Issue #319 – Mar 31, 2026

Announcements

CALL FOR ARTICLES on Post-War Forest Landscape Restoration (Special Feature in Sustainability Science)

March 30, 2026 | Sustainability Science

Please consider submitting a manuscript to an upcoming Special Feature in Sustainability Science focusing on post-war forest landscape restoration.

EnPAx Launches New Member Directory

March 30, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) is pleased to announce that it has launched a new online Member Directory. The directory is streamlined and searchable.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: EnPAx Award for Best Student Paper on Environmental Peacebuilding (8 May 2026)

March 25, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

At the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding (16-19 June 2026), the Environmental Peacebuilding Association will present the Award for Best Student Paper on Environmental Peacebuilding.

M.A. in Environment, Development, and Peace

March 24, 2026 | University for Peace

The Master of Arts Degree in Environment, Development, and Peace (EDP) provides comprehensive training in issues of sustainable development, environmental governance, natural resource management, and environmental conflicts from both ecological and social justice perspectives.…

Request for Proposals to Host the Sixth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

March 17, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

The Board of Directors of the Environmental Peacemaking Association® (EnPAx®) invites proposals to host the Sixth International Conferences on Environmental Peacebuilding in 2030.

Events

For more upcoming events on environmental peacebuilding, please visit our online calendar of events.

Fourth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

June 16, 2026 - 2026-06-19 Environmental Peacebuilding Association and University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Canada and online

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx®) and the University of Ottawa are delighted to announce that the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding will be held on June 16-19, 2026.

The Sudd Wetland: Lungs of the Nile Basin

April 29, 2026 - 2026-04-30 Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC USA, Juba, South Sudan, and online

Sitting in South Sudan in the basin of the White Nile, a healthy Sudd is essential to those who call it home as well as to our planetary wellbeing.

Blue Peace and Security: Building Momentum for Ocean Action in Environmental Peacebuilding (A Path to Ottawa Event)

April 28, 2026 Oceans Futures, World Wildlife Fund
Washington, DC

This event will familiarize the environmental peacebuilding community with WWF's Blue Peace Framework, increase the role of ocean conservation in environmental peacebuilding, and increase awareness of environmental peacebuilding in DC policy and conservation…

Nature and Wars Seminar 4: Pollution as a War Consequence

April 24, 2026 University of Oulu
Oulu, Finland and online

The University of Oulu is excited to share the SAFIRE + ANTS Nature and Wars seminar series for the coming months!

Nature and Wars Seminar 3: Protected Areas in the Wartime

April 17, 2026 University of Oulu
online

The University of Oulu is excited to share the SAFIRE + ANTS Nature and Wars seminar series for the coming months!

Defining Environmental Peacebuilding: Contributions from Colombia & Latin America (A Path to Ottawa Event)

April 14, 2026 Environmental Peacebuilding Association
Bogotá, Colombia and online

This three-hour hybrid event brings together environmental peacebuilding researchers, practitioners, students, and policymakers to engage with the EnPAx Glossary of Environmental Peacebuilding in Spanish — exploring its concepts, applications, and implications through the…

Nature and Wars Seminar 2: The Impact of Military Actions on Flora, Fauna and Funga

April 10, 2026 University of Oulu
online

The University of Oulu is excited to share the SAFIRE + ANTS Nature and Wars seminar series for the coming months!

Library

In the last two weeks, 10 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding.

A Rapid Assessment of Liberia’s Mining Sector, with a Focus on the Local Impacts on Forests and People

March 31, 2026
Forest Trends

The mining sector has long driven Liberia’s economy. But while the economy has grown, Liberia has not developed at the same rate.

Confluence Beyond Borders in a Changing Climate: Dialogue for Cooperation in Central Asia and Afghanistan

March 31, 2026 | Martina Klimes
Stockholm International Water Institute

This report examines the growing risks to water security in Central Asia and Afghanistan as climate change accelerates glacial melt, alters river flows, and increases the frequency of extreme weather events.

Regional Policy Coherence for the Great Green Wall Initiative: Restoring Land and Sustaining Peace: The Great Green Wall and the Climate–Peace–Security Nexus in Africa

March 31, 2026
Africa Union

Climate change poses an escalating threat to Africa’s development, peace, and security.

An Update on the Impact of International Sanctions on Myanmar’s Forest Sector: Four Years Since the Coup

March 31, 2026
Forest Trends

Since the February 2021 coup, importing countries have reported more than US$1. 45 billion in the import of forest product from Myanmar.

Species' Habitat Change over Twenty Years in Colombia's Tropical Dry Forests

March 30, 2026 | Maria Isabel Arce-Plata, Natalia Norden, Jaime Burbano-Girón, Guy R. Larocque, M.C. Díaz, Susana Rodríguez Buriticá, Germán Corzo, and Timothée Poisot
Ecological Indicators

Countries worldwide are working together under the Convention on Biological Diversity to tackle biodiversity loss.

