Zonas de Reserva Campesina: land equity, environmental justice and peacebuilding in rural Colombia

This proposed research aims to examine the potential of Campesino Reserve Zones (Zonas de Reserva Campesina or ZRCs) to build peace and promote land and environmental justice in Colombia. We aimed at addressing this general purpose through four specific goals with central implications to equity: 1) identifying the territorial conflicts and overlaps that limit the formal recognition of ZRCs; 2) assessing the contribution of ZRCs to reducing land inequity and its relationship with natural resources management; 3) studying the practices and institutional arrangements to manage natural resources within ZRCs; 4) evaluating the trade-offs between conservation and income generation that result from ZRCs institutions to manage natural resources. We propose to use a multi-level and multi-methods institutional analysis to understand the contributions of ZRCs to land and environmental equity and peacebuilding in Colombia.