Integrated River Basin Management for Effective Flood Risk Reduction

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RPS: RPS0009 - River-Management

Integrated River Basin Management for Effective Flood Risk Reduction

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Phong Tran and Rajib Shaw

RESEARCH PUBLISHING

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Published by Research Publishing Services Blk 236, Tampines Street 21, #10-589, Singapore 520236. e-mail: [email protected] India Office: New No: 61/1 Ist Cross Street, CIT Nagar, Chennai 600 035.

INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT FOR EFFECTIVE FLOOD RISK REDUCTION Editors: Phong Tran and Rajib Shaw

c 2010 Research Publishing Services. Copyright All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher.

ISBN: 978-981-08-2427-3

Printed in Singapore.

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Acknowledgments The research presented in the book is supported by the Ministry of Education, Sports Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Government of Japan in the form of scholarship to Phong Tran. Part of this research is also supported by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) research grant to Rajib Shaw. This work is part of doctoral study of Phong Tran. We thank Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies for this research opportunity. We are thankful to different professionals and specialists in Japan and Vietnam to conduct this study. Special thanks to SEI and WWF and other members of DEWGA (Disaster and Environment Working Group in Asia) for part of this study. We are thankful to our family members, who provided constant support and encouragements during the whole duration of the study.

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Table of Contents v

Acknowledgments List of Tables

xii

List of Figures

xiii xv

List of Acronyms

xvii

Glossary of Terms Chapter 1. Introduction

1

1.1

1

Problem Statement 1.1.1 Problems of Existing Disaster Risk Management Approaches 1.1.2 New Risks Brought by Climate Change 1.1.3 Disaster Impacts: Obstacles to Sustainable Development

1 3

1.2

Thua Thien Hue Province in Viet Nam

6

1.3

Objectives and Structure of the Book

8

Chapter 2. Disaster Risk Management 2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

Review of Disaster Risk Management Approaches 2.1.1 Disaster Perspectives 2.1.2 Flood Risk Management Perspectives 2.1.3 Disaster Risk Management Models Disaster Risk Management Approach 2.2.1 Problems of Traditional Disaster Risk Management 2.2.2 Participatory Disaster Risk Management: A Complement Approach in Disaster Risk Management 2.2.3 Challenges of Participatory Disaster Risk Management Participatory Disaster Risk Management Approach 2.3.1 Role of Actors at the Local Level in Community Based Disaster Risk Management 2.3.2 Basic Elements and Features of Participatory Disaster Risk Management 2.3.3 Allocating Competencies in a Decentralized Disaster Risk Management System Conceptual Framework of the Research

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4

11

11 11 16 19

28 28

31 35

37 37 38 39

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Table of Content

Chapter 3. Disaster, Environment and Development Linkages

47

3.1

Introduction

47

3.2

Disaster and Environment Linkages 3.2.1 Impact of Environmental Degradation on Disasters 3.2.2 Impacts of Disasters on Environment

49

3.3

3.4

3.5

Disaster and Development Linkages 3.3.1 Impacts of Disasters on Millennium Development Goals 3.3.2 Impacts of Development on Frequency and Severity of Disasters Environment Disaster and Development Integration 3.4.1 Opportunities of Environment and Disaster Reduction Integration 3.4.2 Opportunities of Development and Disaster Reduction Integration Recommended Ways for Integration 3.5.1 Climate Change Adaptation Strategies 3.5.2 Land use Planning 3.5.3 Post Disaster Sanitation and Safe Water 3.5.4 Livelihood Management 3.5.5 Risk Tansferring 3.5.6 Coastal Zone Management 3.5.7 Urban Planning

49 51

54 54 54

56 57 66

73 74 74 75 75 76 76 76

Chapter 4. Context of Disaster Risk Management in Viet Nam

79

4.1

Context of Viet Nam

79

4.2

History and Chronology of Institutional and Legal Amendments 4.2.1 Legal Framework

85

4.3

Mandate and Responsibilities of Institutions 4.3.1 National Assembly and State Government 4.3.2 Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) 4.3.3 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (vice chairman) 4.3.4 Ministry of Defense (vice chairman) 4.3.5 Ministry of Fisheries (member) 4.3.6 Other Ministries

80 86 86 87 89 89 89 89

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4.3.7 4.3.8 4.4

4.5 4.6

Central Committee for Search and Rescue (CCFSR) Central Committee for Forest Fire Control (CCFFC)

90 91

92

Institutional Assessment 4.4.1 Prevention and Mitigation 4.4.2 Risk Insurance 4.4.3 Early Warning and Forecast 4.4.4 Response and Relief 4.4.5 Recovery and Reconstruction

93 94 94 94 95

Operational Capacity 4.5.1 Human Resources

95

Current Situation of Participatory Disaster Risk Management in Viet Nam

96

95

Chapter 5. Context of Thua Thien Hue Province

105

5.1

Physical Conditions

105

5.2

Social Economic Development

106

5.3

Environment Disaster Linkages

107

5.4

Climate Change Impact

116

Chapter 6. DRR Operation Assessment in Thua Thien Hue

119

6.1

119

6.2

Provincial DRR Framework 6.1.1 Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control (PCFSC) 6.1.2 Provincial Defense Department 6.1.3 District and Commune Level Operational Capacity Assessment 6.2.1 Risk, Hazard and Vulnerability Identification 6.2.2 Disaster Risk Management Planning 6.2.3 Emergency Preparedness, Forecasting and Warning 6.2.4 Prevention and Mitigation 6.2.5 Response and Relief 6.2.6 Recovery and Reconstruction 6.2.7 Promoting Disaster Risk Management as Part of Overall Development 6.2.8 Access to and Maintenance of Stockpiles and Safe Areas for Emergency Preparedness 6.2.9 Mobilizing Human and Material Resources 6.2.10 Ability to Liaise with and Mobilize Resources 6.2.11 Past Experiences and Achievement

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123 123 123 124 125 126 126 126 127 127 128 128

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6.3

6.4

6.2.12 Past and Current Practices in Providing Financial and Technical Support to Communities 6.2.13 Participatory Planning and Public Awareness 6.2.14 Support to Traditional Community Coping Mechanisms

129

Assessment of a Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Project 6.3.1 Key Findings 6.3.2 Lesson Learnt and Further Considerations

130 135

Key Gaps Identified 6.4.1 Institutional and Legal 6.4.2 Human Resources 6.4.3 Resource 6.4.4 A Gap of Disaster and Environment Management 6.4.5 Key Issues of Disaster Risk Management in Thua Thien Hue that the Research Try to Address

128 129

129

137 137 137 138 139

143

Chapter 7. Forest Cover and Catastrophic Flood Linkages

145

7.1

Introduction

145

7.2

Common Perception and Science on the Relationship Between Forest-Cover Change and Flooding

147

Research in Uplands of the Huong River Basin 7.3.1 Characteristics of the Study Area 7.3.2 Methodology

150 151

7.3

7.4

7.5

150

158

Results 7.4.1 Driving Forces of the Perception on Forest-Flood Relationship Among Upland People 7.4.2 Empirical Results of the Perception Amongst Upland People 7.4.3 The Facts from Hydro-Meteorological Data and Land Cover Change Analysis 7.4.4 Impacts of Land Use Policies and Programs on Upland People

171

Forest Cover and Catastrophic Flood: Key Findings

173

158 163 166

Chapter 8. Annual Flood Impact: Issues in Coastal Areas

175

8.1

175

Introduction

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8.2

Characteristics of Surveyed Areas

176

8.3

Research Methodology

178

8.4

Results of Empirical Survey 8.4.1 Context of the Tam Giang — Cau Hai Lagoon 8.4.2 Risk Identification: Flood Trends 8.4.3 Risk Assessment: Flood Impacts 8.4.4 Treating Risk: Flood Risk Perception and Flood Coping Mechanism

8.5

181 181 183 184 191

194

Traditional Coping Mechanisms of Local Communities 8.5.1 Preparedness 8.5.2 Response, Relief and Rehabilitation 8.5.3 Role of Local Institutions in Disaster Risk Management

196

8.6

Challenges of Flood Risk Management

201

8.7

Potentials of Flood Risk Management

205

8.8

Major Findings

206

194 195

Chapter 9. Participatory Flood Risk Mapping

209

9.1

Introduction

209

9.2

Integration of Local Knowledge, GIS and Map into DRR

210

9.3

Scope and Limitation of the Study

214

9.4

Data

214

9.5

Methodologies

215

9.6

Result and Discussion 9.6.1 What the Hazard Mapping Process Highlighted 9.6.2 Relationship Between Socio-Physical Indicators and Economic Loss/Damage 9.6.3 Partnership to Overcome GIS Operational Problems

9.7

Key Findings

Chapter 10. Discussion and Conclusion 10.1

Key Findings 10.1.1 Policy and Practice Gaps 10.1.2 The Gaps of Common Beliefs and Scientific Facts 10.1.3 Traditional Flood Coping Mechanisms Under Pressure Due to Environmental Degradation 10.1.4 Role of Local Knowledge and Community Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction

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227 229

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10.2

10.3 Index

Towards an Integrated River Basin Management for Effective FRM 10.2.1 Integrated River Basin Management for the Huong River 10.2.2 Integrated River Basin Management Strategy and Action Plans Conclusion

238 238 241

249 263

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List of Tables 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.3 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4

Four main theoretical perspectives of disasters. . . . . . Disaster — Development Linkages. . . . . . . . . . . . . Flood disaster perspectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DRR model classifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Features of Traditional and participatory approach. . . . Centralized and participatory disaster risk management perspectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samples of environment and disaster linkages. . . . . . Three zones of convergences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contextual Differences: Normal & Disaster Environmental Assessments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tasks undertaken at the national level. . . . . . . . . . . CBDRM definitions and practices by INGOs in Viet Nam. Main general indicator of social — economic (2006 – 2010). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Impacts of Ta Trach reservoir on Fauna. . . . . . . . . . Impacts of Ta Trach reservoir on Flora. . . . . . . . . . . Roles of organizations and institutions in DRR. . . . . . . Flood Alarm Levels Used in Viet Nam. . . . . . . . . . . Remote sensing images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Classification system used for land cover mapping. . . . Results of multi linear regression model. Dependent Variable: Flood level at Thuong Nhat station. . . . . . . . . Research methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average of 1999 flood level and current level of plinth by household category. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Impacts of annual flood on child education. . . . . . . . Relationship between flood risk perception and level of education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The primary data collected for the flood risk mapping. . Relative Weightings for Major Factors in term of Flood Risk Potential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Criterion for Flood Risk to Each Household. . . . . . . . Average of 1999 flood level and current level of plinth by household category. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Key agencies, authorities and organizations for IRMB in TTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Strategic components, action plans and time frame of IRBM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proposed responsibility for implementation. . . . . . . . Proposed responsibility for implementation. . . . . . . .

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12 15 17 19 33 34 53 59 65 97 98 108 112 113 139 146 155 158 169 180 188 191 192 218 219 221 225 242 243 244 245

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List of Figures 1.1.

Five-year moving averages of number of hydro-met disasters in Viet Nam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2. Research location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1. The disaster cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2. Disaster risk management Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3. Expand — Contract Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5. Integrated DRM model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6. DRM process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4. The four phases of emergency management. . . . . . . 2.7. Crunch model. (Adopted from Wisner et al., 2004.) . . . 2.8. Domain of disaster risk management. . . . . . . . . . . 2.9. Growing risks and the process of continuous disaster risk management planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10. Process of CBDRM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.11. Conceptual framework of the research. . . . . . . . . . 2.12. Framework of the research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1. Strategic Entry Pints for Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1. Map of hazard zones in Viet Nam. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2. Organization of Disaster Management in Viet Nam. . . 4.3. Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) in Viet Nam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1. Thua Thien Hue Province. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2. Landscape of Thua Thien Hue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3. Distribution of GDP of Thua Thien Hue. . . . . . . . . . 5.4. Cause and effect of environment degradation and disasters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5. Binh Dien and Huong Dien Dams in the uplands. . . . . 5.6. Vulnerable communities and dam, barrage locations. . 5.7. Waste dumping in upstream areas and its effects in downstream communes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8. Disaster frequency by month in Thua Thien Hue Province. 6.1. Organizational chart of the Provincial CFSC and search and rescue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2. Provincial forecasting and warning system. . . . . . . . . 6.3. The Road of Dinh Cu Village after one year of Construction. 7.1. Research location and selected weather stations. . . . . 7.2. Landscape of upland areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3. Research framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4. Flowchart of land cover classification and land cover change detection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5. Land cover in Huu Trach watershed in 1989, 2005 and 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6. Perception of positive impacts of annual flood on environment in lowlands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5 8 20 21 22 23 24 22 26 29 30 41 43 46 58 80 84 86 106 107 108 109 111 111 114 117 120 124 132 151 152 152 157 161 162

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List of Tables

7.7. 7.8. 7.9. 7.10. 7.11. 7.12. 7.13. 7.14. 7.15. 7.16. 8.1. 8.2. 8.3. 8.4. 8.5. 8.6. 8.7. 8.8. 8.9. 8.10.

8.11. 8.12. 9.1. 9.2. 9.3. 9.4. 9.5. 10.1. 10.2. 10.3.

