The recent developments at the eastern and western border of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) illustrate the close links among the environment, conflict and peacebuilding. The country’s wealth in natural resources and their illegal exploitation and trade have played a central role in the various conflicts, both within the DRC and at the transboundary level. The eastern part of the DRC, in particular, struggles with corruption, fraud and overall insecurity. Recent oil discoveries around Lake Albert—the shores of which are shared by the DRC and Uganda—have increased both the pressure on the environment and the tensions between the two countries. However, the potential of natural resource management to build peace by facilitating trust-building and benefit sharing still exists.



A new study published by the Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP) investigates the peacebuilding opportunities around the lake in the domains of environment and protected area management, water and fisheries, as well as energy and oil. The study concludes that peacebuilding opportunities exist when initiatives are integrated and rely on local stakeholders and ownership, even in cases lacking high-level political agreements. Local initiatives that work on resource governance and at the same time address inter-communal relationships might offer efficient ways to address tensions across communities and regions.



Early action at Lake Albert might prevent violent conflict, but in the northwestern Equateur province, increasing competition and tension around resources came to a head in July 2009. Since then, at least 100 people have been killed and about 200.000 displaced. The clashes between two ethnic clans erupted over fishing rights at the Iwandi pool, which is part of the River Ubangui that runs along the border between the DRC and Congo. These disputes, which are entirely separate from the unrest in eastern DRC, illustrate how the failure of effective mechanisms to share natural resources can directly contribute to the escalation of a latent conflict. (Christiane Roettger)



The study "Peacebuilding across Lake Albert. Reinforcing environmental cooperation between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo" is available at /sites/default/images_old/adelphi_lake_albert.pdf



For more information on the conflicts in the Equateur province, please see http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87961 or

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8603734.stm

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, April 2010