Safeguarding our natural resources in the post-war environment

Sri Lanka has come a long way since the end of armed conflict.

- 

Even though reconciliation is an immediate goal in the aftermath of a war, successive governments have taken snail-paced efforts to achieve this goal. But apart from dead and injured civilians and soldiers who are often publicised as victims of war, destroyed cities, livelihoods and the environment remains unpublicised victims of war.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) over the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources, whether high-value resources such as timber, diamonds, gold and oil, or scarce resources such as fertile land and water. Conflicts involving natural resources have also been found to be twice as likely to relapse.

In the short term, conflict disrupts food supply chains, displaces farming communities, and damages natural resource systems essential for livelihoods. This leads to food shortages, market shocks, and humanitarian need.