Every year, across the world, disasters such as droughts, earthquakes and floods cause widespread devastation and human suffering. Sri Lanka is no stranger to disasters. The island nation is susceptible to a range of hazards such as floods and landslides. Disaster incidence and frequency have increased during the past few decades. Mitigating the impact of disasters through disaster risk reduction or DRR measures is key to ensuring a more resilient nation. Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction as the word implies has two parts, ECO and DRR ECO means working with the environmental knowledge and environmental systems. And the Disaster Risk Reduction part is to understand the risk, and understand what you can do, and come together with different stakeholders and working to minimize the risk. Sri Lanka’s ecosystems and green infrastructure can be effectively used in DRR planning to minimize the impact of disasters. Wetlands act as sponges by absorbing excess rainfall and preventing flooding while coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, sand dunes and mangroves act as buffers against storm surges and tsunamis. Forests with healthy tree cover prevent soil erosion and protect against possible landslides Rainwater harvesting as a flood relief strategy has been used in several parts of Sri Lanka as an ECO-DRR measure. Natural systems can also be used to address disasters such as climate induced droughts. The Kapiriggama cascade tank restoration project by IUCN in partnership with HSBC in Mahailukpallama is a case in point that has brought drought relief to communities through the restoration of a traditional tank system. Cascade tank system is one of the Ellanga Paddathi in Sinhala tank cascade systems in Sri Lanka. There are about more than one thousand tank cascade systems. Formation of tank cascade is of particular reference to landscape, rainfall and the soil type. So it's really blessed by nature. to form these cascade systems. In addition to helping minimize disasters, ECO-DRR measures provide several other benefits. They help conserve biodiversity while providing livelihood opportunities for communities. However, many of the ecosystems that provide ECO-DRR services are increasingly threatened in Sri Lanka due to a number of factors including unplanned development activities and unsustainable consumption practices. We are also very familiar that when the ecosystems are intact, the areas which are prone to disasters are much lesser. After disasters these areas also can recover faster when you have intact ecosystems. This is something that needs to be further taken into account by way of estimating how much it would contribute in terms of minimizing damages. There are mechanisms of doing that making use of some of the environmental economics tools. To successfully implement ECO-DRR initiatives in Sri Lanka, support is needed from multiple partners and coordination is vital amongst all important stakeholders. We need to focus more on preventative strategies together with sound planning using natural landscape features to prevent disaster risks.
Nature’s solution to flooding: a case study from Sri Lanka
From SDG Academy 16 February, 2021
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From SDG Academy 18 February, 2021 |