Percentage of main occupation before settling in the uplands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Observation of upland people on the changing biodiversity and flood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Perception of upland people on the impacts of deforestation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Perception of people in the uplands on the causes of catastrophic floods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relationship between the level of flood impact and suggested flood reduction measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . The increasing trend of flood peak and duration at Kim Long station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rainfall and discharge at Thuong Nhat and Nam Dong stations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transportation and dyke systems in the Huong river basin. ‘At risk’ agriculture area in the valley at Hong Ha commune. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forest cover in Huu Trach watershed (ha). . . . . . . . . Study areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Landscape around lagoon areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flood risk management framework. Adapted from the Risk Management Standard AS/NZS 4360: 1999. . . . . . . Average monthly precipitation in rainy season (Aug–Dec) from 1960 to 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average monthly precipitation in dry season (Jan–Jul) from 1960 to 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Percentage productivity loss and damage caused by three major floods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Respondents’ perception of the type of damages caused by annual floods since the year 2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . Positive impacts of annual flood on environment. . . . . Environmental problems during the flood season. . . . . Average level of involvement. (1. Not responsible; 4. Very responsible) of stakeholders in the different phases of flood disaster) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disaster management cycle in Thua Thien Hue Province. Interrelationship of local institutions with macro level institutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flood risk mapping process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Landscape of lowland areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Temporary house located in the riverbank. . . . . . . . . Survey with family (level of flooding). . . . . . . . . . . . Household Flood Risk Index Map of Quang Tho Commune. Integrated River Basin Management. . . . . . . . . . . . Actors in socio-economic development planning and relation with IRBM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Framework for integrating DRR into development project.

163 164 165 165 167 167 168 170 172 173 177 177 178 184 184 186 187 187 190

193 196 198 212 212 216 217 222 241 246 247

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List of Acronyms AC

Agriculture Cooperative

ADB

Asian Development Bank

ADPC

Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre

CARE

CARE International

CBDRM

Community Based Disaster Risk Management

CCFSC

Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control

CFSC

Committee for Flood and Storm Control

CIDA

Canadian International Development Agency

DFID

Department for International Development

DIPECHO Disaster Preparedness of European Community Humanitarian Office DM

Disaster Management

DRM

Disaster Risk Management

DWF

Development Workshop France

ECHO

European Community Humanitarian Office

FA

Farmer Association

FF

Fatherland Front

HVCA

Hazard Vulnerability Capacity Assessment

IFRC

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

INGO

International Non Governmental Organization

IO

International Organization

MARD

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

NAPA

National Adaptation Programs of Action

NGO

Non Governmental Organization

PC

People’s Committee

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List of Acronyms

PRA

Participatory Rural Assessment

PRSP

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

RC

Red Cross

SSI

Semi-structured Interview

UN/ISDR

United Nations/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

UNDP

United Nations Development Program

VNRC

Viet Nam Red Cross Society

WB

World Bank

WU

Women’s Union

VA

Veteran’s Association

VBARD

Viet Nam Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development

YU

Youth’s Union

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Glossary of Terms Capacity: A combination of all the strengths and resources available within a community, society or organization that can reduce the level of risk, or the effects of a disaster. Capacity building: Efforts aimed to develop human skills or societal infrastructures within a community or organization needed to reduce the level of risk. Disaster: A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Disaster risk management: The systematic process of using administrative decisions, organization, operational skills and capacities to implement policies, strategies and coping capacities of the society and communities to lessen the impacts of natural hazards and related environmental and technological disasters. This comprises all forms of activities, including structural and non-structural measures to avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) adverse effects of hazards. Disaster risk reduction (disaster reduction): The conceptual framework of elements considered with the possibilities to minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development. Hazard: A potentially damaging physical event, phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation.

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Glossary of Terms

Mitigation: Structural and non-structural measures undertaken to limit the adverse impact of natural hazards, environmental degradation and technological hazards. Natural hazards: Natural processes or phenomena occurring in the biosphere that may constitute a damaging event. Preparedness: Activities and measures taken in advance to ensure effective response to the impact of hazards, including the issuance of timely and effective early warnings and the temporary evacuation of people and property from threatened locations. Prevention: Activities to provide outright avoidance of the adverse impact of hazards and means to minimize related environmental, technological and biological disasters. Recovery: Decisions and actions taken after a disaster with a view to restoring or improving the pre-disaster living conditions of the stricken community, while encouraging and facilitating necessary adjustments to reduce disaster risk. Relief/response: The provision of assistance or intervention during or immediately after a disaster to meet the life preservation and basic subsistence needs of those people affected. It can be of an immediate, short-term, or protracted duration. Resilience/resilient: The capacity of a system, community or society potentially exposed to hazards to adapt, by resisting or changing in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure. This is determined by the degree to which the social system is capable of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning from past disasters for better future protection and to improve risk reduction measures. Risk: The probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or environment damaged) resulting from interactions between natural or human-induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.

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Glossary of Terms

Structural/non-structural measures: Structural measures refer to any physical construction to reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards, which include engineering measures and construction of hazard-resistant and protective structures and infrastructure. Vulnerability: The conditions determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards.

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Chapter One

Introduction

1.1

PROBLEM STATEMENT

As a consequence of the huge loss and damage caused by natural disasters all over the world, an impressive amount of attention is currently being given to a holistic approach in disaster risk management (McEntire et al., 2002). The world experiences more and more natural disaster impacts in spite of numerous efforts, advancing sciences, and more powerful technologies. Indeed, current disasters are more complex and climate change poses a greater potential for adverse impacts (Aalst and Burton 2002). Hence, there is a need to reassess the existing disaster risk reduction approaches due to problems in the existing risk management approaches, and new risks brought by climate change and by environment degradation. 1.1.1

Problems of Existing Disaster Risk Management Approaches

Most disaster planning approaches (see e.g., Foster 1980, Rubin et al., 1985, Simpson 1992) use the concept of “the hazard cycle” in the disaster planning process. As noted in “the hazard cycle” concept, a community that experienced a natural hazard event will often go through a series of identifiable stages, including mitigation stage, preparedness stage, response stage, and recovery stage. These four connected stages form a closed loop, with recovery stage eventually waiting for another hazard. In the four stages of disaster planning, government agencies can rely on a combination of two kinds of approaches to achieve their disaster planning goals: the top-down governmental disaster planning approach,

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Introduction

and the participatory disaster risk management approach. The top-down governmental disaster planning approach is the most widely used one. It employs sets of disaster warning systems and reporting systems, hierarchical model of control, and a variety of disaster mitigation/response tools. While the participatory disaster risk management approach is a bottom-up, process-oriented approach, focusing on promoting the idea of community self-help and the involvement of volunteers, participatory organizations, and communities in the disaster planning process. Over the years, most decision-makers tend to emphasize the hierarchical, top-down governmental disaster planning approach. They often think about that the participatory approach can only play a minor role in disaster planning, due to its limitations such as a lack of compulsory power and the limited scope and ability in mobilizing citizens. But after the terrible experiences of many recent hazards events, both decision-makers and the general public have started to ask questions such as: why the formal topdown governmental disaster planning system failed to respond to the immediate needs of the affected communities after a disaster, and why this approach cannot satisfied the true demands of the victims. Many countries have begun to recognize the importance of community-based institutions in complementing the roles and functions of the traditional top-down governmental disaster planning system. For example, in the post-disaster response stage, due to the problems such as lack of correct information regarding local condition, the fragmented dispersion of responsibility across different government agencies, and the difficulties in conducting effective communications between communities and government agencies, the traditional top-down, hierarchical governmental disaster planning organizations may suffer from the problem of “organizational lag”, and thus limits their ability in making immediate response and in mobilizing resources to assist the affected communities. Therefore, many scholars argue for a local-oriented participatory disaster risk management institution to fill the gap and to achieve the goals of community disaster planning (see e.g., Turner et al., 1986, Comfort 1988, Simpson 1992). Traditionally, the disaster risk management plans are developed by identifying local hazards, risks, vulnerabilities, and capacities leading to planned interventions by the governments, corporations and communities to reduce disaster vulnerabilities and risks while enhancing the capacities. The present day disaster risk management planning largely aims at reducing the current

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1.1. Problem Statement

disaster risks, i.e. those risks emanating out of current hazards and vulnerabilities. Often, these risk assessments heavily rely on the historical data of hazards at a given location (Ferrier and Haque 2003; Dilley 2005). However, the future is not always the repetition of the past (Quarantelli 1996). Moreover, the assessments from historical data often fail to look into the future vulnerabilities and risks and hence cannot incorporate them in terms of added strength in the plan. Many times, the hazard assessments fail to consider the changing frequencies and magnitudes of disasters in their fine details. We are also limited by our understanding on what proportion of our current vulnerabilities and risks are contributed by the climate change though a broad conclusion is possible that the risks assessed at a given point of time are results of interaction between past climate change impacts and vulnerabilities. It should be noted that the current and future risks are equally important for the risk management professionals as they aim at the welfare of the society from the angle of risks and sustainability (Prabhakar et al., 2008). It has been agreed that the current responses to disasters will no longer be sufficient in a changed climate (Sperling and Szekely 2005a). 1.1.2

New Risks Brought by Climate Change

Climate change has potential to bring considerable change in the hazard profile and its interaction with the dynamic vulnerability and risk profiles of countries. It includes change in the kind of disaster that a region is vulnerable to (e.g. from no disasters in the past to more disaster events), change in type of hazards (e.g. from more floods to more droughts) or change in hazard intensities and magnitudes. The debate on impacts of climate change vis-`a-vis disasters conclusively establish the possibility of rise of extreme weather events resulting in disasters due to increased energy within climate system. There are numerous examples stating disaster related impacts such as typhoons and hurricanes (Walsh 2004; Emanual 2005; Trenberth 2005; Landeas et al., 2006); floods (Ely et al., 1993; Whetton et al., 1993; Loukas and Ouick 1999; Schreider et al., 2000; Milly et al., 2002); droughts (Le Houerou 1996; Qian and Zhu 2001; King 2004; Wood et al., 2004); sea level rise (Titus et al., 1991; Permetta 1992; Gornitz 1995) and health hazards (Haines et al., 2000; Patz et al., 2000; Reiter 2001; Kovats and Haines 2005) due to climate change. It shows that the hydro-met disasters are mostly influenced due to

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Introduction

their close linkage with the hydrological cycle, which is consecutively closely linked with global atmospheric circulations and heat balance dynamics (Allen and Ingram 2002; Helmer and Hilhorst 2006). Many of these impacts may not be uniform across spatial and temporal scales (McCarthy et al., 2001). There is a clear evidence for growing trend of disasters undermining the disaster risk management capacities of countries (Prabhakar et al., 2008). The data available from the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters reveals a staggering increase in number of hydro-met disasters during the period of 1900 to 2006 (CRED 2007), though it was not clear if it was mainly due to increase in hydro-met events or due to more human systems coming under the way of the same number of hydro-met events. During this period, the number of registered hydro-met disasters had risen from single digit number to nearly 343 per year with corresponding increase in the number of people affected. Though the number of lives lost does not follow the similar trend, the economic losses out of these disasters had risen to nearly USD 16,338 millions per year with a peak in 2004. According to Munich Re, the frequency of hydro-meteorological disasters has increased between 1960 and 2005 (Munich Re 2007). There was apprehension that the impacts felt till-to-date are not yet severe and that the consequences are likely to be incremental and cumulative (Burton et al., 2002). Examining some of the highly disaster prone countries gives an indication of changes happening in their disaster profiles (Figure 1.1; CRED 2007). While attributing all the above changes only to climate change is a much-debated issue, it can be concluded that the disaster profile of countries is changing for sure. This affirms the need for the disaster risk management and developmental world to address the growing threats in its planning as they could undermine the development of nations and communities. It is not only about more emphasis on disaster risk management but also about how differently it should be done than before. 1.1.3

Disaster Impacts: Obstacles to Sustainable Development

Vulnerability to natural disaster impacts, a complex phenomenon, represents one of the greatest obstacles to sustainable development. Disaster impacts can no longer be ignored since economic,

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1.1. Problem Statement

4

Drought

Wind Stoem

Llood

3.5 Number of disasters per year

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

1990

1988

1986

1984

1982

1978

1973

1970

-0.5

1964

0 1953

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Year

Figure 1.1. Five-year moving averages of number of hydro-met disasters in Viet Nam. (Source: CRED 2007, adapted from Prabhakar et al., 2008).

social and human losses have increased significantly both at national and local level, particularly in developing countries. Annual direct losses for weather-related events have increased from $3.9 billion in the 1950s to $63 billion in the 1990s (Kreimer, 2003). Moreover, a number of ongoing trends have the potential to cause even more severe and broader disaster impacts than ever before. In developing countries, disasters cause major setbacks to economic and social development, and cause the diversion of funds from development to emergency relief and recovery. Rural areas are particularly vulnerable to disruptions from extreme events where the combination of poverty, natural resource based livelihood, and high population densities magnify the problem. Why natural disasters exponentially increase negative impacts on development and how will societies cope with this issue? This book is driven by these fundamental questions, which are crucial for our future sustainable development. This study, therefore, tackles the issue of how people at community level deal with severely increased disaster impacts, and how the larger macro political economy encounters this dilemma phenomenon, and the options for amelioration within the context of developing countries, particularly Viet Nam.

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Introduction

Since the Vietnamese government launched the renovation (doi moi) policy in 1986, which moved Viet Nam towards a market economy, the economic and social conditions have changed dramatically. Poverty, as measured by per-capita expenditure, decreased from 60% to 15% between 1993 and 2007 (Vu Tuan Anh 1999, CIA Fact Book 2008). By 2007 Viet Nam rated 105th out of 177 nations on the UNDP human development index (UNDP, 2007), with a relatively steady improvement over the previous decade. Along with economic growth, the levels of economic loss caused by natural disasters have climbed steadily since 1985, reaching over 700 million US$ in 1996 (Socialist Republic of Viet Nam 2005). Faced those huge damages and losses caused by disasters, the Vietnamese government have launched many mitigation and management projects as well as policies. However, several important factors are not integrated into disaster mitigation and management in the country such as: insufficient attention is given to preparedness, medium term rehabilitation, and medium to long-term recovery; failure to originally recognize the fundamental link between disasters and their impact on downward economic movement of people and communities into poverty and hunger; failure to sufficiently recognize the link between disaster and environmental degradation (MARD, 2001). Moreover, many programs in Viet Nam have serious flaws such as failure to involve people since community participation was often limited to provision and self-help projects, failure to address vulnerability as a complex relationship between people and their social, physical and economic environment (ADPC, 2002). Thus, research on disaster risk management needs to be focused on those linkages and take into account the impacts of climate change. The research also needs to be done carefully at both government and local community level.

