological development work through implementation of renewable energy, agroforestry, ecotourism and applying the yellow berets concepts, all stakeholders must be actively involved. Bottom-up regulation must be assured to make sure the local people can benefit from the development process and also to make it a future-proof strategy. Since only if people feel involved and get their profits, they will continue to contribute. The chosen incubator, in this case The Nature Conservancy, should provide tools and education for agroforestry and ecotourism where needed. However, most importantly they should listen to the local community and empower them to make their ideas work on a larger scale. Mining companies must consider to make transition towards alternative sources of energy that are more sustainable. For a transition to these new sources of income, local and national governments as well as the FARC-EP must provide financial support. Stakeholders must

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regularly come together to discuss the progress and to build on mutual trust. Only if all stakeholders stick to the ‘rules’ for sustainable exploitation, a future-proof and peaceful system can be established. What should be kept in mind at all times, is that no stakeholders have bad intentions. As cited from Farwiza Farhan: “In the end we all want to make a living”.

6. Discussion

There are some implications to my study that are mainly related to data availability and accessibility as well as to the fact that this was a short-running desk-study with no opportunity to visit the study area.

First of all, because of the fact that the topic for this project is so recent, not much data and literature was available yet. Data was also hard to obtain, partly because the topic is quite politically controversial and practices are largely illegal. Thereby I experienced that the availability and accessibility of data in general is not too good in Colombia. Because of the limited availability of data, there is a discrepancy in the timeframe of the data on the FARC-EP attacks (2008 – 2015) and the number of displaced people (1997 – 2011). Ideally these timeframes would have been identical, but they still gave a good impression of the impact of the conflict in a certain area. One more disclaimer must be placed on the conflict data, which is that the displacement data is likely not only to be influenced by the presence of the FARC-EP, but people were also forced to move by other guerrilla organizations and paramilitaries. However, for the total number of displaced people and the impact of the conflict in an area, this does not make a difference.

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Additionally, the best available land use data was from 2008. A more up-to-date dataset would have been more informative. Moreover I expect that because of the fact that my study is focussing on conflict areas, data availability has been influenced by the relative inaccessibility of areas occupied by the FARC-EP during the years of conflict. For that reason I expect especially plant occurrence records to be underrepresented or very old in conflict areas. Also data on coca, production and mining practices might be not optimal, since most of these practices are illegal and will not appear on publicly available maps. For the reliability of studies relying on spatial data in Colombia it would therefore be good to identify the degree of bias in the data and in general it would be valuable to improve data availability and accessibility.

Related to the social part of this study, the major implication is the fact that I didn’t have the opportunity to go the study area. Particularly the stakeholder analysis would have been more powerful if I had the opportunity to talk to local actors. Moreover, from such a distance it is hard to really know how organizations are structured and relations between actors take place in daily life. Also, I could only give educated guesses on how daily farming practices and other ways of economic income take place in the area. It would be very useful for future studies on ecological development to do an on-site study. In general, theories and implementation of ecological development or other forms of CBNRM need more attention to proof their strength and should be finetuned on how exactly they work best.

7. Conclusion

The main question in this study was: How can ecological development be implemented to ensure both

post-conflict socio-economic development and preservation of prioritized plant species in Colombian dry forests?

To answer this question I chose a focus area (Ch. 4.1) to be able to apply the theory of ecological development on an actual case. The municipalities of La Jaqua del Pilar, La Paz, Manaure Balcón del Cesar, Urumita and Villanueva in the Departments of La Guajira and Cesar together formed the focus area of this study based on the impact of the FARC-EP conflict, the number of displaced people and the presence of an important dry forest area, harboring more than 1% of the global population of the vulnerable species Cavanillesia platanifolia.

Threats for the dry forest IPA in this area related to the expected post-conflict development mainly consist of the expected expansion of agriculture, livestock farming and coal mining that is likely to result in deforestation and consequently loss of the TDF-PPS (Ch. 4.2).

