A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

Living with risk - focus on disaster risk reduction1Linking environment and disaster reduction activities• Assessment of environmental problems linked to hazards based on reliable sources of existing information,mapping of environmentally sensitive areas, description of the characteristics of the environmentand development trends in these areas, assessment of impacts and the need for additional data.• Examination of environmental benefits to be drawn from disaster reduction activities throughoutsectors.• Monitoring to provide information for decision-making purposes, e.g. removal of disaster-proneland from development (land-use plans enable local governments to gather and analyse informationabout the suitability of land for development, so that the limitations of hazard-prone areas are understoodby policy makers, potential investors and community residents).• Environmental tools for disaster reduction purposes: regulatory (zoning, subdivision regulations,building codes, special ordinances), incentives (tax incentives, transfers of development rights, easements,land purchases, voluntary agreements, donations, leases, covenants, charitable deductions),programmes (conservation/restoration of ecosystems, wildlife, wetlands), hazard control and mitigation,water/watershed, coastal-zone management.extreme events, and an appraisal of alternativesolutions to an exclusively engineeringapproach.There is growing recognition that by followingprinciples of wise environmental management,increased hazard protection as well as economicbenefits can be provided by the natural environment.This can be accomplished by buildingnational and local capacities, exchangingexperience and information regionally andengaging programme and investment partnersinternationally.The wealth of information and knowledgefrom both environmental and disaster managementstudies should be mutually beneficial.Both areas are inherently multi-disciplinaryand dynamic in their approach and analysis ofthe socio-environmental nexus. Institutionally,both have been, and largely continue to be,operated by the public sector and NGOs. Similartools are continuously being refined in bothfields, namely vulnerability indexing, inventorymechanisms, educational programmes for publicawareness and impact assessments.Encompassing long-term comprehensive goalsto manage growth, development and land useimplies incorporating an effective environmentalcomponent into disaster reduction strategies.Adapted, sustainable and integrated managementof natural resources, including reforestationschemes, proper land use and judicioussettlements should increase the resilienceof communities to disasters by reversing currenttrends of environmental degradation anddealing with hazard management in a comprehensiveway. Secondary benefits expected fromthe introduction of environmental projects indisaster reduction programmes include socialacceptance, political feasibility and economicrationale.Disaster reduction and environmental managementshould become national priorities. Entitiesresponsible for disaster reduction shouldhave clear environmental mandates. Coordinatedand inter-agency programmes are neededto promote a holistic problem-solving strategy,justifying the protection and restoration ofnatural functions of ecosystems, and assessingprogramme subsidies to create the right incentivesfor sustainability. Environmental accountingsystems that produce information suitedfor decision-making should reflect disasterreduction considerations. Additional studiesare needed to improve systems of ecologicaleconomic accounting. Translating environmentalresources and services into conventionaleconomic figures is still very much a challenge.As disaster reduction and environment have alot in common, the disaster reduction communityshould look closely at experiencegained in promoting environmental policies.The environmental community has been promotingits agenda for 30 years. Today, the roleof environmental strategies to achieve sustainabledevelopment is now no longer questionedand disaster reduction policy must follow asimilar path.37