Book contents
- Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict
- Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Need for Protecting Animals in Wartime
- 1 Animals in Wartime
- 2 Historical Perspectives on Animal Involvement in Wartime
- 3 Ecological Effects of Warfare on Wildlife
- 4 The Protection of Animals in Wartime
- Part II The Protection of Animals in International and Non-international Armed Conflicts
- Part III The Protection of Animals in Specific Situations
- Part IV Enforcement Regimes for the Protection of Animals in Wartime
- Part V Towards Better Protection of Animals in Wartime
- Index
- References
3 - Ecological Effects of Warfare on Wildlife
from Part I - The Need for Protecting Animals in Wartime
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 October 2022
- Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict
- Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Need for Protecting Animals in Wartime
- 1 Animals in Wartime
- 2 Historical Perspectives on Animal Involvement in Wartime
- 3 Ecological Effects of Warfare on Wildlife
- 4 The Protection of Animals in Wartime
- Part II The Protection of Animals in International and Non-international Armed Conflicts
- Part III The Protection of Animals in Specific Situations
- Part IV Enforcement Regimes for the Protection of Animals in Wartime
- Part V Towards Better Protection of Animals in Wartime
- Index
- References
Summary
An emerging goal in conservation biology is to understand the impacts of armed conflict on wildlife populations and biodiversity, which in principle can be either positive or negative. The chapter reviews the available information about the effects of conflicts on wildlife harvest and habitat loss. The few large-scale quantitative analyses to date suggest that, on average, conflict intensifies both direct exploitation and habitat conversion. However, location-specific case studies present exceptions to this general pattern. Explaining these outcomes requires deeper insight into the mechanisms by which conflict affects wildlife, but the deficiency of data about wildlife population trends in conflict-prone regions remains a serious obstacle. The chapter discusses innovative and more traditional methods for expanding the knowledge base and reducing the prevailing biases – both geographic and taxonomic – in the existing ecological data. Last, it briefly surveys encouraging evidence that post-war interventions can rehabilitate wildlife populations and coupled human-natural systems on surprisingly rapid timescales.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict , pp. 41 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022