1.2 THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE IN VIET NAM Currently, 70% of the 86 million people in Viet Nam whose main sources of income are from agriculture and aquaculture are vulnerable to climate change impacts. Losing crops and homes in floods and storms keeps many rural Vietnamese trapped in a cycle of poverty. This has been intensified in the recent years with

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1.2. Thua Thien Hue Province in Viet Nam

major floods occurring more frequently, and thereby leaving the communities unprepared. Central Viet Nam is the most disaster prone region of Viet Nam with a variant geography of mountains and coastal plains. It is subject to severe climatic hazards such as typhoons, and floods. Climate change has caused these conditions to worsen in recent years, causing devastation to the entire region, notably vulnerable rural populations in mountainous areas and along the central coastal zone. Increased severity and duration of these natural hazards have had disastrous effects. Thua Thien Hue province is one the most disaster prone areas of Viet Nam. The severe hazards such as typhoons, and floods often hit the province. These severe disasters tend to be worsening in recent years, causing devastation to the entire province, particularly to vulnerable populations in mountainous areas and along the coastal zones. Catastrophic floods caused severe losses of human lives, assets and infrastructures. As an example, the flood of November 1999 killed 352 people, affected around one million residents in the province. This flood caused damage worth US$120 million, or one half of the provincial GDP (CCFSC 2006). In Thua Thien Hue, the most general topographic form of the areas is the mountain in the west and sea to the east. A narrow delta is located immediately the east side of the Truong Son Mountain range. The areas have a varied geography including, forested mountains and hills, rivers, streams, paddy fields, coastal lagoons and marine areas, and are located in the tropical monsoon climate zone. The main river basins are the areas where agriculture has been the main economic activity since ancient time, and these areas are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters due to both geographical and meteorological conditions. During the rainy seasons, crops, infrastructure, natural environment, and the inhabitants of these river basins suffer huge losses due to disastrous floods and storms. Loss and damage to property and homes coupled with insecurity to human lives caused by disasters keep many households trapped in a cycle of poverty. Moreover in the dry season, low rainfall and saline water intrusion around the river estuary also badly affect agriculture, lagoon and aquatic resources. Together this, the cycle of natural disasters inhibit the social and economic stabilization and growth of the provinces. Thus, Thua Thien Hue province was chosen as the case study for this research (see Figure 1.2).

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Introduction

Figure 1.2. Research location. (Source: Author’s elaboration from GIS data of Thua Thien Hue province.)

1.3 OBJECTIVES AND STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK Given the above-mentioned problems of existing disaster risk management and emerging new risks, new theoretical perspective and policy guide are urgently required to reduce the impacts of disasters. Accordingly, researchers have called for a broader view of disaster problem and even for a revolution in approach (Guzman 2002; Mcentire et al., 2002). One of the most important paradigm shift and policy guide, is the integrated disaster risk management approach in which the link between environment management and disaster risk management is strongly promoted, and integrated into the development plan (Shaw 2006; WMO & GWP 2006; Guzman 2002). In fact, the linkage between disaster and environment has been recognized, yet it appears that not enough attention was paid in the design and implementation of risk reduction strategies, particularly at grassroots levels. Recently, this gap has received increasing attention and many scholars and researchers conclude that the environment and disasters are inherently linked particularly in the areas where the natural and social issues merge (Shaw 2006; Dolcemascolo 2004; ISDR 2004; and Aalst and Bruton 2002). The degradation of environmental quality has been mentioned

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1.3. Objectives and Structure of the Book

as both causes and effects of natural disasters, for instance, disasters cause direct damage to natural resources and environment, and indirect damage by increasing poverty, which in itself leads to the unsustainable practices of natural resources use and environmental management. These, in turn, add to the vulnerability of both natural and human systems, which increases disaster losses. However, the environment and disaster linkage still lacks detailed exploration, and the concrete policy implication remains unexplored at local community levels. Thus the objectives of this book are to: (1) analyze the existing policies and programs of disaster risk management and disaster-related environment management; (2) to identify the linkages between disaster and environment at local context; and (3) to propose an appropriate approach for integrating disaster and environment management into development. The book has ten chapters. Chapter one introduces problems that the research is seeking to address. Three main problems that the research focuses on are the ineffectiveness of the existing disaster risk management approach, the new risk brought by the impacts of climate change, and impacts of disaster on development. Following the presentation of the main problems is an explanation of the studies’ purposes, objectives, and scope. It then outlines the book structure. Chapter two is to provide an overview of current disaster perspectives, the theories and models in disaster risk management, the need of participatory disaster risk management approach from which the overall conceptual framework was built. Chapter three reviews the inter linkages between disaster, environment and development, and identify the concrete evidences of those links in many developing countries of Asia Pacific region. The chapter also presents the possible strategic entry points and platforms to integrate environment, development and risk reduction sectors in the developing countries in Asia Pacific. Chapter four reviews the historical perspective of disaster risk management framework at national level. The chapter also reviews current status of CBDRM and analyzes how the disasters risk management gradually changing to CBDRM approach. Chapter five aims to identify disaster environment linkages at a local context of Thua Thien Hue province in order to provide insights into the setting and circumstances of existing problems,

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Introduction

and to generate key issues for the entire doctoral research. Chapter six presents the analysis of current disaster risk management framework of Thua Thien Hue province, the assessment of operational and technical capacities of actors working on DRR, the analysis of an implemented CBDRM project, and the key gaps between DRR, environment management and socioeconomic development. At the end of the chapter, the key issues, which are drawn upon the results of Chapter 5 and 6, are addressed for case studies if the doctoral research in Thua Thien Hue province. Chapter seven focuses on the upland areas of the Huong river basin to examine the linkages between forest-cover change and catastrophic flood risk. This chapter presents the disparity between public perceptions and scientific evidences relating the causes of catastrophic floods. Chapter eight explores the impacts of floods on the economy, environment, and society and tries to clarify the rural community’s coping mechanism to flood disasters in the coastal communes of the Huong river basin. It focuses on the social aspects of flood risk perception that shapes the responses to floods. The challenges and potentials of flood risk management are presented in this chapter. Chapter nine presents a process of integrating local knowledge into disaster risk management and lessons learned from a participatory Geographic Information System (GIS) hazardmapping project which was carried out in the lowland communes of the Huong river basin. This chapter discuss the use of GIS at local levels, the need for combining modern technology and local knowledge into disaster risk management, and suggest a way to mobilize available human and technical resources in order to strengthen a good partnership between local communities and local and national institutions. The chapter also analyses the vulnerability of local communes by correlating hazard risk and loss/damage caused by disasters and the contribution that domestic risk maps in the community can make to reduce this risk. The disadvantages, advantages, and lessons learned from the GIS flood risk-mapping project are presented. Chapter ten concludes with the key findings and recommendations for the integrated river basin for effective flood risk management.

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Chapter Two


2.1

REVIEW OF DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

2.1.1

Disaster Perspectives

Government agencies have different disaster response mechanisms in mitigating the risks of natural disasters. There are four theoretical perspectives that are most commonly employed in current disaster risk management: techno-centric, social, developmental, and ecological perspectives (see Table 2.1). 2.1.1.1

Techno-Centric Perspective

Most of the 20th century witnessed a technocratic approach, which was essentially based on objectivist, positivist, determinist and reductionist assumptions of logical empiricism. The application of measuring and monitoring techniques, sophisticated management strategies and engineering structures (i.e. dams, levees) were seen as the only choices humanity has to withstand the vagaries of nature. Scientific effort was spent on the study of environmental triggers, rather than on human actions, with great emphasis placed on climatologic, geotectonic, or biological trigger events arising in nature (Smith, 1992). Accordingly, disasters were attributed to natural forces, representing them as a departure from a state of normalcy to which a society returned to on recovery. This denied the wider historical social dimensions of hazards and focused attention largely on technocratic solutions (Bankoff, 2001). The hazard science and risk field thus drove research in the disaster field for most of the 20th century, building strong alliances with applied scientific

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Ecological perspective

Common in 20th century

It is the human activities that increase the impacts of hazardous events

Impacts of natural disasters result from the failure of human use system pre- and post-disaster, to protect people and their asset.

Disasters emerge as a result of interaction between humans and the environment

Based on objectivist, positivist, determinist and reductionist assumptions of logical empiricism

Disaster is seen as a process tightly tied to social vulnerability

Development create vulnerability to disaster

Disaster are the integral parts of spectrum of man-environment relations

Widely applied in measuring and monitoring techniques, sophisticated management strategies and engineering structures

Disaster is the result of underlying community logic, of an inward and social process

Impact of natural disaster is directly related to the level and type of development of a society

Humans can instigate natural hazards, directly and indirectly, by their inadequate and inappropriate intervention in the environment

Spent on the study of environmental triggers, rather than on human actions, with great emphasis placed on climatologic, geotectonic,. . .

Disaster is no longer experienced as a reaction, it can be seen as an action, a result as a social consequence


Developmental perspective

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Social perspective


Techno-centric perspective

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Table 2.1 Four main theoretical perspectives of disasters.

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2.1. Review of Disaster Risk Management Approaches

disciplines (i.e. engineering). The outcome was concentration of effort in three areas (Hewitt, 1983a,b): monitoring and analysis of natural event processes; designing, planning and managerial activities to contain the natural event processes or to modify human behavior relative to those processes; and developing emergency measures (warning systems, relief). Such an approach also established a conviction that societies were able to take steps to avoid or ameliorate disasters through a command-and-control model of planning, which advocates the application of appropriate technocratic measures properly carried out by bureaucratically organized and centrally controlled institutions. Disaster prevention, therefore, was seen as largely a matter of improving scientific prediction, engineering preparedness and the administrative management of hazardous events. Kenneth Hewitt (1983a) argues that this technocratic approach permitted hazards to be treated as a specialized problem for the advanced research of scientists, engineers and bureaucrats, and so be appropriated within a discourse of expertise that quarantines disaster in thought as well as practice. 2.1.1.2

Social Perspective

Disaster is defined as an expression of social vulnerabilities (disaster is the result of underlying community logic, of an inward and social process). As such, it cannot be regarded as a discrete event, because by doing so it becomes externalized from the activities and processes that create its context. Moreover, a disaster is not only part of its context; it is in part caused by its context. This context is not only physical but social, institutional and political as well. Hewitt (1983b) has aptly summarized the social approach. “The new approach to disaster not only reverses the old hierarchy of factors, but also gets rid of the overwhelming notion of agent. Starting from an analysis of disaster seen as a process tightly tied to social vulnerability, the new paradigm considers that the causes of disaster are to be explained on structural as well as contextual grounds. When social risks explode that are totally raised inward into the community, then there is a disaster. As a result of this first conceptual shift, disaster is no longer experienced as a reaction, it can be seen as an action, a result and more precisely as a social consequence.” Putting it briefly, two main factors that are essential in understanding disasters from a social perspective are: the event’s effect

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on people and their environment, and the human activities that increase its impact. 2.1.1.3

Developmental Perspective

The impact of natural disasters on human settlements results from the failure of the human use system, pre- and post-disaster, to protect people and their belongings. In the pre-disaster situation, this is directly related to the existing development conditions, which create vulnerability to disasters in the first place. These include among many other factors, settlement growth, construction methods, and planning for mitigation as well as the economic marginalization of certain sections of the society (Blaikie et al., 1994). In the post-disaster situation, the impact is influenced by the effectiveness of relief and emergency operations, the availability of resources to deal with the losses and chaos and long term coping strategies and various other methods, which are also dependent on the ‘development conditions’ in a particular society. In short, the impact of natural disaster is directly related to the level and type of development of a society. 2.1.1.4

Ecological Perspective

Disasters emerge as a result of interaction between humans and the environment. In particular, they arise when there is a lack of ‘mutuality’, a measure of both how well a society has adapted to the environment and how well that environment fares at the hands of human activity (Hoffman and Oliver-Smith, 1999). As a society interacts with its environment, it engages ‘in a series of processes over which it has incomplete control and incomplete knowledge, particularly over longer periods of time’ (ibid). It is these conditions that turn a natural phenomenon or hazard into a social crisis, a disaster. At its most extreme, it can be argued that disasters are always present or embedded in local-level society and that a hazard simply provides the catalytic agent to produce an intense social crisis (Watts, 1983). In short, natural disasters are neither unforeseen nor isolated problems. They are integral parts of the spectrum of manenvironment relations. Humans can indeed instigate natural hazards, directly and indirectly, by their inadequate or inappropriate intervention in the environment. Here one needs to consider the totality of man-environment relationships that have direct or

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Table 2.2

Disaster — Development Linkages.

Disaster limits development

Destruction of fixed assets. Loss of production capacity, market access or material inputs. Damage to transport, communications or energy infrastructure. Erosion of livelihoods, savings and physical capital.

Destruction of health or education infrastructure and personnel. Death, disablement or migration of key social actors leading to an erosion of social capital.

Development causes disaster risk

Unsustainable development practices that create wealth for some at the expense of unsafe working or living conditions for others or degrade the environment.

Development paths generating cultural norms that promote social isolation or political exclusion.

Development reduces disaster risk

Access to adequate drinking water,food, waste management and a secure dwelling increases people’s resiliency. Trade and technology can reduce poverty. Investing in financial mechanisms and social security can cushion against vulnerability.

Building community cohesion, recognizing excluded individuals or social groups (such as women), and providing opportunities for greater involvement in decision-making, enhanced educational and health capacity increases resiliency.


