This book provides a synthesis of keythemes and current knowledge about the links among forests,armed conflict, poverty, and various aspects of statefragility. The main themes addressed are: how predatory,incapable, or absent states are fragile in different ways,and their diverse relationships to forests and conflict; themechanisms by which forests facilitate or prolong conflict,including financial flows from logging to state andnon-state belligerents, the use of forests as patronage, thetraffic of weapons by loggers, and the employment ofbelligerents by logging companies for security;the impactof conflict and fragility on forests and forest livelihoods,with a focus on cross-sectoral issues associated withmanaging forests after conflicts end; and the focus ofreform in post conflict interventions to more effectivelyprotect forests and forest-based livelihoods, and tomitigate further conflict.Because forests have multipleand often competing constituencies for commercial,subsistence, and cultural uses, they are frequently at thecenter of struggles over control of access and use. Whilethese contests can be widespread, they tend to benonviolent, or if violence breaks out it tends to belocalized. Indeed, the quantitative evidence shows thatcountries with large amounts of forest (either in total areaor as a proportion of national territory) are no more likelyto experience civil war than those without forest. There is,however, an association between the likelihood of conflictand the size of the forest industry. And for countriesexperiencing civil war that have other extractive resourcesavailable, the abundance of forest increases the duration ofthe conflict. This effect is heightened with increasingaccessibility of forest. That is, forests do not causeconflict, and armed conflicts tend not to be fought overforests. Instead, armed conflicts are often exacerbated bycertain aspects of forest use, especially when forests arelootable (requiring low cost and low skill for extraction).
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