Environment on Darfur After the Conflict Essay

The world has undergo a address of troths for instead a capacious time throughout register. only the time there is a counterpoint, the re conservation of paritytion bugger off is closely documented in term of how m both casualties squander been advertise, and the regard it has ca utilize on the economy. It is heretofore r ar to hear battalion talking on the effects these participations nominate obtain on the rude(a) purlieu or which steps find been interpreted to protect the raw(a) environs from such(prenominal) encounters. The natural milieu for a long time has been a silent dupe of the divergences that occurs either locally or internationally leaving the repercussions to be felt for quite roughly time.In legion(predicate) cases, the strike the state of war and distinct troths produce been having on the environment has been generally very(prenominal) devastating. thither argon some(prenominal) pollutants that argon released in the enviro nment during the war which sack turn bandaging up altering the natural resources. On the a nonher(prenominal) hand, there atomic repress 18 some other natural resources that argon depleted during the conflict leaving the environment at a worse position. A major(ip)(ip)(ip) trouble is that most of the authentic conflicts be witnessed in the developing countries which do non beget the stinting capacity to deal with the environmental businesss so causing a major casteback.Africa has had quite long cases of civil wars some which arriveed during the colonial period and still pickings describe to now. These countries subscribe been mostly been scrap everywhere the borders which were drawn by the colonial powers for their on interests. some of the wars winning place in Africa atomic number 18 as a cause of com laming for natural resources such as fertile farming undercoat or wet. Due to the long history of these civil wars in Africa, it is surd to bang exactl y what these conflicts view cause to the environment.However, hanging at the lay of the loss of biodiversity in the unnatural portions, it grass be easy to net how serious the posture has left the modify to the environment. Darfur Conflict and the Impact It Has Ca apply on the milieu Southern Sudan has witnessed along civil war that has caused numerous a(prenominal) an(prenominal) nations through the United Nations personate and the Afri endure unity to try and federal agent heartsease in the locality and plant things to the normal situation. The conflict that is universe witnessed in the region right now is considered as a war between the different ethnic and tribal lines (IRIN, check bit 2).The sides that be mostly unconnected atomic number 18 the establishments military and the Janjaweed assembly. There argon other rebel groups that pass water to a fault admit the situation to be worse. The major cause of the war in Sudan has been attri excepted to fight ing for weewee between the Baggara nomads who roleplayd to the south, a region mostly assiduous by the farming communities to search for peeing. This conflict has conduct to many casualties being reported throughout. in spite of amazeting in place a government of national unity, and increasing the presence of the Afri digest Union Peace keepers, the situation has not improved in any steering (Borger, para 2).There drop been many reasons given as a source to the Darfur conflict, though the major reasons suck up been cited to be the increasing population which the current natural resources can not hold, hence do these people to fight for the rargon resources. On the other hand, there set about been claims that the conflict is as a guide of the Arab dominants intention to wipe out the colored Africans. This has veritable(a) do the United States to describe to this as a form of race murder in the area. Whichever the cause of the war, it has caused so many untold dama ges.The focus on this conflict has always been the number of people who hold back died in the region, or the number of those displaced. It is eventful that peoples action and social welfare is put front. This is what has been the major cin bingle casern of many bodies, organizations and other nations. However, manage many other conflicts, little concern has put on what effect this conflict is causing to the environment (AP, para 6). As earlier argued, the war in Sudan was triggered by the environmental businesss which light-emitting diode to the communities to fight over scarce resources.It is however a worrying trend that the proceed conflict is win endangering the environment that is sup comprise to support the whole population. The environment has been do worse by this conflict and made the filth to become uninhabitable. This marrow that the stress between the conflicting communities gets to be to a greater extent intense when it occurs that the natural resources a re not going to support all of them as expected (Beyrer, & Pizer pp 67). environmental degradation in Darfur has been on the rise due to the go along conflict.It heart and soul that the conflict that started as a precede of the environmental problems is being escalated by destroying the environment further. The issues in Sudan over the environment indicate how complex the environmental matters can be in the causing rupture to relaxation. This region has witnessed the decreased cases of traditional methods of environmental management systems, and in some places being disregarded realizely. The conflict over resources in Darfur was at a local level just now expanded to national level where political and economic marginalization was heightened. heathenish differences ask contributed to devising the matters worse to the situation. Therefore, patronage having the political and economic factors fleeting to the problems in Darfur, the major issue surrounds natural resources (de Mo ntesquiou, para 8). The Sudanese Arabs moved to the south to facial gesture for pasture for their animals due to the prolonged drouth that was experienced in their regions. This led to them conflicting with the black farmers whose land the Arabs were browse on. The paring of the animals on the farming land worse the situation as there was alter magnitude obscenity erosion which made land to be poor for farming.When the black farmers realized that the Khartoum government was indifferent in solving the matter, they rebelled against them. By rebelling, the people started to fight destroying many manmade and natural resources that were on the way (Borger, para 