1 of 13

TNRC Workshop at CMP Retreat 2023

Corruption as an Indirect Threat:

Tool based on

Direct Threats Classification 2.0

2 of 13

tnrcproject.org

subscribe.tnrcproject.org

Harnessing knowledge, generating evidence, and supporting innovative policy and practice for more effective anti-corruption programming

This presentation is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption project and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or individual TNRC consortium members.

3 of 13

Of the tool:

Don’t reinvent the wheel
Scannable reference

Of the session:

Is this useful?
Is this clear?
Is anything missing?

Objectives

4 of 13

CMP Direct Threats Classification v 2.0
Classification Levels
1	2	3 (examples, not comprehensive)	Definition	Exposition	Corruption Examples
1. Residential & Commercial Development			Human settlements or other non-agricultural land uses with a substantial footprint	These are threats tied to a defined and relatively compact area, which distinguishes them from those in 4. Transportation & Service Corridors which have a long narrow footprint, and 6. Human Intrusions & Disturbance which do not have an explicit footprint. Note that we can use standard land-cover classifications to assess the stresses delivered by these direct threats.	Corruption could:
	1.1 Housing & Urban Areas		Human cities, towns, and settlements including non-housing development typically integrated with housing	This category dovetails somewhat arbitrarily with 1.2 Commercial and Industrial Areas. As a general rule, however, if people live in the development, it should fall into this category.	*Cause departures from stated, scientific environmental standards and spatial planning, allowing development in conservation areas.
		urban areas, suburbs, villages, vacation homes, shopping areas, offices, schools, hospitals
	1.2 Commercial & Industrial Areas		Factories and other commercial centers	Shipyards and airports fall into this category, whereas shipping lanes and flight paths fall under 4. Transportation & Service Corridors. Dams are NOT included here, rather they are in 7.2 Dams & Water Management / Use.
		manufacturing plants, shopping centers, office parks, military bases, power plants, train & ship yards, airports			*Undermine requirements and enforcement of mitigation factors like light or capacity limitations.
	1.3 Tourism & Recreation Areas		Tourism and recreation sites with a substantial footprint	There is a fine line between housing and vacation housing/resorts. Be careful not to confuse this category, which focuses on the habitat effects of recreation areas, with those in 6.1 Recreational Activities, which focuses on the disturbance effects posed by recreation.
		ski areas, golf courses, beach resorts, cricket fields, county parks, campgrounds

5 of 13

2. Agriculture & Aquaculture			Threats from farming and ranching as a result of agricultural expansion, intensification or practices; includes silviculture, mariculture and aquaculture	Threats primarily resulting from the use of agrochemicals, rather than the direct conversion of land to agricultural use, should be included under 9.3 Agricultural & Forestry Effluents.	Corruption could:
	2.1 Annual & Perennial Non-Timber Crops		Crops planted for food, fodder, fiber, fuel, or other uses		*Allow land to be converted that otherwise should not (for regulatory or environmental reasons), or prevent enforcement against improperly converted land.
		farms, household swidden plots, plantations, orchards, vineyards, mixed agroforestry systems
	2.2 Wood & Pulp Plantations		Stands of trees planted for timber or fiber outside of natural forests, often with non-native species	If it is one or a couple timber species that are planted on a rotation cycle, it belongs here. If it is multiple species or enrichment plantings in a quasi-natural system, it belongs in 5.3 Logging & Wood Harvesting.	*Increase the likelihood of encroachment on protected areas or Indigenous Peoples' lands to make room for production, or prevent enforcment against human rights abuses that occur in that encroachment.
		teak or eucalyptus plantations, silviculture, christmas tree farms
	2.3 Livestock Farming & Ranching		Domestic terrestrial animals raised in one location on farmed or non-local resources (farming); also domestic or semidomesticated animals allowed to roam in the wild and supported by natural habitats (ranching)	In farming, animals are kept in captivity; in ranching they are allowed to roam in wild habitats. If a few animals are mixed in a subsistence cropping system, it belongs in 2.1 Annual & Perennial Non-Timber Crops. Forage of wild resources for stall-fed animals falls under 5.2 Gathering Terrestrial Plants.	*Enable abuse of human-wildlife conflict prevention and management schemes, draining such systems of resources and threatening e.g., local predator populations.
		cattle feed lots, dairy farms, cattle ranching, chicken farms, goat, camel, or yak herding
	2.4 Marine & Freshwater Aquaculture		Aquatic animals raised in one location on farmed or non-local resources; also hatchery fish allowed to roam in the wild	Farmed animals are kept in captivity; hatchery fish are put into wild habitats and are the aquatic equivalent of terrestrial ranching.	*Enable aquaculture production to be sited too close to or within marine protected areas, raising the risk of escapes and damage to the local ecosystem.
		shrimp or fin fish aquaculture, fish ponds on farms, hatchery salmon, seeded shellfish beds, artificial algal beds

