Among those groups who have developed a keen interest in understanding the cohesive connections between environmental change, security and conflict is the conservation community. Among the reasons for this interest are:

• Mismanagement of the environment can increase social pressures, aggravate tensions within and among communities and, in the worst cases, lead to conflict. Sustainable environmental management can be a cost- effective means of building social cohesion, reinforcing mechanisms for collaboration and dissipating the pressures that threaten to increase vulnerabilities to disaster and conflict;
• Conservationists may find themselves increasingly called upon to operate in tense and even violent situations, working in areas where conflict is ongoing and participating in post- conflict assessments and rebuilding. Understanding the links among environment and security will be valuable;
• Understanding the link between conservation and social cohesion may offer important new avenues for disseminating the message of sustainable development and present a strong argument in favour of investing resources in conservation action. 

Upon recognizing the relevance of environment and security issues to conservationists and the unique contribution they can make in the field, IUCN and the International Institute for Sustainable Development embarked on a unique collaboration

In 2000, the Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy established a Task Force on Environment and Security to examine the links between conflict, disaster and environmental management, focusing particularly on the identification of the issues and next steps of particular relevance to IUCN and its members. One of its central recommendations, underscored by the consensus of participants at the Task Force's presentation at the World Conservation Congress, was that CEESP should carry on its work in this field.