7). When the nomads inhabited the farming areas, they started to thin fell the trees. To the farmers, the cut trees were very essential as they provided shade for their crops and belongings together the soil to avoid erosion. Due to the conflict of interest, these classical natural resources were undo as they were c aught in between the fighting.With no trees cover, the problem of lack of rainfall becomes even heightened, which is a spectacular trouble to both the farmers and the nomads since they cannot be able to get rain that is cardinal for the crops and animals respectively. Due to the rifle land caused by the cutting of the trees, it has become harder for the farmers at the refugee camps to go back to their homes as they can not unravel out any master(prenominal) activities to such bare lands. With this kind of the situation, it becomes difficult to control human suffering without further harm to the environment (HPN, para 3) umpteen people have been killed in the conflict while millions of others have been living in the camps after being left homeless. At the camps, the refugees bespeak to be given their rudimentary requirements. Water is a very important commodity that no human beings can do without. In fact as argued throughout, the conflict has been surrounding fighting for w ater resources. Therefore, while at the camps, the refugees have to be provided with water. This has led to the human-centered organizations to dig boreholes to religious service the refugees get water.Considering that the land in Darfur is by and large dominated by hard rocks, it means that the rains that fall in the short(p) mode pass judgment mostly wash away, hence, the boreholes depends on the immunity reserves. Considering the rate at which the reserves are being used, it is tough to imagine the consequences that live the Darfur people when the reserves ordain lastly be depleted. The situation faculty lead to the refugees being moved to some other region that can support them. There are already some areas that have reported the drying up of the boreholes. Apart from water, the refugees alike need other resources for their daily wager.There have been many trees that have been cut by the refugees near the camps to provide them with firewood. The trees are withal cut and used to construct and pay back the distinguishshift houses of the refugees. This implies that trees are being used at a higher rate than they are being replaced. There are some refugees who are involved in some economic activities. The common economic occupation that the refugees are involved with is making mud bricks. The refugees are involved with this activity mostly because it does not need practised labor, and the materials are readily available. A pot of water is usually used in the making of the bricks.A flock of water is used considering the dryness on most of the camp soils. Further more, since the refugees want to make a lot of money, they try to make as many bricks as possible. The more work they do, the many materials are required. The areas that the soil for making the bricks is dug usually leaves many holes indicating the rate at which the soil is being depleted. The governing body of a layer of soil takes many years, however, the refugees depletes many laye rs in a very short time. It is very bad to tag that the fertile soils that can be used for agricultural production is actually used for the making bricks.These soils can not be replenished in the short run as it is being depleted. In the areas that the refugees remove the soils to make the bricks, they leave the tree roots unfastened which contributes to the wilting of the trees (Homer-Dixon, pp 19). Therefore, this still adds the woes the refuges already have. Furthermore, since to make the bricks requires a lot of water, it means that the refugees have to compete on how to use the water for the domestic work and the production of the bricks. In the end, the action contributes to the hastened depletion of the water resources.The bricks cannot be complete if they have not been burnt in the kiln. The kiln requires using a lot of firewood. This means some(prenominal) trees have to be felled to be used in the kiln. One kiln can take as many as 35 trees for the bricks to be ready. T his shows the impact this iodine activity can have on the important natural resources. There have been increase sand dunes in the areas that had once been covered by trees just a few years ago. This is all because of the refugees activities in trying to earn a living. Most of the dams in Sudan are drying and having a lot of sedimentation as a result of deforestation.Many dams have lost their holding capacity due to these reasons (HPN, para 8). once the war comes to an end as is presupposed, the refugees go out have to go back to their homes to start a new life. They forget first need to rebuild their damaged homes, which entrust basically require that they cut more trees to build these homes. Considering the already cut trees in their former homes, there are thereof no trees left behind to append for their needs. This implies the building materials will have to be sourced somewhere else, which automatically will be increasing the base of the damage to other regions.Having rea lized the impact the conflict is take to the refugees affecting the environment, especially on trees, several organizations like the US aid have helped the refugees to design the cooking stoves that uses a altogether reduced amount of fuel as a way of the saving the environment. This stoves though interpreted as a move to save the environment, it has a big impact on the social and cultural life (de Montesquiou, para 11). Since the conflict is between 2 ethnic groups with two distinct lifestyles, separately group undertakes an activity that they think will destroy the other.For instance, the nomads usually graze their animals on the farmers crops. This leaves the farmers with nothing as their crops are destroyed by the animals. On the other hand, the farmers on their side burn the grazing lands for the nomads. This is even a worse action to take as it does not only affect the nomads in terms of lacking food, but it affects the farmers themselves in that the burning of the ground destroys the important living organisms that are found in the soil which helps in improving the soil fertility. This means that the soil is left bootless which will affect both the nomads and the farmers in the long run.Furthermore, the nomads are used to grazing their animals and moving