Social Development


Economic Development

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indirect bearing on creating disaster conditions and responding to them, particularly when these relationships are embedded in a cultural context (see Table 2.2). In the literature on disasters, most have argued for the developmental approach, since disasters are linked to development. Any examination of disasters in the context of development automatically becomes political. Hence, reducing the vulnerability of at risk communities is a development question, and that such questions must be answered olitically. 2.1.2

Flood Risk Management Perspectives

Although approaches to flood management are continuously evolving, there are two main perspectives of flood disasters: hazard-led and hazard-vulnerability floods (see Table 2.3). The former dominantly believes that flood disasters are inherently a characteristic of natural hazards (Manuta and Lebel, 2005; Dixit, 2003; Adger, 1999). Flood disasters arise inevitably when the climatic factors cause heavy rains. The second perspective considers flood disaster as a product of physical hazards and social vulnerability (Wisner et al., 2004; Pelling, 2003; Hall et al., 2003). This view posits that flood disasters are not only the result of natural hazards, but also social economic structure and political processes that make individual, families and community vulnerable (Hall et al., 2003; Dixit, 2003). Accordingly, there are two main types of responses to flood disasters: structural and nonstructural (Correia et al., 1999; Few, 2003). The hazard-led perspective generally leads the responses to flood disasters to engineering interventions such as river channel modifications, embankments, reservoirs and barrages designed to control the flow of rivers and abate or control the spread of flooding. Though prominent in the history of flooding intervention, structural measures have achieved mixed success. Many have proved costly in environmental terms and failure or poor maintenance of these infrastructures have even exacerbated flood hazards (Wisner et al., 2004; Yin and Li, 2001; Few, 2003). In this perspective, flood management is mainly the flood control and flood protection with little or no consideration being given to social, cultural and environmental effects and long-term economic concerns. Moreover, most of the works on flood disasters emphasize the significance of natural trigger events, irrespective of human

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Table 2.3 Flood disaster perspectives. Hazard-vulnerability

Floods

Hazard led; inherent characteristic of natural hazard

Disaster is the result of interaction of natural hazard and vulnerability

Management style

Structural: Ultimate goal is to totally control floods Focus on the control structures such as dams and dykes Focus on relief

Nonstructural: The goal is to minimize the damage cased by flooding Focus on mitigation and preparedness; mitigation measures address the political economy of vulnerability

Ideal scale

Large scale protection works

Small scale protection structures

Economic growth

Economic growth in the flood plain is desirable and possible because of the protection measures

Economic growth in the flood plain is in harmony with natural processes

Desired technology

Make use of the latest technology for controlling floodwaters

Green community that are self sufficient (stilt or floating houses and flood proofed infrastructure)

Governance process

State centered; technocratic and hierarchical, top down

Egalitarian, pluralistic

Source: modified from Manuta and Lebel 2005; and Ogtrop et al. 2005


Natural hazards


Perspective

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activities. This literature assumes that disasters are departures from ‘normal’ social pattern and that recovery from disaster means a return to normal conditions. Policy makers, donors, and relief and development agencies treat flood disasters as isolated events that break the continuity of the ‘normal’ way of life. Most interventions to mitigate disasters are ad hoc responses made under the assumption that an emergency support in the form of relief will help overcome the situation of hardship. Such support aims at restoring the situation to what it was before the disaster. Even when a flood disaster affects the same community every year, government, donor, and non-government organizations respond by providing the same relief and rehabilitation measures each time. This approach does not consider important the situation of a society during normal times between the occurrences of two hazard events. The focus is on physical events, which explain the hazards themselves, and the effort is to predict their magnitude and occurrence using hydrological and meteorological science. In this hazard-led approach, which is top-down and bureaucratic, those affected by a disaster are not involved in the decision-making about mitigation (Dixit, 2003). The alternative perspective, the hazard-vulnerability, which has grown in prominence (Wisner et al., 2004), has moved from flood control and flood protection structural measures towards mutually complementary nonstructural measures (World Meteorological Organization [WMO] and Global Water Partnership [GWP], 2006). At a macro-level these measures include formal flood warning systems and evacuation programs, land use controls on flood-prone sites, building regulations to prevent incursion of floodwaters and insurance schemes (Parker, 1999). But more recently, and especially in the developing country context, there has been increased attention on nonstructural vulnerability reduction at the micro-scale — to adjustments and actions (both traditional and new) at the community and household level (Few, 2003). Nonstructural measures require a comprehensive approach, due to the need for considering institutional aspects and public participation. This type of measures has been recognized as extremely important in applying anticipatory measures in coastal zones where flood hazards can increase because of climate change (Correia et al., 1999).

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2.1.3

Disaster Risk Management Models

According to Kelly (1998), there are four main reasons why a disaster model can be useful. These are as follows: – A model can simplify complex events by helping to distinguish between critical elements. Its usefulness is more significant when responding to disasters with severe time constraints. – Comparing actual conditions with a theoretical model can lead to a better understanding of the current situation and can thus facilitate the planning process and the comprehensive completion of disaster management plans. – The availability of a disaster management model is an essential element in quantifying disaster events. – A documented disaster management model helps establish a common base of understanding for all involved. It also allows for better integration of the relief and recovery efforts. Therefore, based on the above, it can be argued that a well-defined and clear model is highly beneficial in the management of disasters because it facilitates the securing of support for disaster management efforts. Hence, disaster management needs a formal system, or a model, to manage and possibly reduce the negative consequences of a disaster. There are four main categories of disaster management models: logical, integrated, causes and others. Existing disaster management models fit into one of these categories, as shown in Table 2.4. Logical models provide a simple definition of disaster stages and emphasize the basic events and Table 2.4

DRR model classifications.

Logical DRR models

Integrated DRR models

Cause-effect Models

Other models

– Traditional model – Expand and contrast model – Kimberly’s model

– Manitoba’s model – Weichselgartner’s model

– DHVC Formula – Crunch model – Pressure and Release Model – Anderson and Woodrow’s model

– Keller and Al-madhari – Turner – Shrivastava – Larson and Enander – Mayers – Ibrahim-Razi et al.’s

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actions, which constitute a disaster. Integrated models characterize the phases of a disaster by the evolution of functions such as strategic planning and monitoring. In these models, modules are linked as events and actions. The cause category, which is not based on the idea of defining stages in a disaster, suggests some underlying causes of disasters. The last category, describes miscellaneous models. 2.1.3.1

Logical DRM Models

The traditional process of disaster management consists of two phases (1) before the event and (2) after the event. The first consists of activities such as preparation, mitigation and preparedness while the second includes the activities of response, recovery and rehabilitation. Most disaster planning literature (Simpson, 1992; Twigg, 2004, Schwab et al., 1998) use the concept of “the hazard cycle” to describe the stages and activities in the disaster planning process. In “the hazard cycle” concept, a community that experienced a natural hazard event will often go through a series of identifiable stages, including mitigation stage, preparation stage, response stage, and recovery stage. These four connected stages form a closed loop, with recovery stage eventually waiting for another hazard (see Figure 2.1). Traditional Model

Figure 2.1. The disaster cycle. (Source: D. Alexander, 2002)

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Mitigation

Response

Disaster Preparedness

Recovery

Figure 2.2. Disaster risk management Cycle. (Source: Schwab et al., 1998).

While the common notions for having mitigation measures is before and after a disaster, Schwab et al. (1998) also specify that mitigation can take place at any time before, during or after a disaster (see Figure 2.2). The important characteristic of the “expand and contract” model is that it can be analyzed as a continuous process. The different disaster management phases, rather than in a sequential manner, run parallel to each other, albeit with varying degrees of emphasis. These activities are expressed as the different strands (ADPC, 2000; Atmanand, 2003) and continue side by side, expanding or contracting as needed (DPLG-2, 1998). This model overcomes the limitations of the traditional model, which is sequential in nature. This approach acknowledges that disaster management is a discipline, which consists of various activities and actions that occur simultaneously (see Figure 2.3). Expand and Contrast Model

Kimberly (2003) defines mitigation, preparation, response and recovery as four phases of disaster management. This model portrays response as the biggest and most visible phase of disaster management. It places mitigation and preparation at the base, suggesting that they are both driving forces behind a successful response. The recovery phase has been placed at the top because it is what remains after the response. Moreover, it takes the largest amount of time and is the most Kimberly’s Model

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Figure 2.3.

Expand — Contract Model. (Source: ADPC, 2000)

Recovery

Response

Mitigation

Preparation

Figure 2-4: The four phases of emergency management

Figure 2.4. The four phases of emergency management. (Source: Kimberly, 2003)

costly (Figure 2.4). The limitation of this model is that it is very much focused on emergency management in hospitals and cannot be significantly used in other applications. Since this model is restricted to hospital emergency management, its scope is limited. 2.1.3.2

Integrated DRM Models

An integrated disaster risk management model is a mean of organizing related activities to ensure their effective implementation (see Figure 2.5). Four main components can be identified:

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Strategic Plan

Hazard Assessment Hazards Vulnerability Resources

Risk Management Risk Estimation Risk Evaluation Risk Control

Mitigation Non-structural Structural

Preparedness Planning Emergency Response Business Continuity Training/Education Resource Management Exercising

Monitoring and Evaluation Community Systems Environment

Figure 2.5. Integrated DRM model.

(Source:

Manitoba-Health-Disaster-

Management, 2002.)

– – – –

Hazard assessment Risk management Mitigation Preparedness.

The first task in an integrated disaster management model is hazard assessment, which provides the information necessary for the next phase, risk management. This results in decisions about the balance of mitigation and preparedness actions needed to address the risks (Manitoba-HealthDisaster-Management, 2002). This model has altogether six independent elements such as a strategic plan, hazard assessment, Manitoba’s Model

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risk management, mitigation, preparedness and monitoring and evaluation. Each element observes its own boundaries and involves its own set of activities and processes. These elements are dependent on each other in terms of providing support and can be further broken down into layers of sub-components. The advantage of this model is that it provides a balance between preparedness and flexibility in order to respond fluidly to the specific needs of disasters. Since this model provides the link between actions and events in disasters such links can be tight or loose. For example, it strongly links hazard and risk management activities but fails to provide a tight linkage between the four stages of disaster management, which are important elements in a disaster management process. The overall objectives of the Weichselgartner model (2001) are the assessment of possible damage and the planning of future actions to reduce this possible damage. It is argued that the assessment of vulnerability alone will not reduce natural hazards. Therefore, it is important that all measures taken are constantly reviewed and assessed. The model illustrates the Weichselgartner’s Model

Disaster Response

Mitigation Hazard Analysis

Process Identification

Exposure Idenification

Prevention

Nonstructural Measure Identification

Structural Measure Identification

Preparedness

Identification of awareness and information structures

Identification of warning and evacuation structures

Rescue and relief

Humanitarian Assisstance

Identification of disaster relief structures

Recovery and Reconstruction

Vulnerability Assessment Hazard Assessment

Prevention Assessment

Preparedness Assessment

Vulnerability Analysis

Risk Management Risk Assessment

Hazard Modification

Prevention Modification

Preparedness Modification

Relief and reconstruction modification

Figure 2-6: DRM process

Figure 2.6.

DRM process. (Source: Weichselgartner, 2001)

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process cycle and the integration of geographic placed-based concepts in disaster management (see Figure 2.6). 2.1.3.3

The Cause-Effect Models

Disaster happens when affected communities or society cannot cope using their own resources, in other words there is high vulnerability and low capacity. There are three factors that determine the severity of a disaster: the hazard, the vulnerability, and the capacity of the people. The more severe the hazard in combination with a higher level of vulnerability and lower level of capacity, the worse the disaster. In theory, to reduce disaster damage, the first two factors (hazards and vulnerability) should be minimized and the last (capacity) increased as much as possible. However, it is not always possible to tackle the hazard, whilst much can be done to reduce vulnerability and to increase capacities of people. To show the linkage among disaster, hazard, vulnerability, and capacity a number of writers have used the equation: Disaster-Hazard-Vulnerability-Capacity Formula

Disaster =

Hazard×Vulnerability Capacity

From the equation above, we can see the relationship that a disaster takes place when a society or community is affected by a hazardous event that overwhelms a society’s capacity to cope. In other words, the impact of the disaster is heavily influenced by the degree of the community’s vulnerability to the hazard, and the more capacity the community has the less probability of risk and disaster they will face. The crunch model provides the framework for understanding the causes of a disaster (ADPC, 2000; Bankoff, 2001; Heijmans, 2001; Cannon, 2004; Marcus, 2005). The progression of vulnerability of a community is revealed and the underlying causes that fail to satisfy the demands of the people are identified. The model then goes on to estimate the dynamic pressure and unsafe conditions. By analyzing the progression of vulnerability, the causes of disaster can be revealed at different layers below the surface, i.e. unsafe conditions that can be seen easily, less obvious factors of dynamic pressures that maneuver the unsafe conditions, and hidden are the root causes. It is clear that vulnerability Crunch Model

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will be eliminated only when root causes are solved. However, root causes are also the most stubborn and difficult to deal with, whereas activities can be undertaken at other layers to reduce vulnerability. It is inadequate for disaster risk management and development practitioners to deal with a problem at only one level; they must concomitantly address the issue at all the levels. For example, people live by a river that is prone to sudden onset flooding. The causes of their vulnerability may be poor housing conditions, dangerous location, risky livelihoods, lack of disaster preparedness skills, no community organization, government negligence, etc. Some causes can be dealt with immediately, such as strengthening houses with flood resistant techniques; some may take longer, like training and rehearsal in disaster preparedness; and others may need advocacy for government policy on flood warning systems and land use planning. The analyses of vulnerabilities and capacities can only confirm its value when the results are used in programming and intervention processes. The release model (Blaikie et al., 1994; ADPC, 2000; Heijmans, 2001; Marcus, 2005; Wisner et al., 2005) can be considered as the reverse of the crunch model (see Figure 2.7). It indicates how the risk of disasters can be reduced by applying preventive and mitigation actions. It begins by addressing the underlying causes, and analyzing the nature of hazards. This leads to

Release Model

Root causes

Limited access to Power Structures Resources Ideologies Political systems Economic systems

Dynamic pressures

Lack of Local institutions Training Appropriate skills Local investments Local markets Ethical standards in public life Macro-forces Rapid population growth Rapid urbanization Debt repayment schedules Deforestation Decline in soil productivity

Unsafe conditions

Hazards

Physical environment Dangerous locations Unprotected buildings and infrastructure Local economy Livelihoods at risk Low-income levels Social relations Special groups at risk Lack of local institutions Public actions and institutions Lack of disaster preparedness Prevalence of endemic

Earthquake High winds (cyclone/ hurricane/ typhoon) RISK = Hazard x Vulnerability

Flooding Landslides Drought Climate change

Figure 2.7. Crunch model. (Adopted from Wisner et al., 2004.)

