Towards a multi-scale approach for an Earth observation based assessment of natural resource exploitation in conflict regions

November 6, 2017

Environment and natural resources can be key elements in starting and fueling conflicts. IPIS researcher Filip Hilgert contributed to an article in Geocarto International (2017, vol. 32, n° 10) on a multi-scale approach for an Earth observation based assessment of natural resource exploitation in conflict regions. Download the full article Elisabeth Schoepfer, Kristin Spröhnle, Olaf Kranz, Xavier


IPIS Insights: Diamonds in the Central African Republic

December 22, 2014

Since May 2013 the Central African Republic has been suspended from the Kimberly Process (KP) – a measure maintained by the mechanism’s annual plenary in Guangzhou, China, this November. The CAR’s transitional authorities have been seeking at least a partial lifting of this export ban so that the country might benefit from the much needed revenues its diamonds can generate.1 However, the authoriti


Mapping Conflict Motives: the Central African Republic (2012-2014)

November 21, 2014

In this study, IPIS analyses the conflict dynamics in the Central African Republic (CAR) since the outbreak of the latest crisis in September 2012 up to September 2014. The analysis specifically looks into the motivations and interests of the main conflict parties, Seleka and anti-balaka, and the influence and interests of neighbouring countries. The report covers the following key questions. What


Analysis of the interactive map of artisanal mining areas in Eastern DRC – May 2014 Update

April 30, 2014

In collaboration with the Congolese mining cadastre (CAMI), mining service SAESSCAM and representatives from local civil society organisations, IPIS organised a series of field visits to monitor artisanal mining activities and the involvement of armed groups and criminal networks in mineral exploitation and trade. This resulted in the publication of an interactive web map providing information on


DRC Webmap 2013

Analysis of the interactive map of artisanal mining areas in Eastern DR Congo (2013)

November 13, 2013

In August 2009 the ‘International Peace Information Service’ (IPIS) published a first map of militarised mining areas in Eastern DR Congo. By 2012, the international interest in the issue had grown but the map was out-dated. To find a structural solution, IPIS sat down with the Congolese mining cadastre (CAMI) and agreed to set up a permanent system to monitor artisanal mining activities and the i


Mapping Conflict Minerals (2012)

December 28, 2012

How GMES supports the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), in: Window on GMES, Special Issue: Discover the “S” in GMES, pp. 82-88 Exploitation of natural resources has, in most cases, a strong impact on the environment, often even spoiling natural habitats and affecting people’s way of life. The exploitation and trade of minerals can also fuel armed conflicts, as it is the case in the E


Bisie 2011

Bisie. A one-year snapshot of the DRC’s principal cassiterite mine (2011)

November 28, 2011

Much has happened in the mining sector of Eastern DRC over the last year. President Kabila imposed a ban on all mining activities last fall, during which production fell considerably. As soon as the suspension was lifted in the spring of this year, the major global electronic companies stopped buying minerals from the region, provoking a de facto embargo on Congo’s minerals with detrimental effect


Kivu 2011

Simplified maps illustrating the link between natural resources and armed conflict in the DR Congo (2011)

January 17, 2011

Simplified maps illustrating the link between natural resources and armed conflict in the DR Congo (in French) (January 2011) At the request of different users of the IPIS web maps, and with the support of the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD), IPIS has produced a series of six simplified and printable PDF maps illustrating the link between mineral resources and armed conflict in the Democrati


The complexity of resource governance in a context of state fragility: An analysis of the mining sector in the Kivu hinterlands (2010)

November 30, 2010

The report ‘Mining activity and mineral trade in the Kivu hinterland’ was commissioned by the Directorate General for Development (DG DEV) of the European Commission and aims to fill an information gap by identifying the principal mining sites and analysing the trade networks of the ‘eastern hinterland’ of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in Maniema, North Katanga and Orientale


Mining Concessions in the DR Congo (2010)

August 17, 2010

Mining Concessions in the DR Congo (August 2010) IPIS has produced an interactive web map of all mining concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The current map follows a concession map we published in August 2009 (as an addition to our Interactive Map of Militarised Mining Areas in the Kivus – MiMiKi), which shows concession areas in the Kivu provinces. The idea for an extended and up


Province Orientale 2010

Mapping Conflict Motives: ‘Province Orientale’ (DRC) (2010)

March 22, 2010

The districts of Ituri, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and the territory of Bafwasende continue to suffer from armed groups. Generally speaking, the strength of the armed groups throughout Orientale is limited and their effectives are few. Moreover, there is a considerable presence of the Congolese army. The Uele districts are the two most northern districts of Orientale bordering the Central African Republi


Kivu 2009

Accompanying note on the interactive map of militarised mining areas in the Kivus (2009)

August 16, 2009

The MiMiKi map is a snapshot of the situation as it was in the period May-July 2009. All the armed groups deployed in the region profit directly from the mining activities. Armed groups have positions at more than half of the sites listed on the MiMiKi map where they obtain an (extra) income. The FARDC control some of the most important mining sites and do not restrain themselves from intervening


Mapping Conflict Motives: Central African Republic (2009)

February 18, 2009

Not many areas in the Central African Republic are really secure. Although the country is scarcely populated, it is tormented by a multitude of armed actors. These belligerents use their weapons for a diversity of reasons but they have one thing in common: each of them would be a weak opponent for any well-organised state, but then this is exactly what the country lacks. Firstly, there are three C


Mapping Conflict Motives: Katanga. (Update May- September 2008)

January 23, 2009

This report is the third (and for the moment the last) in a series of updates following an initial report on conflict motives in the Congolese province of Katanga. It analyses the most important security developments from May 2008 until September 2008.   Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/20090105_mapping_katanga_update3_en The web maps  We have publ


Katanga2007

Mapping Conflict Motives: Katanga. (Update December 2007 – May 2008)

June 8, 2008

This report is the second in a series of updates following an initial report on conflict motives in the Congolese province of Katanga. It analyses the most important security developments from December 2007 until May 2008.   Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/mapping_conflict_motives-_katanga_u December 2007-May 2008 This report is the second in a se


2008

Mapping Conflict Motives: Eastern DRC (March 2008)

March 4, 2008

The eastern DRC is still plagued by violent conflict. The centre of the conflict is the ‘Petit Nord’ region where two large armed groups, a coalition of smaller bands of armed men and the government army are all involved in a persisting battle causing enormous human suffering. In the neighbouring regions of the ‘Grand Nord’ and northern South-Kivu open warfare no longer takes place, but there is s


Mapping interests in conflict areas: Katanga. (Update September-November 2007)

January 23, 2008

The International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a Belgium based research NGO, is a member of the Fatal Transactions consortium, which carries out the action ‘From Fatal to Fair Transactions’ with co-funding from the EU. IPIS’ contribution to this action is to develop a tool for the analysis of conflict drivers. Making use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software, we visualise possible