Food Waste Management in SMEs: The Ukrainian Context

March 30, 2026 | Roza Sagitova, Volodymyr Filippov, Lidiia Voloshchuk, and Lisa Jack
British Food Journal

This study examines food waste (FW) management by food retail and food service SMEs in developing countries such as Ukraine.

Ethnic Land Rights as a Faustian Bargain? On the Afro-Colombian Struggle for Alternative Livelihoods and Its Limits

March 30, 2026 | Caroline Cornier
Progress in Development Studies

From the 1990s onwards, ethnic minorities in Latin America have been granted collective property rights to protect their natural livelihoods and culture from extractivism and armed conflict.

Integrating Islamic Peacemaking and Environmental Justice in Family Dispute Resolution [Video]

March 24, 2026
Environmental Peacebuilding Association

How can culturally grounded conciliation resolve land disputes that have lasted not just decades—but generations?

A Close Look at the OTP-ICC Policy on Environmental Damage [Video]

March 24, 2026 | Munini Mutuku, Daniëlla Dam-de Jong, and James Gondi
Environmental Peacebuilding Association

Environmental damage in conflict and post conflict societies, and its subsequent impacts on both ecosystems and the peoples’ human rights, has increasingly become a point of concern for practitioners from diverse fields.

Episode 756: Environmental Peacebuilding Law [Video]

March 20, 2026 | Metta Spencer
Project Save the World

Carl Bruch, an environmental lawyer who founded an organization looking into the impact of war on the environment. Alex Belyakov is a consultant producing, with Carl, an encyclopedia on this topic.

International News

In the last two weeks, 40 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Liberia: EU-Funded SCALES Project Launched to Bolster Land and Economic Security in Rural Liberia

March 30, 2026 | Christopher C. Walker
FrontPage Africa

The European Union-funded “Strengthening Community Actions for Land and Economic Security” (SCALES) project was officially launched in Monrovia on Thursday, March 26, 2026.

Myanmar: Peace, Money, Markets and Minerals in Myanmar

March 27, 2026 | Wesley Alexander Hill
Forbes

The race for critical minerals is usually framed as an industrial rivalry between the United States and China. But in some conflicts, these resources serve as an unexpected tool for peacemaking.

Iran: Iran Was Already Running out of Water. Then Came the ‘War on Infrastructure.’

March 26, 2026 | Frida Garza
Grist Magazine

Last week, following escalating attacks on critical energy and water facilities, the Israeli-US war in Iran entered a new stage.

Guinea/Liberia: Beyond Diplomacy: Resolving the Liberia–Guinea Border Question

March 26, 2026 | Monie R. Captan
FrontPage Africa

Border disputes are fundamentally legal—not political—matters. While diplomacy can ease tensions, it cannot substitute for legal resolution. Liberia and Guinea must seek clarity through international law.

Iran: Iran War’s Environmental Toll May Cause Decades of Damage, Health Risks: Experts

March 26, 2026
Associated Press

The Iran war has unleashed a toxic mix of chemicals, heavy metals and other pollutants that threaten everything from agriculture to drinking water to people’s health — and will leave behind environmental damage…

Blood Diamonds: Conflict Gems Continue to Fund Violence Despite Global Regulations

March 26, 2026 | Saniya Patel
CSR Journal

The term “blood diamonds” designates gems mined in war-torn regions and sold to finance armed conflicts.

Myanmar: New Generation of Myanmar Conservationists Deepen Their Connection to the Salween

March 25, 2026
International Union for Conservation of Nature

The Salween Youth Engagement Programme is part of IUCN’s pioneering Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) programme, which aims to build water governance capacities through learning, demonstration, leadership, and consensus-building in transboundary river…

Planet Launches New Initiative on Planetary Security

March 24, 2026 | Andrew Zolli and Andrew Hassanali
Planet Pulse

On a volatile and changing planet, the landscape of security risks is expanding, and our notion of security must expand with it.

Burkina Faso/Mozambique: How Gaps in Land Access Fuel Conflict: Lessons from Burkina Faso and Mozambique for 'Do No Harm' Approach

March 24, 2026 | Rick de Satgé and Luis Baquero
Land Portal

These cases are not exceptional. They reflect a systemic problem: the gap between who legally owns land and who can actually use it.

Egypt/Ethiopia: Egyptian Outrage as Ethiopia Announces Plans for More Dams on Blue Nile

March 24, 2026 | Saleh Salem
New Arab

Ethiopia has announced plans to construct three new dams on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River, sparking anger in Egypt, where there is concern that the projects will further…

Afghanistan: Water Crisis Deepens in Afghanistan as Families Struggle for Access

March 22, 2026
Ariana News

As the world marks World Water Day, Afghanistan is facing a worsening water crisis, with millions of people struggling to access safe and reliable supplies.

