Background

Natural resources held in common are integral to the livelihoods of most of the world’s population. Control over these resources frequently plays a part in local" national and international conflicts. Understanding the many roles of common resources in preventing" generating" fuelling and/or resolving conflict is imperative. The insecure tenure rights and the violation of human rights of the populations most dependent on common resources must be addressed at all policy levels" and concrete steps must be taken to ensure the peaceful" equitable and sustainable use of these important resources.

Globally" more people with greater expectations are competing for fewer resources" often leading to violence. Rapid socio-political changes such as globalization and decentralization have also brought new challenges to managing resource competition. Imbalanced economic growth over the last decades has caused unabated demographic and poverty problems" increasing pressure on natural resources. The new imperative for combating the adverse impacts of climate change is also marred by dispute and we anticipate more conflicts will emerge as climate change mitigation and adaptation schemes are developed and implemented. The dimensions and scales of conflict surrounding the commons vary extensively. The world is witnessing conflicts over direct access to resources and underlying property rights" benefit sharing" and decision making. Conflict over the commons range from localized disputes to civil war and interstate conflict.

Despite increasing recognition of the need to include natural resource tenure reforms in the broader process of peace-building there is not a clear understanding of how or when these reforms should be addressed. Inequitable rights to common resources often form part of the root causes for larger" violent conflicts" and resource exploitation provides and has provided the fuel for violent conflicts in many areas of the globe. Yet" governments and other actors working in pre- and postconflict contexts are not always equipped to deal with the complex challenges of reforming common resource tenure to address past inequities while providing a solid base for the future.

This RRI-RECOFTC policy event will explore the different ways common resources are related to conflict and how local" national and international policy responses can address the resource-conflict linkages. Panelists will discuss how poor management and inequitable rights to common resources can lead to conflict" and also how secure" socially-accepted" equitable" and clarified tenure rights to the commons can ease social tension" and promote economic and social development. This event aims to bring together experience and understanding from across the world in order to unpack resource conflict issues and mitigation and management efforts while examining how post-conflict natural resource policies can play a part in preventing future conflict.

The panel will be followed by an open discussion between panel members and the audience that focuses on the policy responses needed to ensure that common resources are managed effectively and peacefully.

Agenda

Opening Remarks by the Chair | Kyeretwie Opoku" Civic Response Ghana and RRI

Going Beyond the Resource Curse: Addressing resource-conflict links in Sierra Leone and DRC | Ruben de Koning" UNDP Oslo Governance Center.

Managing Conflict Under Decentralized Forest Governance: Lessons from Indonesia and Vietnam | Yurdi Yasmi" RECOFTC

Governing Conflicts Over the Exploitation of the Commons: Lessons from forest-mining conflicts in West Africa | Emmanuel Marfo" Forest Research Institute of Ghana.

Commons and Conflict States: Why the ownership of the commons matters in making and keeping peace. A discussion of Afghanistan" Liberia and Sudan | Liz Alden Wily" Independent Analyst 

Discussants:

Michael Taylor" International Land Coalition

Patrick MacAuslan" Birkbeck College

Resources

• The Contested Commons: From Conflict to Peace - Event Summary

Commentary

In a commentary on the Contested Commons" RECOFTC Program Officer Yurdi Yasmi states"

"Common in almost all resource conflicts is the difficulty to recognize multiple conflict-resource linkages and define and implement sustainable institutional options to mitigate each of them. Direct stakeholders are powerless and at times unwilling to face and transform the conflict" not to mention the slow response of third party in the case of extreme conflicts."