To apply the theory of ecological development, I identified the most important stakeholders and their interest in the area (Ch. 4.3). The common ground from which the theory of ecological development departs is formed by the ecosystem services that are shared between the different stakeholders (Ch. 4.4). Also the loss of ecosystem services due to overexploitation of natural resources affects all involved stakeholders in a negative way. It is this mutual dependence on natural resources

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that must force stakeholders to work together to protect the environment and build mutual trust. One incubator, potentially the Nature Conservancy, should take the lead in the process of ecological development (Ch. 4.5).

A few practical steps can be implemented to conserve the TDF-PPS in this area by means of ecological development (Ch. 4.6). These steps depart from community based resource management that both conserves and uses ecosystem services and satisfies the needs of most stakeholders. As an alternative for coal mining, renewable sources of energy must be found to ensure economic gains and energy supply in a sustainable manner. Agroforestry can be applied and/or preserved as a sustainable way of farming that allows for growing food production while conserving the forest. Ecotourism could function as additional source of income that also helps protecting the dry forest.

It is very important to involve all stakeholders and to listen to them. Often the local community knows best what works best. To smoothen the reintegration of former rebels it is important to offer ex-guerillas another source of income. In this case they could contribute in direct conservation of the forest or by means of agroforestry, ecotourism or production of renewable energy. Because of the mutual dependence on local resources, trust between parties is crucial. If mutual trust is achieved, this would promote the peace process.

To conclude, based on this study it becomes clear that ecological development can contribute to the post-conflict peace and development process in Colombia while protecting vulnerable dry forest plant species, if sources of income are changed and mutual trust is built between stakeholders by conserving shared resources.

Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to thank my first supervisor Dr. ir. Gerard M. Verschoor (WUR), an expert in the field, who offered to supervise my project without even knowing me. It was an honour to work with Gerard and receive his supportive feedback, especially on the social part of the project, which is somewhat further from my field of study. It was very valuable to hear his experiences from Colombia, since I didn’t have the opportunity to go there myself. Gerard’s enthusiasm has motivated me a lot to dive into the project.

Additionally, I would like to thank my second supervisor Dr. Suzette G.A. Flantua for her advices and supportive enthusiasm. Also it was an honour to me to present my thesis at the symposium that she organized around my bachelor projects and other studies and initiatives in Colombia.

I would like to thank Dr. Mauricio Diazgranados for supplying the needed conflict data and for sharing is experience and thoughts on the topic.

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Front-figure:

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31 Appendix 1. Used GIS layers with a short description and their source

Name Description Source

BosqueSecoTropical_100K Shows most recent extend of the TDF in Colombia

SIAC

Cobertura de la Tierra

Landcover 2008

SIG-OT, IGAC

Displazamiento Forzado – Personas Expulsadas 1997 - 2011 Number of people that experienced forced displacement per municipality. Separate layers of each year were combined into one layer.

SIG-OT

FARC-EP Number of attacks by

the FARC-EP from 2008-2015 in a municipality

ESRI

Producción de Carbón Production of carbon (tonnes) in 2016 per municipality

SIG-OT

Unprotected IPAs Layer showing

currently unprotected IPAs for PPS of the TDF.

van Tol, 2017

Appendix 2. R script Ranking

data <- Focus_areas_full

Area <- Focus_areas_full$`IPA Area` Attack <- Focus_areas_full$Attacks Displ <- Focus_areas_full$Displaced

rank(Area) rank(Attack) rank(Displ)

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32 Appendix 3. Team of collaborators

Collaborator

Current

position

Affiliation

Responsibilities/contributions

Reineke S. van Tol Bachelor student Future Planet Studies/Biology University of Amsterdam Planning Research proposal Research Writing report Presentation Dr. ir. Gerard M. Verschoor

Assistant professor Wageningen

University & Research Department of Social sciences

First examiner

Providing relevant extra information Providing feedback Dr. Suzette G.A. Flantua Paleoecology & Landscape ecology group; Data analyst Computational Geo-Ecology group IBED University of Amsterdam Second examiner

Providing relevant extra information

Integrated post-conflict development to protect Prioritized Plant Species in Colombian dry forests