Israel/Palestine: Waterkeeper: How Water Can Be a Blueprint for Peace

March 22, 2026 | Pacinthe Mattar
Canadian Geographic

For Bashar Alshawwa, water is not just a basic need — it is both the heart of global inequality and the key to peace.

Iran: The Noxious Smoke Enveloping Tehran

March 19, 2026 | Ahmad Baydoun, Chris Osieck, Nilo Tabrizy, and Wim Zwijnenburg
New Lines Magazine

On the evening of March 7, the Israeli military confirmed that a new set of strikes on Iran was underway. This time, it was targeting fuel storage sites across the capital, Tehran.

Iraq/Kurdistan: Erbil, Baghdad to Form High-Level Committee to Protect Kurdistan Region Oilfields

March 19, 2026
New Region

Erbil and Baghdad are set to form a high-level committee to safeguard the Kurdistan Region’s oilfields and thwart renewed threats to energy infrastructure, The New Region has learned, with the Region having come…

DRC: DRC Uses Geoscience Data to Strengthen Oversight of Mining Sector

March 19, 2026
Ecofin Agency

The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched a new program to strengthen oversight of its mining sector by improving the production and use of geoscientific data.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 18 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. Here is a sampling:

Toxic Fallout from Gulf War ‘Could Last Decades’

March 30, 2026 | Mohammed El-Said

Environmental experts are warning that the ongoing war in the Gulf region is likely to leave a legacy of severe and long-lasting environmental damage, extending far beyond the immediate conflict zone.

The Iran War's Hidden Casualty

March 29, 2026 | Binoy Kampmark

Truth may well be the first casualty of war, but death, injury and environmental degradation are bound to be keeping up in the hit lists.

Afghanistan Pursues Energy Independence through Water, Solar Investments

March 29, 2026 | Bakhtar News Agency

Oil Wars: Speeding the Transition to Renewable Energy

March 26, 2026 | John K. White

One simple observation since the US-Israel attack on Iran on February 28 is that solar panel prices have not risen, staying at around $300 for an off-the-shelf, 400-watt commercial panel (7 cents/W for…

Hydro War Crime

March 24, 2026 | Naseer Memon

Water is as precious a commodity as oil for countries of the Middle East. In the absence of freshwater resources, the region relies heavily on expensive, desalinated water.

South Sudan’s Resilience Trap: The Dark Side of Resilience and the Way out

March 23, 2026 | Joe Mabor

South Sudanese are among the most resilient people on earth, as demonstrated during the twenty-one-year war of liberation that led to independence in 2011, and in the displacement and economic hardship our people…

Beyond the Ban: Why Mining Reform Is Nigeria’s Next Peacebuilding Frontier

March 23, 2026 | Ephraim Emah

Nigeria’s mining sector is often described in binary terms: to some, it is a sleeping economic giant, which is key to diversifying a mono-product economy, and to others, it fuels persistent insecurity, serving…

Where Water Security Begins

March 22, 2026 | Tetiana Tevkun

Climate change is making water one of the most vulnerable resources in the world.

Unrecognised Environmental Costs of Conflict

March 20, 2026 | Syed Mohammad Ali

When assessing the costs of war, attention is typically directed toward human suffering, economic loss and geopolitical instability. Yet another major cost often goes unnoticed: the massive environmental destruction that conflicts unleash.

Join the Association

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx®) is the leading global network that brings together practitioners, researchers, and decision makers working on environment, conflict, and peace. EnPAx includes both individual and institutional members. If you have any questions regarding membership, please contact us at membership@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.

About Our Community of Practice

Environmental Peacebuilding is a knowledge platform and global community of practice on natural resources, conflict, and peace, hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. The platform unites a global network of researchers, practitioners, and decision makers in sharing experiences and lessons from managing natural resources in fragile states and conflict-affected settings. The platform also helps people to access new publications on the topic, conduct new research, and participate in events to support the growth of the field. As part of our Community of Practice, we bring you biweekly updates on recent developments, including news about our program as well as links to new publications, upcoming conferences and events, and job openings.

Please visit us at www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org for more information.

Changing your email address? Remember to update your member profile and let us know at membership@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.

Compiled by Buket Altınçelep, Maria Camilla Cadonici, Karishma Goswami, Amelie L'Henaff, Liz Hessami, Madeleine Loll, Kathleen McLean, and Milen Yishak
Coordinated by Mara Pusic
Design by Graham Campbell
Managed and edited by Carl Bruch and Joel Young