Work

War and deforestation in Sierra Leone

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: The impact of armed conflict on the environment is of major public policy importance. We use a geographically disaggregated dataset of civil war violence together with satellite imagery of land cover to test whether war facilitated or prevented forest loss in Sierra Leone. The conflict data set allows us to establish where rebel groups were stationed and where battles and attacks occurred. The satellite data enables to us to monitor the change in forest cover (total, primary, and secondary) in all of Sierra Leone's 151 chiefdoms, between 1990 (prior to the war) and 2000 (just prior to its end). The results suggest that conflict in Sierra Leone acted as a brake on local deforestation: conflict-ridden areas experienced significantly less forest loss relative to their more conflict-free counterparts.

Source: Environmental Research Letters

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/10/9/095014

Authors: Robin Burgess, Edward Miguel, Charlotte Stanton

Institutions: London School of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University

Language: English

Topic: Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,045