LANDSCAPE SCENARIOS IN EASTERN SUDAN
Competition and degradation of natural resources are often the underlying causes of conflicts. Conflicts have enormous negative impacts on the environment. This is the case in Eastern Sudan where management agreements over natural resources were part of traditional practices that have been eroded through international boundaries or inappropriate policies and interventions. Degradation of vegetation and watersheds, impacts on wildlife and protected areas, unsustainable use of water resources, sanitation problems are some side effects of conflict.
Sustainable land use plans and community environmental management planning are tools to bring stakeholders together and to agree on scenarios on how to manage their resources. It allows people to address problems and areas of conflict, to discuss them and to agree on a way forward. In most cases community representatives and other local stakeholders are trained to facilitate these processes themselves using different methods of landscape approaches. Community Environmental Management Planning (CEMP) lead by IUCN was the first step for refugees and refugee hosting communities to plan jointly their future and become in the case of the refugees more self-reliant after years of donor dependency. Sustainable income generating activities need to be addressed along environmental management planning as it will improve people’s livelihoods. Prior to forming Tanah Air Beta, some of our members provided some technical support to IUCN and FNC, developing ways to engage and learn from community landscape scenarios.