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safer conditions, which help in order to prepare the community to deal disasters. The Indian Ocean tsunami and its impact on millions of people in the region demonstrate the high vulnerability of people in disaster situations when many existing predisposing factors are also in place (Wisner et al., 2005). The release model is useful in analyzing the complex relationships of factors, conditions and processes of vulnerabilities and in formulating strategies and measures to reduce disaster risk. The release model provides an explanation of the relationship between processes that give rise to “unsafe conditions” (e.g. exposure) and their intersection with some type of hazard event thus creating a form of social vulnerability. The focus is clearly on the dynamic pressures and underlying driving forces that give rise to vulnerability in the first place. The access to resource model is a more refined explanation of the role of political and economic forces as the root cause of the unsafe conditions. Anderson and Woodrow’s (1998) framework for analyzing vulnerabilities and capacities of affected communities has been adapted and applied by many humanitarian organizations, for both non-conflict and conflict disaster situations. The framework is very useful for disaster risk management and development practitioners. According to Anderson and Woodrow, the causes of vulnerability lie in the three main areas of physical/material, social/organizational and motivational/attitudinal. When a hazard affects communities, vulnerabilities can cause disasters as a result. In contrast, capacities reduce the impact of the hazard, and may even prevent a disaster. Poor people tend to suffer from crises more than richer people as they have limited resources to cope and recover from the effects. However, the most important factor is whether or not the community is well organized and has a positive attitude. A poor, but well-organized community will cope better than a richer one that is not. Anderson and Woodrow’s Framework

2.1.3.4

Other Models

Keller and Al-madhari (1996), proposed a model for the probabilistic prediction of disaster magnitude consequences and return period. As such it is particularly suitable for obtaining risk profiles.

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Turner (1976), elaborated the sequence of events, which are the basis of development of a disaster. These stages are: (1) notionally normal starting points; (2) incubation period, (3) precipitation event; (4) onset; (5) rescue and salvage and (6) fully cultural readjustment. Shrivastava (1992), proposed a model for industrial crisis through comparison of three crises: the Bhopal disaster, the Tylenol poisoning and the explosion of space shuttle challenger. Larson and Enander (1997), proposed a theoretical twodimensional model to investigate what people are prepared to do in the way of disaster preparedness and to examine how these assessments may lead to personal factors and attitude. Mayers (1993), has also summarized disaster management process in four periods as follows: (i) normal operations; (ii) emergency response; (iii) interim process; and (iv) restoration. Ibrahim-Razi et al.’s (2003b), model represents the technological disaster pre-condition stages. The model was discussed in detail by Shaluf et al. (2003), and Ibrahim et al. (2003a). The model is composed of eight phases: (1) inception of error; (2) accumulation of errors; (3) warning; (4) failure of correction; (5) disaster impending stages; (6) triggering events; (7) emergency stage; and (8) disaster. In summary, several models for disaster risk management have been proposed by researchers and agencies. The significance and usefulness of these different models have been discussed above, highlighting the instances and areas of applicability. 2.2 DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH 2.2.1

Problems of Traditional Disaster Risk Management

Traditionally, disaster risk management refers to the systematic management of administrative decisions, organization, operational skills and abilities to implement policies, strategies and coping capacities of the society or individuals to lessen the impacts of natural and related environmental and technological hazards (UNDP 2004). Disaster risk management planning involves understanding hazards, vulnerabilities and potential losses and developing appropriate preparedness and mitigation strategies to mitigate such losses. Disaster risk management encompasses

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2.2. Disaster Risk Management Approach

complete realm of disaster related activities. Disaster risk management is not a new subject for many nations. However, there are two main problems in the existing disaster risk management: (1) the problem of disaster risk assessment and disaster risk management planning in the context of emerging risks caused by climate change and dynamic of vulnerability, and (2) the problems of traditional top-down disaster risk management approach. First, disaster risk assessment often works with the overlapping areas of two domains: hazard and vulnerability. Intersect of hazard and vulnerability domains represent the proportion of current risks dealt by the current disaster risk management planning (Figure 2.8). The figure highlights that the current disaster risk management planning does not cover entire vulnerabilities at any given point of time due to limitations with the current risk assessments. While this is the static representation of the hazard, risk and vulnerabilities; the Figure 2.9 shows the progression of risk over the time and successive disaster risk management planning and revisions as bars. The figure depicts that the vulnerabilities are dynamic, applicable universally, and ever increasing (McEntire 2001) in some parts of the world as it depends on the effectiveness of human interventions as a response. As vulnerabilities may grow continuously in some locations, either in linear or exponential manner as there are no clear assessments available on risk progression in the available literature, as a result of climate change and many other dynamic pressures, a disaster risk management plan prepared based on a risk assessment done at X1 point of time remains static during X1–X2 while disaster

Hazards

Risks

Vulnerabilities

Figure 2.8. Domain of disaster risk management.

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Figure 2.9. Growing risks and the process of continuous disaster risk management planning. (Source: Prabhakar et al., 2008.)

risks could continue to grow. This is because of the fact that the vulnerabilities are difficult to assess and assessments don’t consider the growing risks in future (Lewis 1999; Cardona 2004). This indicates that the Plan 2 (P2) will soon be negligent of the growing vulnerabilities and risks till it is revised into Plan 3 (P3) and so on (shaded area in Figure 2.9). Regular revision of hazard and vulnerabilities are advised due to the dynamic nature of the risk (Dilley 2006). Some have suggested a regular review of once in a year while others have suggested to revise the plan after a major disaster (Kuban and MacKenzie-Carey 2001; Government of India 2005; Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 2005). However, regular revision of disaster risk management plans is far from reality in many countries as hazard and vulnerability assessments are done when funds are available through a project and any revision is not possible after the termination of the project. It was reported that many revisions were done only after a major disaster has struck (Pacific Disaster Center 2005a). This argument is supported by suggestions made by the post-disaster assessment committees (Pacific Disaster Center 2005b; Government of Hyogo Prefecture 2006). Part of the problems seems to rest with the financial and other resources needed to undertake such regular revisions as well as lack of strict enforcement of guidelines in place (Bender 1991). Second, the traditional disaster risk management approach has many limitations as shown in previous chapter. This section

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presents some concrete example of those limitations. According to Adam Fforde & Associates (2003), the government efforts in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta to relocate low-income households in specially constructed safe (high ground) areas called ‘residential clusters’ have been conspicuously unsuccessful. In fact, residential clusters had been clumsily implemented by some provinces from narrowly sectoral perspectives of disaster risk management. This resulted in the low uptake of the resettlement loans made available to households. By the end of 2002, 142 residential clusters has been completed with planned space for 39,000 households, however only 3,000 households has actually moved in due to inadequate sanitation, water and electricity provision, poor consideration of employment location and community composition, and no on-site public facilities. One of the main reasons is there was little effective community participation in their planning, construction and management. Similarly, Geipel (1991) points out that the centralized approach has more or less satisfied the basic needs of inhabitants. However, he further states that highest agreement in his case areas was with statements like “less communication”, “more anonymity”, and “worse neighborhood relationships”. Also he discovered a strong change for the worse: “The old social texture has broken apart. Life is as anonymous as in the big cities. Many people stopped speaking to each other because of personal quarrels during the stage of reconstruction.” Sultan Barakat (1993) has done another study on long-term impact of the contractor-built reconstruction in Yemen, following the 1982 Dhamar earthquake. Here, government gave more emphasis to the tender (contractor built) approach by relocating villages, rather than the self-help or repair approaches. Barahkat feels that the cultural dimension of reconstruction was overlooked, which in many cases led to a total rejection of the new settlements by the local people. 2.2.2

Participatory Disaster Risk Management: A Complement Approach in Disaster Risk Management

After briefly reviewing the current disaster risk management practices, it seems that many of the disaster risk management actions that have been taken are purely techno-centric and based on the top-down control model. These laid stress on formulating

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guidelines or bylaws and advocating standard solutions, which were top-down and operated from outside. However, most of these approaches have failed to reduce disaster vulnerability of communities. Rather, disasters continue to increase. One of the main reasons for this is that in spite of various theoretical linkages being established between disasters and development, the practical linkages between disaster risk management and development is very weak (Twigg and Bhatt, 1998). The fact is that most agencies regard disasters as caused primarily by natural phenomena and fail to establish the real root cause of the problem: vulnerability derived from poverty. Cuny (1983) states; “Mitigation itself is proving to be more difficult to accomplish in the third world than was originally foreseen. Mitigation is a complex process, and many of its parts cannot be dealt with in terms of a disaster only, for they are also related to development. Many mitigation activities either require a certain level of development or are themselves development activities. Third world countries are so affected by disaster in part because of their inability or failure to address the root causes of poverty and underdevelopment. Thus it is difficult to carry out mitigation activities successfully. For example, many of the most vulnerable areas are urban squatter settlements that have sprung up due to lack of opportunity in rural areas. They are often situated on hazardous sites because governments have failed to provide suitable alternatives due to incapacity, neglect, or failure to seek land reform. For people living there, two of the traditional tools of mitigation, zoning and building regulations, simply will not work. Thus prevention and mitigation can work only in situations where all these problems are addressed. In summary, progress toward development is required in order to mitigate and mitigation is required in order to develop.”

Based on the negative outcomes of these approaches, there seems to be a clear shift towards participatory approaches. This presupposes a fundamental change in the usual notion that the responsibility of caring for a disaster-stricken community should be entirely taken over by outside assistance and the state authorities (Medury, 1996). This approach builds on previous experience that the majority of people prefer to stay in the threatened area and generally take steps to protect their families and themselves. This approach considers that the local population stricken by a disaster should be considered as taking action for itself not as having action taken for it. Indeed, whether a disaster is a major or minor event, of national or local proportion, it is the people at the community or village level who suffer its adverse effects. They use coping and survival strategies to face and

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respond to the situation long before outside help from the government or NGOs arrive (Victoria, 2002). As such, it advocates local community cooperation and local engagement in the disaster risk management process (Buckle, 2000). The approach basically considers that it is the responsibility of the community and local government in any disaster to assume primary roles in managing recovery, setting goals, establishing programs, developing priorities and distributing resources. The role of central and state governments is mostly confined to that of providing funds, other resources and advice (Medury, 1996). This approach advocates strengthening of local capacity through involvement of various actors at the local level, community-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, inter community groups, local government representatives and so on. Similarly, many disaster researchers argue that the most efficient and effective way to help disaster victims rebuild their communities is to improve their ability to help themselves, educate them about how to voice their true needs, and mobilize them and their government to use community social networks and information networks to attract external resources as well as to form partnerships with external organizations that may offer help (Rubin, 1991, Simpson 1992). In the efforts of building the capacity of community residents to help themselves, the concept of community empowerment may offer a useful theoretical framework (see e.g., Gajanayake 1993, Sanoff 2000). The community-based selflearning institution suggested here should be interdisciplinary, locally oriented, and be able to provide a diverse learning environment (see Table 2.5 and Table 2.6 for the different features and perspective of traditional and participatory approaches).

Table 2.5 Features of Traditional and participatory approach. Features

Traditional

Participatory

Locus of concern Participation Decision making Main actors Recourses Main method used

Institution Token Top-down Program staffs Program based Extensive services

Impact on local capacity

Dependency creating

Community Dominant to control Bottom up Community residents Internal resources Community organization Empowering

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Table 2.6 Centralized and participatory disaster risk management perspectives. (Adopted from Victoria, 2002) Centralized/traditional

Participatory

Disasters/conflicts viewed as isolated events or aberrations in the normal path of development.

Disasters are unresolved problems arising from the very processes of development.

Linkages with conditions in society during normal times less analyzed.

Relationships/structures within society determine why certain groups of people are more vulnerable to disasters than others. Emphasis on solutions that change relationships/structures and attitudes in society that make people vulnerable.

Technical/Law and Order solutions

Tendency to be top-down and inflexible in method. Less participation of people, who are treated as “victims.”

Participation of people paramount in intervention strategies; people treated as “partners” in development. Builds on people’s capacities to protect themselves against hazards.

Implementing agencies less accountable and their processes less transparent to people. Interventions are made after the event occurs.

Ensuring accountability and transparency emphasized in implementation. Mitigation of disasters/conflict as fundamental aim.

The objective of intervention is to return to the situation before the event.

Disasters/conflicts viewed as opportunities for social transformation.

A participatory approach is considered appropriate not only to respond to disaster situations but also for bringing about disaster preparedness coupled with provision of adequate human, financial and material resources. Local participation needs to be given particular attention in any effort towards disaster preparedness planning. This might take the form of creating appropriate structures at the community level, through which people can participate effectively in the decisions that affect their lives. The participatory approach also recognizes that services and management arrangements have to be responsive to change across space, to cultural and social differences and to development across time. The command-and- control model rarely recognizes these dimensions. Further it recognizes that disasters occur in a social and temporal space (some features of which may be diversity, change, competition, conflict and value based perspectives) and the pro-

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cesses and requirements of the broader community need to be understood if disaster risk management is to be effective (Buckle, 2000).

