Negotiating Conservation in the Midst of Armed Conflict

Date & Time
Jun 18, 2026 | 16.00 - 17.30

Location
CRX 408

Participants
Chair: Elaine Lan Yin Hsiao, Kent State University / IUCN CEESP Theme on Environment and Peace (United States)
Alison Harley, WWF International (Myanmar)
Eoghan Darbyshire, Conflict and Environment Observatory (United Kingdom)
Sushil Raj, Wildlife Conservation Society
Mohammad Khadim Habibzai, War Child Canada (Afghanistan)
Tim Stork, Tilburg University (Netherlands)

This roundtable brings together a group of diverse experts to explore different ways that state and non-state actors engage in various forms of cooperation or negotiated co-existence in order to sustain conservation activities, conduct research (including documentation of ecocrimes and randomized control trials), maintain traditional livelihoods, and to provide conservation benefits to local communities. Natsuno Shinagawa: Eastern DRC examples of sustaining conservation and natural resource management with local community engagement Eoghan Darbyshire: Assessing conflict-linked damage to protected areas in Ukraine Adrian Garside: South Sudan examples of sustaining conservation management during civil war, amidst armed group recruitment and changing territorial control Adal Rhoubeid: Niger examples of maintaining traditional livelihoods to build resilience to both armed group recruitment and climate change