6 of 13

Direct threats: Oil and gas drilling, mining and quarrying, renewable energy
Secretly provide incentives to high-level decision makers to convert, allow, or ignore hydrocarbon exploration and extraction in conserved areas and buffer zones, in contradiction of national or international agreements.
Capture and divert benefits that are supposed to be shared with local communities and/or used for broadly beneficial environmental or social purposes.
Hide when maintenance and safeguards against disaster are deprioritized, or lead to the selection of inspectors and maintenance inputs like concrete based on connections and relationships rather than quality or effectiveness.

3. Energy Production & Mining

7 of 13

Direct threats: Roads and railroads, utility and service lines, shipping lanes, flight paths
Allow or encourage roads to be constructed for ostensibly licit purposes but with the actual intention of eventually supporting conversion, deforestation, or one of their drivers, like agriculture.
Prevent biodiversity from being appropriately taken into account in upstream infrastructure planning, or allowing for green commitments during tender process to be removed or ignored later.
Connect ostensibly licit development like fluvial docks with illicit enterprises like the illegal wildlife trade.
Create a culture of petty bribery that undermines enforcement of speed, proximity, or other restrictions to protect wildlife.

4. Transportation & Service Corridors

8 of 13

Direct threats: Hunting and collecting, gathering plants, logging and wood harvesting, fishing
Enable external or market actors to abuse, hide behind, or undermine cultural practices, scientific activity, and allowances for bycatch, accidents, and self defense.
Empower elites or market actors to control access rights or prices for local producers, inhibiting the success of e.g., non-timber forest product harvesting arrangements.
Avoid or undermine traceability and other legality assurance systems to launder illicitly harvested resources into the legal supply chain.
Prevent effective enforcement of species, season, size, harvest/catch methods, allowable activity zones, and other resource management regulations.

5. Biological Resource Use

9 of 13

Direct threats: Recreational activities, war/civil unrest and military exercises, work and other activities
Create conflict or make it more acute, both through grievances from the maldistribution of resources to funding conflicts through, e.g., trafficking mineral resources from prohibited conflict zones to allowed export areas.
Render law enforcement and other armed state actors ineffective or, worse, contribute to distrust, abuses, and rights violations.

6. Human Intrusions and Disturbance, 7. Natural System Modifcation

Direct threats: Fire and fire suppression, dams and water management, ecosystem modifications / maintenance
Undermine training / oversight practices, increasing the likelihood of extra damage, accidents, or controlled burns escaping control.
Cause dams and other large-scale modifications to take place unnecessarily or in prohibited or protected zones or systems, like the illicit draining of wetlands.
Expel or disempower traditional resource managers.

10 of 13

Direct threats: invasive non-native plants and animals, problematic species, introduced genes, pathogens
Falsify documentation or otherwise allow biocontrols to be bypassed.
Lead to determinations of species as "problematic" based on private interests rather than science, or other such regulatory capture.
Undermine commitments to use native species or otherwise avoid the introduction of genetic material.

8. Invasive and problematic species, pathogens, genes

11 of 13

Direct threats: sewage, effluents, garbage and solid waste, air-borne pollutants, excess energy
Misclassify substances to bypass international waste trade restrictions, sending waste to sites of least governance rather than least environmental impact.
Prevent or falsify inspection and enforcement actions or otherwise allow polluters to escape consequences.
Delay the prohibition of substances and practices revealed to be toxic or damaging.

9. Pollution

12 of 13

Direct threats: volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, landslides
Weaken protective preparation, procedures, and infrastructure, exacerbating the damage from geological events.

10. Geological events, 11. Climate change

Direct threats: ecosystem encroachment, geochemical and hydrological changes, severe weather
Plague nature-based mitigation measures like mangrove restoration or other forms of "green infrastructure" with inflated costs or weakened effectiveness.
Obscure impacts and/or data about them, delaying required action.
Capture adaptation and mitigation finance or divert it away from where it would be most impactful or is most needed.

13 of 13

Thank you!