South Sudan’s Sudd wetlands are crucial for regulating water and climate, and for the habitats and resources they provide, but oil production and hydropolitics are threatening their survival. Eoghan Darbyshire looks at the choices the government needs to make.
This report presents new visualisation-led perspectives on the Mesopotamian marshes, exploring the scale of the Marsh Arabs’ cultural erasure, the contemporary threats from pollution, fire, saltwater intrusion and the oil industry, and how their ecosystem services could mitigate a heating climate.
Our report examines the impact that the conflict in Yemen is having on its protected areas by exploring the fate of five of them, we identify multiple pressures that are being caused or worsened by the conflict.
A CEOBS investigation using remote sensing and open source data suggests that the expansion of solar powered agricultural groundwater abstraction in Yemen may be unsustainable, and already responsible for steep declines since 2018.
Deforestation is a common problem for countries affected by conflict. In 2020, COVID-19 placed further constraints on forest management in these areas. This report reviews the latest satellite data on forest loss in seven countries, analysing the forces driving deforestation.
A brief introductory overview of the environmental dimensions of the conflict in South Sudan, with facts, figures and further reading.
Our major satellite analysis of the state of agricultural land in Yemen finds that 257,000 hectares of its most important agricultural areas have exhibited signs of degradation during the current conflict. This is an area equivalent to the total cropland in Jordan or Lebanon.
Agriculture in wadis Zabid and Rima in the Tihamah plain has been hard hit by Yemen’s conflict. Using open-source datasets, Eoghan Darbyshire takes a deep dive into the situation that has unfolded in this area, and analyses the complex relationship between the conflict and the deteriorating agricultural situation.
