Transcript Strategic Environmentally Sustainable Site Selection and

Disaster Risk Reduction
Session 2: Environment-based DRR
Activities and Assessments
Green Recovery And Reconstruction: Training Toolkit For Humanitarian Aid
1
Last session we
discussed…
Ecosystem-based
DRR activities
This
session
we will
discuss
Links between disaster
risk & environment
Mitigate neg. impacts
on the environment
How to Integrate
environment into
DRR assessments
Next
session
Mod 9 Ses 1
2
Exercise: What can go wrong?
The activity focuses on how DRR can go wrong from an
environmental perspective.
1. You will be provided with a case study
2. Identify what environmental issues (problems) can
occur
3. List the results on a flip chart
4. Select someone to present the results
5. You have 10 minutes to discuss your ideas and
prepare your report
See Handout 9.2.1
Mod 9 Ses 2
3
How to avoid environmental
surprises in DRR projects…
 Consider the environment in the project design
process – locally as well as downstream or remote
locations to avoid unintended consequences
 Conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA)
of the proposed project
 Environmental reviews can be
 fairly simple
 fast
 can identify ways to improve the impact (including
disaster reduction impact of the planned activities)
Mod 9 Ses 2
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EIA Process
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
1. Starts with a “scoping” of possible environmental
issues
2. The scoping is followed by more specific
investigation of possible serious environmental
impacts.
3. The process ends with an identification of ways to
avoid or mitigate the impacts which have been
identified, i.e., DRR activities.
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Key EIA Information Sources
 Green Recovery and Reconstruction Toolkit Module 3
Environmental Impact Assessment Tools and
Techniques for procedures to review post-disaster
DRR interventions
 www.iaia.org -- For general background information
on EIAs
 http://www.encapafrica.org/docs.htm for
information on EIA procedures and EIAs for small
scale projects (relevant for many DRR activities)
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Ecosystem-based activities for DRR
In this part of the session, we will…
Identify a set of ecosystem-based DRR activities
that can enhance disaster risk reduction programs
Mod 9 Ses 2
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What is “Ecosystem”?
 An ecosystem is “a dynamic complex of plant, animal
and micro-organism communities and their non-living
environment interacting as a functional unit.”
Source: Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity
How would you restate this in “conversational English”?
What are the links between ecosystems and disasters?
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Ecosystem-Disaster Links
 Hazards occur in ecosystems and may affect them in
the short- or long-term
 Human actions which damage ecosystems can
increase the impact of disasters
 Restoring ecosystems (e.g., restoring wetlands which
can absorb flood waters) can reduce disaster impact
in some cases
Any other links?
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Ecosystems and
Vulnerability Reduction
Vulnerability is often linked to
 Access to natural resources
 The quality of resources available
Mod 9 Ses 3
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Ecosystems and
Vulnerability Reduction
Mitigating vulnerability
through an ecosystem
approach often involves:
 Improving access to
natural resources
 Improving the quality
of the natural
resources available
Mod 9 Ses 3
How would you use
ecosystems to reduce
vulnerability related to:
 Poor quality water
 Poor shelter
 Lack of access to food
(sustainable, healthy
ecosystems are part of
the answer)
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What are ecosystem services?
The benefits that people and communities obtain from
ecosystems. Integrated management of land, water and
living resources that promotes conservation and
sustainable use provides the basis for maintaining
ecosystem services, including those that contribute to
reduced disaster risks.
- Source: the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Ecosystem Services
Ecosystems provide us with many services, including:
 Provisioning services: such as food and water
 Regulating services: such as regulation of floods,
drought, land degradation and disease
 Supporting services: such as soil formation and
nutrient cycling
 Cultural services: such as recreational, spiritual,
religious and other non-material benefits
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Examples of Ecosystem Services
Wetlands and peatlands buffer flood waters
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/Marshes/images/marsh1.jpg
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Forests
“Protection forests”
reduce damage from
avalanches, landslides
and rock falls
Mod 9 Ses 2
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/5824362.jpg
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Intact Coastal Ecosystems
For example, stabilized
sand dunes, coral reefs,
lagoons and mangroves
can reduce flood damage
from coastal storms
http://www.photography-match.com/views/images/gallery/
Coral_Reef_Torres_Strait_Islands_Australia.jpg
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Shelter Belts, Greenbelts, Hedges,
“Living Fences”
…can help regulate drought, sand storm and fire
http://www.treehugger.com/20090720-jatropha-fence.jpg
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Discussion Questions
How is DRR part of the “integrated management
of land, water and living resources”? Provide
examples.
Please write your ideas on a flip chart.
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Integrate Environmental Issues into
Typical DRR Assessments
DRR assessments determine the nature and
extent of the risk by analyzing potential hazards
and evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability
that could pose a potential threat or harm to
people, property, livelihoods and the environment
on which they depend.
Mod 9 Ses 2
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DRR assessments consist of…
1. A hazard assessment to determine the
characteristics of hazards facing a community
Such as??
2. A vulnerability assessment to determine who and
what is vulnerable, level of vulnerability and
underlying reasons for vulnerability An example??
3. A capacity assessment to determine a community’s
existing capacities to cope with a hazard and the
gaps in capacity An example??
4. An action plan
Mod 9 Ses 2
To do what??
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Exercise: Integrating the Environment into
DRR Assessments
Environmental links to the DRR assessment
process:
1. Describe hazards in a community
2. Conduct hazard mapping
3. Describe vulnerabilities and capacities
4. Determine disaster risks
See Handout 9.2.2
Mod 9 Ses 2
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Lunch Time
Mod 9 Ses 2
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