2.2.3

Challenges of Participatory Disaster Risk Management

The critics of participatory approach argue that since community is a heterogeneous entity differentiated along diverse criteria like caste, class, gender, age, levels of poverty, levels of vulnerability, access to education, access to information, access to power and authority, credit worthiness, choice of options in decision making, etc., community participation is seriously influenced by the above factors or its variants. As a result, it often makes the community participation weak, ineffective and leads to tokenism. Even within the same country, regional diversities exist, which need to be addressed while formulating strategies for mobilizing community participation. In planning practice, implementing the concept of community empowerment will require an operational community-based, selflearning institution to teach local people the skills and knowledge of community planning and local politics. Otherwise, thoughtless decentralization and redistribution of power to incapable community groups would just increase community conflicts and result in unfair distribution of resources (Wu, 2002). Another challenge of participatory approach is how to sustain the efforts of civil society sector. Being dependent on the funding sources from outside, it is always a challenge for the civil society to continue the efforts, even if they have lots of ideas and strong motivation. This urges the civil society to possibly look for innovative ways to link the participatory disaster risk management into the development and environment activities. One of the biggest challenges of participatory disaster risk management is that it requires the devolution of authority, decentralization of decision-making, proliferation of scientific and technological achievements to the communities. Thus, for participatory disaster risk management to be successful and sustainable, political commitment and support of the government is essential. Moreover, participatory disaster risk management will face numerous difficulties in countries with high centrally planned systems and/or limited democracy, since the ways for people to be truly empowered in participatory disaster risk management

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is only through a democratic system. Transparency in funding and budgeting matters is also one of the obstacles of participatory disaster risk management in countries with high corruption, since transparency requires trust of community in government and such trust is a critical component of participatory disaster risk management as it is a action-oriented program. Despite good practices in participatory disaster risk management, this approach continues to compete with scarce resources needed for other disaster risk management agenda, locally and internationally. Due to scarce resources allocated to the broader and proactive disaster risk management, it is inevitable that the politics of resource allocation would play into the future of participatory disaster risk management, and practitioners of participatory disaster risk management must continue to advocate to sustain participatory disaster risk management efforts through legislation, funding, training, partnership, information sharing and other enabling mechanisms. Finally, it is important to note that participatory disaster risk management is only successful sustainable when community is cohesive and integrated, since participatory disaster risk management is an action that is a collective and individual activity. There are things that can be carried out by the individual, at the same time, it requires bond and connectivity with the rest of the community members for it to be effective at times of disasters. It is claimed that we often tend to take for granted the existence and operational capability of the type of community we expect to be appropriate for participatory disaster risk management. There must be more clarity as to what type and status of community should promote for effective participatory disaster risk management. In other words it seems that it is quite important for the disaster managers and professionals in this field to consider and evaluate the community in its capacity to take on participatory disaster risk management, and whether the “community” really exists in place that require participatory disaster risk management. Although participatory disaster risk management faces many challenges, it has been widely recognized as the additional element in disaster risk management necessary to reverse the worldwide-trend of exponential increase in disaster occurrence of and loss from small and medium scale disasters, build a culture of safety, and ensure sustainable development for all.

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2.3. Participatory Disaster Risk Management Approach

2.3

2.3.1

PARTICIPATORY DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH Role of Actors at the Local Level in Community Based Disaster Risk Management

In participatory disaster risk management, actors at local level play a major role in identifying problems, planning and implementing the disaster risk management programs. Natural disasters rarely engulf entire countries and disaster risk frequently varies significantly even by micro region. Thus local knowledge and measures tailored to local hazards must be applied to reduce vulnerabilities in order to achieve an effective disaster risk management. National disaster risk management authorities in most developing countries are centrally organized and not able to provide rapid and effective help in an emergency, particularly to rural population (Bollin, 2003). Thus at-risk areas must rely on their own capabilities to prepare and protect their populations. In several respects, society often increases the disaster risk itself (e.g. soil degradation through deforestation, unsafe settlements on dangerous slopes). Thus communities should be made more aware of the dangers and made accountable for disaster risk management. Every one can do something to reduce disaster risk and should also be given the opportunity to do so. This can increase the sense of responsibility amongst the endangered population and improve the sustainability of disaster risk management measures. The role of the local level in disaster risk management is being increasingly recognized and stressed in international discussion. The World Conference on Disaster Reduction (2005) sets out ways of reducing vulnerability in the long term and putting effective preparedness capabilities in place to deal with extreme natural events by including the population, the local authority and other actors at local level. This is the reason for demanding the through going decentralization of disaster risk management, because the reduction of vulnerability, as well as the capacity to response to disaster is directly related to the degree of decentralized access to information, communication and decision making and the control of resources.

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2.3.2

Basic Elements and Features of Participatory Disaster Risk Management

The major elements and features for effective participatory disaster risk management, drawn from literature and the personal experience of the author, are gathered below. The participatory disaster risk management ideally should have: – People’s participation — community members are the main actors and propellers; they also directly share in the benefits of disaster risk reduction and development. – Priority for the most vulnerable groups, families, and people in the community — in the urban areas the vulnerable sectors are generally the urban poor and informal sector while in the rural areas, these are the subsistence farmers, fisher folk and indigenous people; also vulnerable are the elderly, the differently disabled, children and women. – Risk reduction measures are community-specific and are identified after an analysis of the community’s disaster risk (hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities and perceptions of disaster risk). – Existing capacities and coping mechanisms are recognized - participatory disaster risk management builds upon and strengthens existing capacities and coping strategies. The aim is to reduce vulnerabilities by strengthening capacities; the goal is building disaster resilient communities. – Link disaster risk reduction with development — addresses vulnerable conditions and causes of vulnerabilities. Outsiders have supporting and facilitating role. Closely related to the elements and features cited above are the principles of participatory disaster risk management activities and programs. These also serve as overall targets to work for and parameters/indicators to keep track of. – Participatory process and content: involvement of community members, particularly the most vulnerable sectors and groups in the whole process of risk assessment, identification of mitigation & preparedness measures, decision making, implementation; the community directly benefits from the risk reduction and development process. – Responsive: based on the community’s felt and urgent needs; considers the community’s perception and prioritization of

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2.3. Participatory Disaster Risk Management Approach

–

– –

–

–

–

disaster risks and risk reduction measures so the community can claim ownership. Integrated: pre-, during and post-disaster measures are planned and implemented as necessary by the community; there is linkage of the community with other communities, organizations and government units/agencies at various levels especially for vulnerabilities which the local community can not address by itself. Proactive: stress on pre-disaster measures of prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Comprehensive: structural (hard, physical) and non-structural (soft, health, education, livelihood, organization, advocacy, etc.) mitigation measures are undertaken; short-, medium term and long-term measures to address vulnerabilities. Multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary: considers roles and participation of all stakeholders in the community; combines indigenous/local knowledge and resources with science and technology and support from outsiders; addresses concerns of various stakeholders while upholding the basic interest of the most vulnerable sectors and groups. Empowering: people’s options and capacities are increased; more access to and control of resources and basic social services through concerted action; more meaningful participation in decision making which affects their lives; more control over the natural and physical environment; participation in disaster mitigation and risk reduction develops the confidence of community members to participate in other development endeavours. Developmental: contributes to addressing and reducing the complex relation of conditions, factors and processes of vulnerabilities present in society.

2.3.3

Allocating Competencies in a Decentralized Disaster Risk Management System

An effective national disaster risk management system can be built up incorporating actors from different sectors at local, regional and national level. The ideal arrangements for allocating competencies in disaster risk management can vary. In principle though, the job of the national level is to manage the overall system, pass the requisite legislation, sponsor the necessary research

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at institutes and university and link national efforts with international arrangements. At local level a variety of measures can help reduce the specific disaster risk. These are implemented on the basis of national framework conditions (environmental legislation, construction standards, land use planning, etc.,) The term community-based disaster risk management stresses the special role attached to the local level of municipal administration as the interface with the necessary legal powers (above all land use and settlement planning, declaration of state of emergency). The municipality also bears responsibility for assimilating disaster risk management firmly in long-term community development. The regional level is also relevant for disaster risk management. This can involve transferring competencies from national authorities to regional bodies (e.g. provinces or departments), but also associations of several municipalities or cooperation amongst different local actors in a key region for disaster risk management that goes beyond municipal boundaries, such as watershed or population in the river basin. Based on the above, we can define community-based disaster risk management as follows: Community-based disaster risk management denotes the application of measures in risk analysis, disaster prevention and mitigation and disaster preparedness by local actors as part of national disaster risk management system. A key feature is multi-sectoral cooperation with special responsibility borne by the municipal authority. In general, the goal of participatory disaster risk management is to transform vulnerable or at-risk communities to disaster resilient communities. Although steps may vary from community contexts and organizational mandates (see Figure 2.10), according to Bollin (2003) the process and requisites for disaster risk reduction can be generalized as follows: – Identification of the major actors and organization of local disaster risk management networks. – Participatory planning of disaster risk management measures – Raising awareness and training. – Integration into the national disaster risk management system. – Implementing and monitoring the planned measures. – Process monitoring.

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Training and adivice for actors Paticipatory Planning

Raising awareness and introduction to DRM

2.4. Conceptual Framework of the Research

Identification of local actors

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Raising awareness and training of population

Risk analysis prevention and preparedness measures

Organization of disaster risk management actors

Monitoring and Evaluation

Intergration into the national disaster risk management system

Figure 2.10.

2.4

Process of CBDRM. (Source: Victoria, 2002).

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE RESEARCH

After reviewing the DRM models and DRM approaches, we can see that there is room for improvement in the approaches to disaster management based on the following two factors: disaster risk management has not adequately integrated into environment management and development projects/programs, participatory planning has not integrated in the disaster risk management process, and disaster relief has not been adequately combined with mitigation and economic development. Therefore, this section proposes a conceptual framework for disaster risk management with improvements over existing models and approaches. The models discussed in the previous section describe how the relationship between different phases of the disaster management process is mediated. It can be inferred from the study of these models that most revolve around the four major phases of disaster management: prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. Such models are not planned to cover all the aspects of the disaster management domain and have some limitations; for example, logical models do not go beyond describing disaster stages and only provide conceptual frameworks for the very basic activities of a disaster. The expand-contract model does not encapsulate hazard, vulnerability and capacity assessment and risk assessment activities. Similarly, the crunch and release model only identifies the

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underlying causes of a disaster and do not highlight other major activities of disaster management. The integrated model covers most of the activities of the disaster management domain but does not encapsulate the activities of response and recovery. In addition, it only states the top-level actions of disaster management rather than providing the detailed activities involved in each phase. The cause-effect models focus on vulnerable conditions that might affect disaster management by identifying the underlying pressure and root causes of a disaster. The discussion about conditions affecting the disaster management cycle is limited to vulnerability conditions. The models in this category do not consider conditions such as environmental factors that might change the severity of a disaster. The analysis of those models reveals the following limitations: – The design of most of the models revolves around the four main phases of disaster management: prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. – There is no single model that encapsulates most of the major activities of disaster management within a single framework. – The above-mentioned models do not consider environmental conditions that might affect the severity of a disaster. They only think of environment as another disaster category. – Some models fail to present a comprehensive description of disaster management activities within a single model. Furthermore, the arrangement of activities (if any) is not in a logical sequence. – The evaluation and analysis of information and data related to a current disaster are highly important and essential ingredients in the mitigation of future disasters. The existing models do not give effective consideration to evaluation and analysis. The existing models lack all of the required features and functionalities that would enable them to manage a disaster in a comprehensive manner. This proposed conceptual framework, which supports different stages and phases of a disaster management cycle, can fill in the gap, which occurs in the existing models. Generally, in major disasters, various resources, conditions and activities are involved; identifying and utilizing such resources, conditions

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and activities at a detailed level should be the goal of a disaster risk management model. Incorporating this level of activities and conditions affecting disasters, into existing models, would provide the basis for an effective, useful and practical disaster risk management model; one which would expand the attention to the full range of concerns about preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery. Considering these limitations, and the insignificant highlighting of the conditions affecting disaster phases, the conceptual framework for DRM as shown in Figure 2.11 tries to encapsulate all the required activities of disaster management.

Strategic planning

Environmental Effects

Participatory planning Hazard/Vulnerability/ Capacity Assessemnt

Vulnerability analysis and assessment

Hazard assessment

Resource/capacity assessment

Participatory planning


Risk assessment Project/program formulation

Establish risk context

Identify risk

Formulate program/project to treat risk

Analyze risk Evaluate risk

Mitigation Mitigation analysis Structural mitigation Non-structural mitigation

Preparedness Preparedness analysis Resource management Training and education Exercise

Recovery Damage assessment Debris removal Restoration Reconstruction Economic revival

Response Early warning Evacuate Assistance for victims Emergency for medical supply

DRM implementation



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Monitoring and evaluation

Figure 2.11.

Monitoring and evaluation Communication Coordination Consultation

Conceptual framework of the research.

