Citation

Suarez A, Arias-Arévalo P, Martinez-Mera E, Granobles-Torres JC, Enríquez-Acevedo T. Sci. Total Environ. 2018; 643: 1223-1231.

Affiliation

Department of Civil and Environmental, Universidad De La Costa, Calle 58#55-66, Barranquilla, Atlántico 080002, Colombia. Electronic address: tenrique1@cuc.edu.co.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.262

PMID

30189538

Abstract

Environmental objectives tend to receive a push to the background in post-conflict scenarios. On the other hand, the processes displacement and refugee's relocation in post-conflict countries have been associated with different environmental impacts. Currently, Colombia faces a post-conflict scenario, which brings about relevant socio-environmental challenges: it is a mega-biodiverse country, it has millions of displaced people and is one of the most inequitable country in the world. Since there is a gap in post-conflict studies regarding the exploration of victims' involvement in environmental strategies, this paper aims to analyze victims' willingness to participate (WP) in Land Recovery Strategies (LRS) in post-conflict Colombia. This research (1) describes the socio-economic characteristics of forced-displacement victims from a Caribbean municipality of Colombia; (2) analyzes the victims' WP in hypothetical LRS and their preferred type of participation in the project, (3) identifies the way of grouping victims according their WP. Finally, (4) it analyzes the kind of benefits victims would prefer to receive in exchange for their participation in the LRS. Our results made evident that the majority of the consulted victims are willing to participate in LRS by giving up manual work time or in exchange of local ecological knowledge. We also found that the victims' participation in LRS associates to the age of the respondents, and whether they have benefited from government programs previously. Victims would prefer monetary retribution in exchange for their involvement in LRS, which may be explained by their vulnerable socioeconomic conditions. This research also demonstrates that victims with positive WP in LRS are a heterogeneous group. We highlight the need of actively involving women in LRS and other post-conflict projects in order to ensure their wellbeing. The results of this research are valuable, because they put forward the population of victims as an active performer within environmental sustainability.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Conservation agriculture; Ecosystem services valuation; Land recovery strategies; Post-conflict countries; Victim population; Willingness to donate time