How natural is natural? Seeking conceptual clarity over natural resources and conflicts - Conflicts Over Natural Resources in the Global South - page 68

actions the model helps to pinpoint where counteractions are needed to resolve the
situation and overcome tensions.
Within the context of the CoCooN Initiative Kenya programme, fieldwork will
be conducted in four river basins in Kenya. Empirical studies in these regions aim to
contribute to a testing of the framework. In addition, three central hypotheses will
serve as a guideline for these studies:

1 Increased diversification of household economies leads to intensified occurrence

of conflicts;

2 Sudden changes in resource availability cause conflicts;

3 The absence of (effective) institutions allows for more conflicts over natural

resources.

These hypotheses will be tested by studying a wide variety of natural resource users,
including pastoralists, small-scale farmers, fishermen, large scale foreign and local
commercial agriculturalists, foreign NGOs involved in housing projects, eco-tourism
entrepreneurs, and government-driven Water User Associations. Attention to reconcil-
iation efforts through both traditional and government instigated Peace Committees
is also part of the research plan. Finally, the political dimension will be given special
attention to better understand at which moment of an evolving conflict this element is
of crucial importance either to fuel or stop the process.

4.8 CONCLUSION

Understanding natural resources and conflicts requires a thorough analysis of the bio-
physical and societal subsystems, a clear definition of the type of natural resource
and the various ecosystem services provided, the values attached by several stakehold-
ers, the management system put in place at several geographical levels, and the key
power relationships that are at stake in the resource allocation arena. Finally, a his-
torical analysis review will add to a thorough understanding of the causes and effects
of conflicts over natural resources. The variety of disciplines involved in the study of
struggles over natural resources has contributed to conceptual confusion. Based on the
certified framework that presents the linkages between ecosystem services and society,
we have added geographic dimensions of management, acknowledging the globalised
dimension of institutions, technology and knowledge, and key power relations.

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Bob, U. and S. Bronkhorst. 2010. Environmental Conflicts: Key Issues and Management
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Brown, I. 2011. The Paradox of Plenty: The Political and Developmental Implications of Natural
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