Water & Conflicts

Check out this interactive map to find out about environmental conflicts all over the world, including land and water management conflicts!

Below I have inserted two screenshots that capture the locations of conflicts related to water issues, which can both be found in the category of 'water management' as well as 'biofuels and land conflicts'.





                        


Biomass & Land Conflicts                                             Water Management Conflicts



Water management conflicts mapped out here have all evolved around dam construction projects that have triggered civil resistance.  For example, the Kenyan government plans of the mega dam construction on River Ewaso Ng'iro in 2013 evoked a protest campaign called 'Walk and Sing for Ewaso Ng'iro River' in which locals walked for over 100 km from Nyahururu and Merti to Archers. The local communities objected the construction because the dam would have had severe effects on the flow of water downstream. Downstream users who depend on the river would have been negatively affected in their livelihoods. 

Land conflicts are mostly about the dispossession of people (e.g. Agri-export land dispossessions in Ethiopia, eviction of indigenous communities in the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve in Kenya, . . ) damaging environmental impacts and human right abuses (impacts of flower industry on Lake Naivasha in Kenya). In the course of my blog I will address several of these conflicts. 

Even though I am certain that many conflicts (or potential conflicts) are missing, this map provides a good starting point to grasp the scale of inequalities at play. It is also a great example of an Open Data application that could serve as a valuable tool for impactful projects.