Bringing together researchers from multiple disciplines, the project combined satellite imagery analysis, surveys, content analysis, and qualitative interviews to capture both large-scale environmental transformations and local governance dynamics. This mixed-methods approach enabled the team to link macro-level patterns with lived experiences on the ground.
Environmental change in conflict settings
The research shows that conflict does not simply cause environmental degradation, but often enables and restructures it. Remote sensing analysis documents significant landscape transformations, including the loss of tree crops, the clearing of forested areas, and the expansion of extractive activities. These findings highlight how conflict conditions can facilitate extractivism and the reorganisation of land use, rather than functioning merely as a backdrop to environmental change.
Satellite-based mapping also identified pollution linked to makeshift oil production, which emerged following the collapse of state infrastructure. These analyses demonstrate how remote sensing can be used to monitor environmental degradation in otherwise difficult-to-access conflict zones, while also underscoring the value of combining such data with local knowledge.
Agriculture and livelihoods
The project identified significant changes in agricultural patterns, including a marked expansion of cultivated land in 2019. This suggests that, despite ongoing instability, agricultural activity has remained central to livelihoods and adaptation strategies.
Survey findings further reveal that knowledge of practical concepts—such as food security and agricultural practices—is widespread among farmers, while more abstract political–ecological concepts (e.g. social ecology or democratic confederalism) are unevenly understood and vary across regions and social groups.
Contested paths to sustainability
The research also examined the relationship between ecological ideas and governance models in the region. While initiatives such as agroecology, tree planting, and localised governance seek to promote sustainability and autonomy, they coexist with continued reliance on extractive practices and are shaped by broader political and economic constraints. This underscores the tensions between environmental aspirations and material realities in a conflict-affected setting.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
A defining feature of the ECO‑Syria project has been its interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together diverse methods, concepts, and epistemologies. Integrating approaches such as remote sensing and qualitative fieldwork required sustained dialogue, particularly in defining shared research questions and analytical frameworks. As the team reflected, meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration takes time and considerable effort.
Rather than adopting a fully integrated approach in every component, different disciplines often led specific strands of research while others contributed complementary perspectives. This enabled the project to combine “eyes in the sky and ears on the ground”, linking environmental data with local insights.
Despite the challenges, this collaborative approach generated insights that would not have been possible within a single discipline, demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary research for understanding complex conflict–environment dynamics.
To read more about the project’s activities and outputs, see the ECO‑Syria blog.
Read more about the project and the research team.
Fact box
Event: CMES Seminar – Eco-Syria: Exploring conflict–environment interactions for sustainable development and conservation
Date: 2026-06-04
What: Final seminar presentation of the Eco-Syria research project