Effects of armed conflict on natural resources and conservation measures in Northern Ethiopia

The Tigray region, located in northern Ethiopia, has a history of civil wars and recurrent conflicts. In November 2020, a new violent conflict erupted.

According to a recent study in the International Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Research, the conflict, which lasted until 2022, not only caused a humanitarian crisis but also destroyed decades of work on environmental restoration and land conservation.

The study, led by Hailemariam Meaza from Mekelle University in Ethiopia,  examined the environmental impact of the conflict, particularly on natural resources together with soil and water Conservation (SWC) efforts during wartime.

“We found that the conflict caused direct damage to the environment,” shares Meaza. “Artillery fire and bombings left many bomb craters, with an average depth of 1.15 meters and a surface diameter of 2.66 meters.”

Notably, military activities, like building trenches and fortifications, exposed soil to erosion and polluted water. Terraces and stone bunds were torn down to build temporary fortifications, making soil degradation worse.

“Beyond the battlefield, the indirect impacts of conflict proved equally destructive,” adds Meaza. “Devastated farmers shifted their livelihood strategies from long-term sustainability to immediate economic recovery, putting more pressure on natural resources. During the siege, widespread energy shortages forced people to use wood and charcoal from protected forests.”

Additionally, the conflict impacted environmental institutions and weakened conservation efforts. “Funding for SWC activities stopped, and with no forest guards, trees were cut down without control,” says Maeza. “We estimated that millions of seedlings and many SWC structures were lost during the conflict.”

Prior to these events, Tigray had made good progress in environmental restoration, thanks to the work of local and international organizations. Degraded lands were restored, and various SWC measures were put in place, leading to more vegetation and less soil erosion. But the conflict stopped these efforts suddenly.

The authors stress that rebuilding Tigray’s landscapes will need a coordinated post-conflict recovery effort. “This effort must not only fix physical structures but also rebuild trust, governance, and funding systems. However, ecological recovery will take much longer than rebuilding infrastructure,” says Meaza. “Peace is most important. Without it, restoration is impossible.”

To that end, the researchers urge the Ethiopian government and its troops to be more aware of the need for peace and to break the cycle of war and peace. For future studies, they suggest doing more detailed research to measure the environmental losses and damages so as to make the landscapes and farmers’ livelihoods more resilient.

###

Contact the author: Dr. Hailemariam Meaza,Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Mekelle University, Ethiopia,hailemariam.meaza@mu.edu.et

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).