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The proposed conceptual framework is built upon linking the following: (1) hazard, vulnerability, capacity assessment activities and risk management activities; (2) risk management activities and disaster management actions. The distinctive feature that it takes into account is the arrangement of activities in a logical sequence as in any other project/program processes of environment management and socio-economic development projects. This will enable the integration process of DRM into development projects and programs. It is applicable and based on a series of easy-todetermine factors, which are combined in a simple way. The result of this combination and linkage of steps is a comprehensive disaster management model. The model incorporates environmental conditions, which makes it possible to analyze and separate the environmental issues from a disaster. Earlier in this section, the limitations of existing disaster management models were highlighted. Based on these, we present the possible improvements, which have been incorporated in the proposed conceptual framework: – The design of this conceptual framework does not revolve around four fundamental phases of disaster management. It has been segregated into six main components: strategic planning, HVCA, risk assessment, DRM implementation (four fundamental phases of disaster management), monitoring and evaluation and environmental effects. – Within the conceptual framework, these six main components are further decomposed into various activities, which are required in carrying out disaster management operations. – The disaster risk management implementations are performed in a sequential manner in order to mitigate a disaster. – All HVCA, risk assessment, and disaster risk management measures, and actions taken, are constantly reviewed and assessed within the context of varying environmental conditions. – The results of, and assessments derived from the conceptual framework can be utilized as an input for a new evaluation, which is obtained through the monitoring and evaluation module. Therefore, the evaluation of all measures, and feedback to the strategic planning module, is recommended. – The framework enables us to improve the forecasting of future events and their impacts, particularly those where the

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disaster management actions might be affected by changing environmental conditions (for example, climate change). – The models discussed in the literature generally capture disaster management in a limited context, commonly revolving around mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. But the proposed framework extends this to include the changing effects of the environment in addition to other factors. – The assessment of possible disaster events is a very important issue when mitigating disasters. This important issue is addressed with the incorporation of HCVA and risk assessment modules in the conceptual framework. The risk management module in conceptual framework is derived from the Australia New Zealand Risk Management Standards (Salter, 1997; Standard-Australia, 1999). An essential principle to be applied in six modules of the framework is that of participation. Vulnerable communities understand what their problems are better than anybody else. They also know what they need most to secure their life and livelihood. Only when they are involved fully in disaster risk management and development activities, can change for the better be achieved. Decisive factors to achieve effective disaster risk management are the partnership and co-operation of all stakeholders, such as: governmental, international, non-governmental, social-civil organizations and local people. Once the common goal is agreed by all, principles of working together should be followed, namely: transparency, accountability and participation. Within the scope of this research, the actual framework for the entire book is presented in Figure 2.12. Key activities and respective methodologies are also presented in the framework.

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٫


٫ ٫

٫

Risk assessment Project/program formulation

٫

٫



٫ ٫ ٫

٫ ٫ ٫

٫

٫ ٫ ٫

Literature review Interview key stakeholder Field visit

٫ ٫ ٫

Asia Pacific region Viet Nam Thua Thien Hue

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Assessment of vulnerability and capacity of DRR in TTH Carry out stakeholder analysis Identify needs and gaps in DRR Decide the key problems need to be further analyzed

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Secondary data analysis Literature review Interview key stakeholders GIS mapping Focus group discussions In-depth interview with local people

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Thua Thien Hue province 18 communes along the Huong river

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Identify the linkage between forest and catastrophic flood Assess the impact of forest management programs and policies on flood risk and the livelihoods of upland people Assess the risk perception of upland people on forest and flood Assess the impacts of normal flood on environment, society and economy Assess the local coping mechanism to natural disaster Physical and housing vulnerability assessment Suggest key entry points Promote integrated approach for DRR in the Huong river basin

٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫

Secondary data analysis Literature review Interview key stakeholders GPS survey GIS and remote sensing analysis Hydrology model Questionnaire survey Focus group discussions In-depth interview with local people

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4 communes in uplands of the Huong river basin 4 communes along the lagoon areas 2 communes in plain areas of the basin

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Flood risk mapping

٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫ ٫

Interview key stakeholders GPS survey GIS and remote sensing analysis Questionnaire survey Focus group discussions In-depth interview with local people

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Review existing programs/policies Indepth interview Focus group discussion

Thua Thien Hue province 4 communes in the lowland areas supported by CACC project

DRM implementation

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Evaluation

Assessment of existing DRR and development project and programs

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٫ ٫

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2 communes in plain areas of the basin

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Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3 Chapter 4; and Chapter 5 All three questions

Chapter 5: The context of Thua Thien Hue province Chapter 6: Key issues in TTH Question 1 and 2

Chapter 7: Forest cover and catastrophic flood: the gaps between perception and scientific evidence Chapter 8: Annual flood impact: an issue of coastal areas Chapter 9: Participatory flood risk mapping Question 2 and 3

Chapter 9: Participatory flood risk mapping Question 3


Figure 2.12. Framework of the research.

Hazard/Vulnerability/ Capacity Assessment

Identify key issues of current DRR in AP region and in Viet Nam Identify key issues of DRR in TTH

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Relevant chapter and research question


٫

Strategic planning

Research areas

Methodologies usages

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Key research activities

Chapter 5: The context of Thua Thien Hue province Chapter 6: Key issues in TTH Question 3

Three research questions: Question 1: What are linkages between disaster, and environment? Question 2: What are the realities of disaster and environment management? Question 3: How disaster risk management can be integrated into environment management to reduce disaster risk?

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Chapter Three

Disaster, Environment and Development Linkages

3.1

INTRODUCTION “The environment and disasters are inherently linked. Environmental degradation affects natural processes, alters humanity’s resource base and increases vulnerability. It exacerbates the impact of natural hazards, lessens overall resilience and challenges traditional coping strategies. Furthermore, effective and economical solutions to reduce risk can be overlooked. . . . Although the links between disaster reduction and environmental management are recognized, little research and policy work has been undertaken on the subject. The concept of using environmental tools for disaster reduction has not yet been widely applied by practitioners.” Source: Living with risk (ISDR 2004).

The International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) concluded that “environmental protection, as a component of sustainable development and consistent with poverty alleviation, is imperative in the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters” (ISDR 2002). Similarly, in 2002, a group of experts from the global change and disaster risk management communities met in Berlin and prepared a declaration that was presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. The declaration pointed to increasing evidence that environmental change and natural disasters are linked. Recently the UN/ISDR Environment and Disaster Working Group have also consolidated that notion. In their “Environment and Vulnerability: Emerging Perspectives” report, it is recognized that natural resource exploitation, urban development

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and environmental degradation all directly affect risk. Changes in weather intensities, circulation, hydrology, and sea level brought about by climate change have increased risk. The loss of ecosystems services that regulate floods and fires increases the vulnerability of vast populations in densely populated coastal areas and flood plains (ISDR 2007). In contrast, the consequences of natural disaster can be devastating for aquatic and land-based ecosystems. Urban infrastructure can reduce disaster risk, but in many cities where drainage, drinking water, sanitation and solid waste management are inadequate, they compound risk, while being further eroded by floods and storms (Schipper and Pelling 2006). Moreover, the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), the Millennium Declaration and the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment have different points of departure but come to the similar conclusion that environment degradation, poverty, and disaster risk share common causes as well as common consequences for human security and well being. They also make clear that ecosystem services, environment management and environmental information offer opportunities to reduce risk, decrease poverty and achieve sustainable development. Disaster risk reduction must be incorporated, therefore, into the MDG process (ISDR 2005). While international frameworks have recognized the inherent links between disaster reduction, development, and environmental management, little research and policy work has been undertaken on the subject (ISDR 2002). Although at present the environment management tools are not systematically integrated within the disaster risk reduction framework and vice versa, but it is important to be realized that the environmental tools were primarily developed from a risk management approach. For example, parts of environmental management include risk assessment, hazard identification, spill response, and emergency/contingency planning. Those activities are central to the practice of disaster risk management. Other parts of the environment management address such issues as water quality, protection of flora and fauna, and general health of the ecosystem, all of which may be affected by decisions and actions taken in the pursuit of disaster risk management (Labadie 2006). In order to support advocacy, and to facilitate the design and implementation of environmentally sound solutions to the challenges posed by natural hazards, there is an urgent need

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3.2. Disaster and Environment Linkages

to structure a multi-community dialogue and learning process between the disaster risk management, the humanitarian response and the environmental management communities. This chapter, therefore, identifies and analyses available resources that link environmental issues and management with disasters and risk reduction efforts. The chapter uses case studies, examples, and the results of the questionnaires and interviews of practitioners and organizations working in environment, disaster, and development fields in Asia Pacific region.

3.2

DISASTER AND ENVIRONMENT LINKAGES

Around the globe, land use and land cover changes are eroding the natural buffers that protect communities from hazard risk. These same changes often erode people’s capacity to recover from disaster. Other environmental changes, such as anthropogenic global warming, promise to create new challenges to the security and sustainability of communities around the world. There are, however, opportunities to reduce disaster risk, and enhance community resilience. The impacts of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only have human dimensions, but environmental ones as well (UNEP 2005a). 3.2.1

Impact of Environmental Degradation on Disasters

Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa, disasters have an impact on the environment (see Table 3.1). There are many adverse impacts of the environment degradation on human vulnerability and disaster, among which the impacts of deforestation, forest management practices, agriculture systems, etc. exacerbate the negative environmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting and ground/surface water contamination First, the rapid loss of forestland around the world is changing the rainfall patterns (deKoninck 1999). Deforestation is not only linked with decreased rates of evapotranspiration, but also a reduction in moisture flow and water retaining capacity. These changes, have been linked with the onset of large-scale deforestation, and have led either to drought and desertification or soil erosion, debris flow and floods. In fact, river and lake floods

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are aggravated by deforestation, which, in turn, causes erosion and clogs rivers. Water quality and quantity in the downstream areas are heavily affected due to the damage of the vegetation in the catchment areas, which reduce agricultural productivity in the downstream areas (Le and Rambo 1996). Studies show that river catchment areas that are largely deforested or wetlands that have been drained create very different hydrological regimes (Gujja 2001). When this factor is added to the climate change, it appears to be affecting the timing and pattern of the rainfall. Eventually, the rainfall may become more erratic. In this regard, the timing and volume of expected flooding are becoming more unpredictable. Impacts of deforestation are being felt more severely in the highlands, but they will eventually affect the lowlands: as rivers silt up, this affects croplands in the lowlands that depend on these waters. Flooding of cities will become more pronounced. According to Wang (2004), it has seen many ‘natural hazards’ happening frequently due to environmental degradation recently. Second, the non-sustainable over-use of resources causes pollution and ultimately leads to environment degradation. In particular, there is an increasing likelihood of human induced climate change which according to the latest projection of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, will result in more water related disasters especially for countries in tropical and subtropical latitudes (WMO&GWP 2006). These changes in temperature and related local rainfall variations affect the environment through accelerated desertification, land degradation, the availability of water resources as well as reducing the overall agricultural output. In addition, climate change is expected to affect sea levels and cause climate extremes. All these factors have a compound effect on the occurrence and impact of disasters. Third, many mangrove swamps and coastal forests are under severe threat from various river basin development activities and flood management projects. Flood prevention projects distort the flow variability and can cause severe deteriorations of the coastal ecosystems. The degradation of mangrove forests significantly reduces their valuable functions such as shoreline stabilization and storm protection. The coastal forests become too degraded to absorb the energy of coastal storms, thereby increasing the flood and storm risks in the coastal zone.

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Meteorological and hydrological events, such as typhoons, are hazards that cause heavy rain, high wind and sea surges. But the real damage also happens due to the vulnerability of the people who lie in its path. Post-disaster assessment of hurricanes and typhoons have clearly illustrated that, along with disaster preparedness, proper management of the environment — its air, land, water, forests, and wastes, go a long way in reducing the risks and vulnerabilities associated with typhoons. Environmental degradation, combined with human activities, is at the origin of numerous catastrophes such as flooding, desertification, fires, as well as technological disasters and transport accidents. Some of the global environmental themes (WSSD, 2002) include — changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, climate change, desertification, drought, forests, industrial development, protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development, waste management, water, etc. — all within the overall orbit of disaster risk management and vulnerability. 3.2.2

Impacts of Disasters on Environment

It is important to look at its impact on environmental sector, as damage of environmental resources affects the environmental sustainability and poses challenge in achieving the MDG7– ensuring environmental sustainability. Natural disasters are the factor directly causing environmental degradation. Natural disasters cause the natural systems less resilience to the disaster impacts. As a consequence, natural systems are left poorer. Several disasters in recent past pointed out the issue of environment disaster linkage not only in developing countries, but also for the developed countries like Japan, USA, and Europe. Typhoons 21 and 23 of 2004 of Japan have shown critical needs to interlink disaster and environmental issues. While the environmental degradation causes disasters, the impact of disasters are far-reaching, affecting the environment. The Typhoon 23 has produced 48,000 tons of waste products in Toyo-oka city of Hyogo Prefecture of Japan, which amounts of 1.5 year of total waste production of the city (UNEP 2005b). This has not only posed a significant threat to the city’s waste management system, it has far-reaching implication to the economy and natural environment. Two specific issues are becoming increasingly prominent

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on environmental ground: impact on the natural environment, and impact of man-made environment. While the natural environment includes the ecology of the affected areas, waste issues are the main issues of man-made environment. Impacts of Indian Ocean tsunami on mangroves, coral reefs, sea-grass, flora and fauna in the affected areas have been assessed with salient environmental issues. In the urban and semi-urban areas where the illegal settlements and fisherman’s colonies have encroached the sea-side areas, especially the areas which were supposed to be the protected areas under coastal regulatory zone (CRZ), many of these areas were severely affected by the tsunami, affecting people, their habitat and livelihoods (Shaw 2006). Moreover, many of the areas are water logged after the tsunami. Water has not receded from these areas, and most of these land areas are agriculture land. Also, some of the land areas are having problems with the water logging during high tides. Debris, which often resulted from the destruction of earthquake, tsunami, or flood pose a huge problem for its proper management. Also, tsunami waves, storms, or floods brought timber and wood materials, and deposited on the agriculture land, which also made the land unusable. In general, different types of disasters have different types of impacts on the environment, and vice versa, are exacerbated by different factors of the environment. The following table provides a quick snapshot of the various impacts and factors. It is important to note that disasters have significant impact not only natural and man made environment, but also social environment. For example, in Vietnam flood disasters and their aftermath significantly impact on social systems, both within the household and with the community at large. According to Tran et al. (2007), in central Vietnam after the severe flooding the community cohesion was stronger at first, but then broke down due to the stress of the flooding and the recovery process. Furthermore, there was a high rate of out-migration, particularly during the flood season when the main laborers migrated to cities to search for jobs. This left the people at home living more “at risk”, especially the infirm and elderly, and the communes remained without adequate human resources for flood response and recovery. In addition, annual flood prevents many children from going to the school during the flood season. This might cause a large number of children to permanently drop out of school (Tran et al., 2007). As exemplified above and as shown in Table 3.1, it is of utmost importance to incorporate the environmental issues both natural

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Table 3.1

Samples of environment and disaster linkages. Earthquake

Potential environmental impacts

Natural gas leaks, household and industrial chemical releases from damaged containers. Damage to industrial facilities resulting in toxic release.

