“The Lasting Legacy of the Salvadoran Civil War on Environment and Health,” an essay by Amaan Thawer

Surviving Memory research assistant Amaan Thawer has published the essay “The Lasting Legacy of the Salvadoran Civil War on Environment and Health” on the Planetary Health Alliance website this November 2025.

In the piece, Thawer examines El Salvador’s ongoing environmental crisis and its deep connections to the country’s Civil War (1979–1992). He analyzes the current state of pollution, deforestation, and intensive agrochemical use, arguing that these problems cannot be understood in isolation from the violence and displacement of the war. “Much like other social and ecological vulnerabilities, El Salvador’s current environmental fragility is deeply rooted in the trauma and destruction of its civil war,” he writes.

The essay also highlights the work of the Centro Salvadoreño de Tecnología Apropiada [Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology,CESTA], which denounces environmental harm caused by industries and governments while promoting practical alternatives such as cycling, composting organic waste, recycling, and forest protection. Thawer draws on insights from CESTA director Dr. Ricardo Navarro, who has long documented war-related environmental damage. “Among the most destructive tactics employed during the war was the scorched-earth strategy – an ecocidal approach involving widespread aerial bombardments using napalm and white phosphorus to incinerate forests and campesino farmlands,” Thawer notes. “Ecological destruction wasn’t incidental; it was instrumentalized to break communities’ capacity to survive.”

Photo by Amaan Thawer during his time on Tasajera Island, El Salvador.