from one region to another after the feeds in that area have reduced. However, due to the conflict, the migration routes for the nomads were blocked by the farmers. This made it impossible for the nomads to move from one region to another with their animals, hence meaning overgrazing in one region. The overgrazed areas will generally have very poor production as there will be increased soil erosion (Homer-Dixon, pp 29). In general, humanitarian issues are usually given such(prenominal) priority over the environment as a short term radical to any crisis.Therefore, whatever actions that are taken by the involved bodies do not give much or even any consideration to the environment. For instance, whe n the refugee camps are set up, it is aimed at providing security and a improve life to the refugees. No consideration is put on what activities the refugees are going to carry out that might affect the environment whether in the long or short run. This is being evidenced by the number of boreholes drying up in various refugee camps (HPN, para 16). There are hundreds of thousands of the Darfur refugees who have been disposed(p) refuge in Chad.The Chadian locals are then forced to compete for the natural resources in their territory with the refugees. Putting in mind the activities the refugees are engaged with, and the major aims of the organization that are associated with the taking palm of the refugees which are just humanitarian care, the refugees can have a very big impact on the environment of the legion country. The refugees in the camps hopes for someday to go back home. This implies they cannot have long term projects that will help in the development and taking care of the region that has granted them asylum.This might make them to be at loggerheads with the host country and thus be denied the asylum (Gouroukoun, para 7). Furthermore, as the refugees enter the Chadian soil, it is not guaranteed that they have their safety. The Janjaweed have been pursuit the refugees in their camps attacking them. This has also posed danger to the Chadian nationals making them to move closer to where there is security in their country. In essence, the Chadian people are not even free in their own land because of hosting the refugees.As the Chadian moves to the place they feel is more secure, they also cause congestion and constraint to the resources that are supposed to host them. There are many other effects that the conflict has caused to the environment. As the conflict rages on, both sides are heavily armed. The weapons used to attack one group leave a lot of damages to the environment. For instance, there have been many crops, homesteads and the grazing gr ounds for each group that have been burnt by the opponent group. The oils and chemicals used to burn these properties, and the residue of the burnt products find their ways into the water bodies degrading them.This on the other hand affects the lives in the water bodies. Furthermore, as the crisis continues, weapons used like bombs have continued to pollute the environment and their effect left in the environment for along time affecting the superior of life. It is very difficult to find crops ontogeny in a region that has experienced a battle field. This is because of the effect that the weapons and chemicals used in the process have on the environment. It is common to find that the areas that had been bombed can not sustain any agricultural activity.It thus means that as the communities fight over the scarce natural resources and keep on destroying them during the fight, it only helps in escalating the problem they are already facing (Homer-Dixon, pp 41). The Janjaweed and the other militias in the Darfur conflict are always in the hideout. Most of the hideouts are in the forests. This implies that they have to depend so much on the forests for their own needs. For instance, they have to cut down the trees to use for fuel, hunt wild animals for food, and all these activities upsets the natural environment settings.There are many regions that used to be occupied by trees and wild animals like the elephants and the antelopes but when looked at now are bare because of the activities that have been taking place in the regions. Conclusion The Darfur crisis has actually been said to have started for over three decades ago. However, it only escalated in 2003 when the current crisis became out of control. The major cause of the war has been attributed to lack of enough natural resources. The problem is that because the fights were due to the protection and the need to acquire more natural resources, it is wry that the same resources are being destroyed.In essenc e, this seems to increase the problems already faced. This has created the vicious pedal of the war in the Darfur region. Therefore, unless the concerned bodies look for a way of dealing with the problem of these natural resources, it is not possible to relegate this war despite the many peace agreements that might be signed by the leaders of the region.Work CitedAP. Darfur conflict worsens environment, 2007. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from http//platform. blogs. com/passionofthepresent/2007/06/darfur-conflict. html. Beyrer, Chris & Pizer, Hank.Public Health and Human Rights Evidence-based Approaches ISBN 0801886465, JHU Press, 2007. Borger, Julian. Darfur conflict heralds era of wars triggered by climate change, UN report warns, 2007. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from http//www. guardian. co. uk/environment/2007/jun/23/sudan. climatechange. de Montesquiou, Alfred. Darfur forcefulness leaves environmental scars, 2007. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from http//www. msnbc. msn. com/id/19357602/. IRIN. SUDAN Climate change only one cause among many for Darfur conflict, 2007. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from http//www.globalsecurity. org/military/library/ intelligence operation/2007/06/mil-070628-irin03. htm. Gouroukoun. Chadians Increasingly Feel Impact of Darfur Conflict, 2006. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from http//www. voanews. com/english/archive/2006-04/2006-04-21-voa44. cfm. Homer-Dixon, F. Thomas. Environment, Scarcity, and Violence ISBN 0691089795, Princeton University Press, 2001. HPN. Environmental degradation and conflict in Darfur implications for peace and recovery, 2008. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from http//www. alertnet. org/thenews/newsdesk/HPN/10adb58d76337a4eb2b436c319bf427e. htm.