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Journal of Climate Change and Pollution

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ISSN: 3108-2025 (Online)
DOI Prefix (Crossref): 10.67238

Environmental Mainstreaming for Post-Conflict River Basin Planning: Integrating DPSIR with a Conflict-Sensitive Environmental Safeguarding Framework in the Tekeze River Basin, Tigray, Ethiopia
Research Article-Climate Change, Water Resources, and Sustainable Development, 2026 (September)
Environmental Mainstreaming for Post-Conflict River Basin Planning: Integrating DPSIR with a Conflict-Sensitive Environmental Safeguarding Framework in the Tekeze River Basin, Tigray, Ethiopia Download PDF
Abdilah Berihu Mehamed* ORCID

Tigray Environmental Protection and Climate Change Authority, Mekelle, Ethiopia

*Correspondence to: Abdilah Berihu Mehamed, Tigray Environmental Protection and Climate Change Authority, Mekelle, Ethiopia, E-Mail:
Received: July 28, 2026; Manuscript No: JCCC-26-9754; Editor Assigned: July 31, 2026; PreQc No: JCCC-26-9754(PQ); Reviewed: August 12, 2026; Revised: August 20, 2026; Manuscript No: JCCC-26-9754(R); Published: September 23, 2026

ABSTRACT

Background

Armed conflict severely exacerbates climate vulnerability and ecosystem degradation, yet conflict-sensitive environmental mainstreaming remains critically neglected in river basin planning. Focusing on the Tigray portion of the Tekeze River Basin in northern Ethiopia following the 2020–2022 armed conflict, this study provides a practical scientific basis to integrate environmental and climate priorities into the ongoing 15-year Tekeze Basin Plan.

Methods

We applied a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework integrating multi-temporal remote sensing (Sentinel-2A and Landsat 8/9; 2018–2024), LULC/NDVI mapping, field surveys across six urban–rural corridors, and key informant interviews (n=48).

Results

Primary conflict-driven Pressures induced 403 km² of vegetation loss, unmonitored mercury/cyanide contamination from artisanal mining, and widespread waste management failure across the Tigray sub-basin. Basin land cover is currently dominated by sparse vegetation (76.93%) and cropland (39.60%), with forest cover limited to 13.39% and surface water to 0.40%. Existing Responses are hampered by institutional collapse, absent monitoring networks, and weak enforcement, escalating water scarcity, food insecurity, and toxic ecological risks.

Conclusion

We deliver a prioritized environmental agenda, a phased implementation roadmap, and a novel Integrated Conflict-Sensitive Environmental and Social Safeguarding framework. This work offers a scalable template for climate resilience and ecosystem restoration in conflict-affected dryland basins globally. Beyond documenting environmental degradation, this study develops and operationalizes the Integrated Conflict-Sensitive Environmental and Social Safeguarding (ICSESS) framework, which transforms DPSIR assessment into a decision-support system for river basin planning. The framework provides a transferable model for integrating environmental restoration, climate resilience, and institutional recovery into Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in conflict-affected regions worldwide.

Keywords: Environmental Mainstreaming; DPSIR And ICSESS Frameworks; River Basin Planning; Climate Resilience; Post-Conflict Recovery; Ecosystem Restoration; Tekeze River Basin; Tigray; Ethiopia

Citation: Mehamed AB (2026). Environmental Mainstreaming for Post-Conflict River Basin Planning: Integrating DPSIR with a Conflict-Sensitive Environmental Safeguarding Framework in the Tekeze River Basin, Tigray, Ethiopia. J. Clim. Change Pollut, Climate Change, Water Resources, and Sustainable Development, September (2026), pp:13-31.
Copyright: © 2026 Abdilah Berihu Mehamed. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.