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ENVIRONMENTAL FORESIGHT IN THE REDUCTION OF NATURAL DISASTERS
A thematic session to end the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction

GENEVA, July 12, 1999 — Despite recurrent, catastrophic fires over the last decade, Indonesia was unprepared for the inferno of 1997-98. Most fires were deliberately set, went completely out of control and turned into wildfire surpassing any nation’s fire fighting capabilities. Last year’s episode alone caused hundreds of deaths, devastated some 9 million hectares of forest and cost US$ 10 billion in short term ecological and economic losses. The impact of several so-called natural disasters was analysed at a special session on Disaster Reduction and Protection of Natural Resources, organised on July 8th 1999 in Geneva by IUCN – The World Conservation Union, to mark the close of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

Introducing the session, Dr. Maritta R. von Bieberstein Koch-Weser, Director General of IUCN, asked, "how much damage might have been reduced by better management of environmental resources and social preparedness?" Referring to another 1998 catastrophe, Hurricane Mitch, Dr. Koch-Weser argued in favour of coherent, country-by-country disaster preparedness strategies, linked to regional strategies, themselves based on sound eco-regional management, such as that of river basin linkages. "For instance," she said, "the degree and extent of damage caused by Hurricane Mitch is attributed to the drastic alteration over the years of natural systems that would have provided a buffer effect. Unless local participation is harnessed and investments secured to rehabilitate upper watersheds, downstream wetlands and mangroves, there will be renewed disasters with all the attendant consequences. The magnitude of this challenge requires a co-ordinated effort with new partners and allies, as would be possible under the umbrella of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor".

"The devastation caused to Central America by Mitch, the most destructive hurricane in the history of the Western Hemisphere, amounted to over 11,000 deaths, 13,000 injured, 2 million homeless and 254 destroyed bridges," stated H.E. Miguel Araujo, former Environment Minister of El Salvador. "When such disasters strike, funds are marshalled internationally, mostly to repair the damage to infrastructure – housing, roads and bridges. And, though they occur regularly, such phenomena are still being treated as unpredictable, one-time disasters and emergencies".

Mr. Orlando Arevalo, President of the National Peasants’ Confederation of El Salvador pointed out that, "Only recently has the repeated cycle of physical reconstruction following the impact of nature’s wrath led to work on the fundamentals of building greater resistance to natural disasters". "But," he added, "most of this work focuses on engineering solutions to improve the building standards of large infrastructure and shelters. Such measures are insufficient if not accompanied by disaster preparedness strategies that foster resilient environmental and social systems".

The panellists at the session recommended that the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction now be followed by more creative, sustained and effective approaches. Minister Araujo suggested that disaster prevention be integrated into all sectors of activity, since it is beneficial to agriculture, forestry, transport, mitigating desertification, reducing carbon emissions (carbon sinks), etc. "Greater coherence will be achieved" he said "when governments begin treating disasters as normal events to be considered in mainstream, long-term planning. Such basic structural improvements will make physical infrastructure, natural systems, water management and human communities more resilient, even enhancing opportunities for investment".

Professor Effendy Sumardja, Regional Vice Chair for Southeast Asia of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas stressed that donor funding has been uncoordinated and too focused on emergency relief. Moreover, natural disaster reduction projects have generally addressed only a negligible portion of the environment threatened by these disasters. "There is a need to enhance the ability of governments, international agencies and civil society to design projects that address the real causes of natural disasters, instead of focusing only on source funding from donors for remediation" he stated.

Johann Goldammer of the Global Fire Monitoring Centre of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, proposed several concrete measures, including:

Since the frequency and intensity of natural disasters has repeatedly been linked to environmental degradation, sustainable development must embody the reduction of regional vulnerability to disasters. The challenge is for global governance to strike a better balance between emergency response and assistance, on the one hand, and mitigation and prevention, on the other. "For that to happen," concluded Dr. Koch-Weser, "long-term investments and strategies for disaster preparedness need to reach beyond the scope of typically myopic political cycles and mere emergency relief".

The recommendations of panellists at this session were presented to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) for action following to the end of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

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