Environmental Peace Parks: Prospects for South Asia

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Environmental Peace ParksProspects for South
Asia

• Dr. Saleem H. Ali
• University of Vermont,
• Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural
  Resources
• Brown University,
• Watson Institute for International Studies
• Email Saleem_at_alum.mit.edu

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Environmental Peace-making

• Game Theory Using dilemmas of common aversion
  rather than dilemmas of common interest as the
  frame of reference (Ali, Saleem H. Environmental
  Planning and Cooperative Behavior. Journal of
  Planning Education and Research, Vol. 23, No. 2,
  December 2003)
• Moving from focus on quantity to quality, from
  distributive to integrative bargaining
• Example beyond the water wars hypothesis
• Some questions to consider
• Are environmental issues a major cause of the
  conflict?
• If not, what level of trust is a necessary
  prerequisite to the use of environmental issues
  in conflict resolution?
• Would environmental cooperation lead to larger
  cooperative outcomes -- moving from low politics
  to high politics?

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Kinds of Green Peace-building

• Sister Cities Program -- post-World War II
  phenomenon crystallized by Eisenhower in 1956
• Debt-for-Nature Swaps North-South tensions
• Peace Parks 166 transboundary conservation zones
  comprising 666 individual conservation parks
  (Sandwith et al, 2001)
• However, most are between friendly countries
• Criticism (Halles analysis of Limpopo case)

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Some notable peace parks

• WATERTON / GLACIER International Peace Parks
  (Canada / USA)- 1932
• LA AMISTAD International Peace Park (Costa Rica
  / Panama), 1979 - led to establishment of a
  biological corridor
• LOS KATFOS / DARIEN National Parks (Colombia /
  Panama)
• CORDILLERA DEL CONDOR (Ecuador /Peru ), 1998
  part of peace treaty
• MALOTI / DRAKENSBURG Transfrontier Conservation
  Area (Lesotho / South Africa)- 2001
• MONT PERDU World Heritage Site (France / Spain )
  1997

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Some future possibilities in Asia

• The Altai Mountain (Russia, China,
  Mongolia, Kazakhstan)
• The Northern Annamite Range (Lao PDR/ Vietnam)
• The Qomolangma /Sagarmatha Region (China /
  Nepal)
• The Karakoram Range (Pakistan / India)
• Kanchanjunga Conservation Area (China / India /
  Nepal)
• The Khunjerab / Taxcorgan Parks (Pakistan /
  China)
• Pamir Wakhan (Pakistan/ Tajikistan /Kyrghystan
  / Afghanistan)

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Indigenous Interest

• Conservation and research
• Sanctuary Asia, Snow Leopard Trusts
• Peshawar Univ-NGS and NSF collaboration
• Eco-tourism and mountaineering -- IIPT - Pakistan
  and India chapters
• Himalayan mountain clubs
• Adventure expeditions
• Memorializing the region -- an exit strategy?

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International Interest

• German governments interest and research
  development
• Italian governments interest vis-a-vis K2
  (though strategically separate from Siachen)
• IUCN - Transfrontier Protected Areas Effort
• Southern African focusPeace Parks Foundation
• Asian mountain initiative

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Glacial impact on regional water resources

• Hindu Kush Himalaya Glaciers
• Fast glacier recession and wasting through most
  of the region
• 500 million people partly depend on glacial
  meltwater
• Coastal region change?
• Glacier/ice sheets are melting effects on sea
  level.
• Changes in land cover and land use?
• Changing glacier cover changes water
  availability, hence land use in areas downstream

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Overcoming S. Asian Challenges

• Transforming the militarys role
• Sovereignty and territoriality
• The Chinese question
• Visitor rights (Visa categories) -- Sharm-al
  Shaikh and HK-Macau examples
• Management plans
• www.k2peacepark.org

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