Benefit sharing for conflict resolution and achieving development goals

Recent discussions on sustainable natural resource use and land management have raised the subjecy of benefit-sharing mechanisms as potential vehicles for reducing conflicts around large infrastructure projects. Targeted livelihood interventions, healthcare enhancements, agriculture modernization, forest management and local entrepreneurships are some of the common components of community development packages. Increasingly, compensation and mitigation packages are linked to conservation off-sets, indigenous people, ecosystems and climate aspects. The ESIA/EIA process itself requires that all impacts are avoided tas far as possible and eventually mitigated following international and national regulatory systems. Nevertheless, projects face potential community dissatisfaction. To help address this, hydro projects in several countries have used benefit sharing to reduce tensions and conflicts. This paper introduces benefit sharing as a viable conflict reduction vehicle.