The destruction caused by the Asian tsunami
to the environment offers an opportunity to rebuild in a
manner that preserves natural resources for the benefit
of the local communities who were hardest hit by the disaster,
a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) says.
Vulnerability mapping is urgently needed to pin point
coastal sites where homes, hotels, factories and other
infrastructure should be banned or restricted.
Klaus Toepfer, UNEP’s Executive Director, said:
“The report underlines the importance of managing
the reconstruction in an environmentally sensitive way.
Buildings and other infrastructure need to be built in
less vulnerable areas and to standards that will protect
them and their inhabitants in the event of future tsunamis.
This makes sense not only in respect to tsunamis but also
with respect to storms surges, floods, hurricanes and
other extreme weather events.”
Sri Lanka, one of the countries hit by the giant wave
of 26 December, has already decided to establish a “no
build zone” up to 200 metres from the mean high
tide line.
Lessons can also be learnt from the Pacific where tsunami
events have been more commonplace.
“Hilo, Hawaii, after being damaged several times
by tsunamis finally moved back all structures to a less
risky elevation and converted the foreshore area into
playing fields, parks and other non-essential infrastructure,”
says the study, entitled After the Tsunami - Rapid Environmental
Assessment.
It suggests that the tourism industry, a vital revenue
raising part of many of the affected countries’
economies, should take a lead in locating hotels and resorts
in less wave and flood prone areas.
Other measures that countries might consider is the establishment
of a network of safe haven towers. Bangladesh, a highly
flood-prone nation, has developed community-based concrete
towers, stocked with provisions such as emergency water
and food supplies, where people can seek refuge.
Among the buildings that did survive were mosques, possibly
because they generally have large open ground floors that
allowed the waves to pass through.
“Considerations should be given to ensuring that,
for elevations below 10 metres above sea level, all public
buildings are constructed with this open ‘flow-through’
ground floor design. There appears to be no readily available
best practice building code for tsunamis, so one may need
to be developed,” says the study.
The report, based on surveys by UNEP teams in the field
working with other UN agencies, governments and non governmental
organizations, is being released at UNEP’s 23rd
Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum
where some 100 environment ministers have gathered for
their annual talks.
“The report indicates that the environment was
both a victim of the tsunami but also that it often played
its part in reducing the impact. Where healthy and relatively
intact features like coral reefs, mangroves and coastal
vegetation were in place there is evidence that the damage
was reduced. There are innumerable reasons to maintain
healthy habitats like coral reefs. They are nurseries
fish and magnets for tourists. Now we have another reason
to conserve them”, said Mr. Toepfer.
“The report also makes it clear that handling the
rubble and other wastes generated by the damage is a key
issue for many of the countries concerned. It goes together
with building the capacity of their environment ministries,”
he added.
The Executive Director also emphasized that the report
also supported the need for a regional early warning system,
not just for tsunamis but for a wide range of weather-related
natural disasters.
The report was coordinated by UNEP’s Task Force
based in Geneva and chaired by Pasi Rinne. It was prepared
in collaboration with UNEP’s Regional Offices in
Asia Pacific and Africa, other United Nations bodies,
governments and non governmental organizations (including
the World Conservation Union – IUCN and the World
Wildlife Fund – WWF International). The report covers
Indonesia, the Maldives, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
the Seychelles and Yemen. For Details Visit:
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=424&ArticleID=4726&l=en
UNEP Official Website: http://www.unep.org/