Exacerbating environmental factors

Building waste debris, and potential mix of hazardous materials Topography and land cover Building codes and urban planning/urbanization processes

Flood, storms, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones Potential environmental impacts

Sewage overflow and chemical releases from roads, farms and factories; Hazardous debris, chemicals, medical and other materials as disaster debris; water-damaged household chemicals (paint, pesticides, solvents); unsafe water supplies Ground and surface water contamination Loss of topsoil due to rapid drain of runoff.


Habitat and ecosystem destruction (e.g. coral reefs and mangroves) Deforestation and water siltation Urbanization and land use/land cover changes Forest fires


Loss of biodiversity and ecologically sensitive habitats. Air pollution from smoke and haze


Climate change Deforestation and land use/land cover changes Droughts


Habitat and crop destruction Water scarcity


Urbanization and unsustainable resource consumption Deforestation and land use/land cover changes Landslides

Potential environmental impacts Exacerbating environmental factors

Damage/deterioration of habitat ecosystems Land use functions, including agriculture Ground and surface water contamination Deforestation Land use/land cover changes

Source : Srinivas and Nakagawa 2008.

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and social aspects in disaster risk management. Thus, there is a strong need to make a synergy of environment and disaster issues.

3.3 DISASTER AND DEVELOPMENT LINKAGES 3.3.1

Impacts of Disasters on Millennium Development Goals

Natural disasters are the factor directly causing impediments to the economic development, sustainable development, and intensifying poverty. For example, in Viet Nam, natural disasters happen and rob away many achievements of the national socioeconomic development process. Only in the last 5 years of the 90s (1996–2000), natural disasters caused damages and losses of 2.3 billion USD, and killed on the average 2117 people and caused losses of 459 million USD every year (CCFSC, 2006). Moreover, disasters have dislocated families who become refugees as they are forced to migrate elsewhere. Natural disasters intensify the poverty gap in the population and rapidly increase the poverty rate, especially in disaster-prone areas. In fact, poverty and vulnerability to disasters are integrally linked and mutually reinforcing (Wisner et al., 2004). The poor are forced to exploit environmental resources for survival, thereby increasing both the risk and exposure to disasters, in particular those triggered by floods, drought and landslides. Deforestation and agriculture on marginal land, or destruction of forests for firewood collection, are often induced, or at least exacerbated, by poverty. These practices directly affect the natural environment, and may hurt the very resource base that these poor people are depending on. Indeed, the rural communities, which depend on resource-based activities, are the worst sufferers of the disaster impacts (Shaw 2006). Furthermore, disasters also have negative impacts on the Eight Millennium Development Goals (DFID 2004). 3.3.2

Impacts of Development on Frequency and Severity of Disasters

“Rarely do disasters just happen- they often result from failures of development which increase vulnerability” (Secretary of State of International Development, DFID).

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3.3. Disaster and Development Linkages

Sometimes new forms of vulnerabilities are created or the existing ones are exacerbated because of acts of development. Though not intentional, these pose serious challenges to the target of poverty reduction and achieving the developmental goals. For e.g. a common practice among road designers is to make the road higher than the expected design flood level, thereby ensuring uninterrupted access while floods are in full flush. Sometimes this creates a dilemma because the road embankment itself creates higher flood levels on the uphill side of the road and which can exacerbate flooding of homes and other property. Rapid urban growth is one of the key factors for increase in disaster risk. With a steady growth in the economy, the countries of the AP region are challenged with the increasing pace of migration from rural to urban areas. This has resulted in higher population densities in the urban areas, unplanned development of complex infrastructure and poor governance; all leading to increase in vulnerability to natural disasters. In particular lower-income communities with lack of resources are compelled to gravitate to marginal lands such as floodplains, and stream banks and which are highly vulnerable to natural disasters. Thus these urban centers often form hotspots where the probability of occurrence of large-scale disasters involving significant mortality, economic loss or both is very high. Though this urbanization has increased the diversification of economies and improved the living standards, but this potential is being ‘jeopardized by a lack of vision of the kind of economic, social and physical environment desired by town dwellers in the Pacific, an absence of appropriate policies, and poor urban management and service delivery’ (World Bank.) As a result of the migration the young generation do not have strong links with their traditional village communities and thus the safety nets which have been developed by Pacific Island societies over hundreds of years are weakening. There are an increasing number of people living below the poverty line in urban areas, squatter and informal settlements and increasing unemployment all leading to increase in vulnerability. This also has direct connection to the urban infrastructure issues like water supply, sanitation, waste disposal etc. In particular, the waste disposal municipal garbage dumps are usually located on or near coastal areas. They are inadequately sealed for flooding or sea water infiltration, creating a potential environmental hazard.

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Examples of unplanned industrialization resulting in environmental degradation are also seen in many countries of the AP region. For e.g. 1996 witnessed the fish kill in Manila Bay where 30,000 kilos of dead fish were found floating in the bay’s shallow shores. The investigation revealed that the fish died of low oxygen levels and internal bleeding when their internal organs absorbed toxic chemical which could be traced to the industrial refuse from the various factories located in the Manila Bay. The fish kill disrupted the livelihood of thousands of fishing families and thus impacted the economy of the regi With such obvious anticipated results the question could be raised; Why development overlooks disaster risks? Perhaps the reason is that incentives are stacked against disaster risk reduction. It is a long-term, low-visibility process, with no guarantee of tangible rewards in the short term, either for politicians in affected countries or for donors. Another reason could be the mismatch between the temporal scale of the problem and the standpoint from which policymakers make key decisions. In the climate change issue for example, the problem has been defined as something that is too remote, i.e. something would play out in the next 50 to 100 years. Therefore dealing with it provides little incentive for most elected policymakers, given more tangible and politically pressing concerns. Hence what is essential is to make sure the message reaches the decision makers in a language they understand; wider stakeholders are consulted and realize that ‘disaster risk reduction is everybody’s business, officials from planning and finance agencies are provided with simple cost benefit analysis and success is demonstrated through high visibility projects and which can be later up scaled.

3.4 ENVIRONMENT DISASTER AND DEVELOPMENT INTEGRATION Successful integration of disaster risk reduction, environment management and development is not something that can be achieved by the addition of a new program, a new policy document or even a new department. Rather, it is a shift in approach towards supporting more risk reducing forms of environment management and development and vice versa, an approach, which will need to pervade all operations, programs and

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3.4. Environment Disaster and Development Integration

departments. Therefore, the sustainable disaster risk reduction and environment management should enlarge and focus on the convergence areas of three sectors: – Development management; – Environment management; and – Disaster risk management. Measures can be carried out within the interfaces between these three areas (see Table 3.2). – Disaster-Environment convergence; – Environment-Development convergence; and – Development-Disaster convergence. Figure 3.1 illustrates the current level of the integration of three sector and show the strategic entry points for the integration to be taken in the AP region. 3.4.1

Opportunities of Environment and Disaster Reduction Integration

Environment and Vulnerability: Emerging Perspectives (ISDR 2007) outlines opportunities to integrate environmental and disaster reduction strategies: 1. Engage environmental managers in national disaster risk management mechanisms (and disaster managers in environmental management mechanisms). 2. Include risk reduction criteria in environmental regulatory frameworks. 3. Assess environmental change as a parameter of risk. 4. Utilize local knowledge in community-based disaster risk management. 5. Engage the scientific community to promote environmental research and innovation 6. Protect and value ecosystem services. 7. Consider environmental technologies and designs for structural defenses. 8. Integrate environmental and disaster risk considerations in spatial planning. 9. Prepare for environmental emergencies 10. Strengthen capacities for environmental recovery.

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Current Level of Integration in Asia Pacific Region

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Environment Management


Goal: resilient ecosystems that support livelihoods

Goal: Save lives and protect livelihoods

Development Management Goal: Increasing human well being

DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT, ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT NEED TO BE MORE INTEGRATED AND INSTITUTIONALIZED

Towards an integrated approach for AP region

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Disaster Risk Management Goal: Save lives and protect livelihoods

Disaster Environment Convergence

Environment Management Goal: resilient ecosystems that support livelihoods

Strategic Entry Points Disaster Development Convergence

Environment Development Convergence

Development Management Goal: Increasing human well being

Figure 3.1. Strategic Entry Pints for Integration.

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Table 3.2 Three zones of convergences. Environment-disaster convergence

1. Economic opportunities for the poor

1. Integration of DRR into government department activities

1. Early warning systems

2. Disaster and environment considerations in economic and infrastructural development

2. Land use planning and infrastructure planning

2. Local disaster risk reduction strategies (national and local institutions)

3. Access to, and viability of, communal resources and biodiversity (including forest products)

3. Integration between ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ agricultural and aquaculture technologies and management systems

3. Natural resource management based protection (mangroves, water catchments, forests)

4. Processing and marketing of local products

4. Linkages between local ‘informal’ institutions and authorities

4.‘Disaster risk information and capacities of national/local institutions

5. Health and education

5. Diversity of crops, agro-biodiversity

5. National adaptation plans and vulnerability assessments to climate change

6. The role of local knowledge in economic development

6. Seed and input distribution, in particular local seed varieties and inputs

6. Coastal zone management

7. Adaptation livelihood strategies to Climate Change

7. Local research on crops, livestock and economic development that are adapted to the local climate

7. Urban drainage and water supply, hydroelectricity, solid waste management


Disaster-development convergence


Environment-development convergence

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There are a number of areas where environmental management and disaster risk management can and should interact more positively for mutual benefit and support. Both fields would benefit from continuing and supporting the current movement in the disaster community from “reactive” disaster response to active risk management and from iterative recovery to pro-active mitigation and prevention. Parallel efforts would transition the environmental field from contaminant clean up to risk reduction and pollution prevention, from discrete issues management to environmental management systems, and from flood control to floodplain management (Philippi 1996). Integration of sustainability considerations into disaster mitigation and recovery can exploit the considerable overlap between environmental management and disaster risk management. Planners and practitioners in both fields must recognize that the overall objectives of these fields implicitly promote sustainable communities. Sustainability should be considered both prospectively (in sustainable development planning and mitigation) and retrospectively (in response and recovery). This integration would incorporate and enhance current trends toward “holistic disaster recovery” (also “sustainable recovery”) that emphasize betterment of the entire community, including environmental improvement and enhancement, through the recovery process, Holistic Disaster Recovery (PERI 2006). Living with Risk (ISDR 2004) is even more direct: Disaster reduction specialists should be encouraged to anticipate environmental requirements under applicable laws and to design projects that address these requirements, coordinating closely with environmental institutions (p. 302).

Environmental management professionals can make considerable contributions during the mitigation and recovery phases of disaster risk management. They can identify possible improvements and enhancements as well as things to avoid. More importantly, after enhancements or improvements are in place, they can monitor and assess environmental performance indicators to ensure that goals are met. Environmental assessments should be integrated into emergency planning processes. Environmental Impact Statements should (but currently do not) specifically include disaster-hazard considerations. Rapid environmental

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assessments should be conducted as part of disaster damage assessment and should be an integral part of response/recovery considerations (Kelly 2001). Both environmental managers and disaster risk management managers must be cognizant of the importance of environmental justice/equity issues in the context of hazard and vulnerability. Hazards of any type have a disproportionate impact on the poor and disadvantaged. A number of thorny equity issues are coming to a head in the environmental management world, among them: industrial plant and landfill sitting; development in industrial or depressed areas; residential settlement on slopes or in other marginal areas; higher population density; immigrants and language differences; differential access to social services and information sources. Most of these issues have not yet been adequately addressed in emergency management planning or community dialogue. There are a number of key tools or entry points which offer opportunities for integrating disaster and environment management. Below are some key programs and tools for integrations

3.4.1.1

National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs)

The preparation of NAPAs is a new element among the agreements and initiatives established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Guidelines were set out in 2001 for the development of plans that enable low-income countries to communicate proposed programs of priority action to address the potential impacts of climate change. An emerging principle is that they should concentrate on actions designed to combat urgent problems already caused by present-day climate variability and extremes — problems that may become more acute under future climate change unless remedial action is taken. Key among these is the impacts of extreme climatic events associated with disasters such as flooding, drought and tropical storms. Preparation of the plans is financed by the UNFCCC’s Least Developed Countries Fund, and the same source may also be a vehicle for funding subsequent implementation of the priority actions.

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3.4.1.2

Integrating DRR concerns into Environmental Assessments for new developing projects

Though Environmental Assessments (primarily Environmental Impact Assessments) have become a mandatory in most of the countries in Asia for project appraisal, much need to be done to integrate DRR concerns into such assessments. Also efforts need to be taken on adopting environmental assessments at much prior stage (for example the Strategic Environmental Assessment) so that such concerns of environment and disaster risk are addressed at the policy and plan level and need not wait till the formulation of the particular projects. It is important to integrate DRR concerns into all environmental tools. However, there are two important tools need to be prioritized. Environmental Assessments (primarily EIA) are an absolute requirement for the appraisal process of all new projects. The basic purpose is to examine the potential environmental consequences, both beneficial and adverse, of the proposed project’s design. A guidance note prepared by ProVention Consortium on the use of environmental impact assessment (EIA) methodologies as a tool for mainstreaming DRR identifies three essential actions as part of EIA process: – The environmental assessment process should include collation of data on natural hazard-related risks as a fundamental first step in broader project scoping – Systematic analysis of natural hazards and related vulnerability should be undertaken as a central component of the environmental assessment in areas of risk of natural hazards; and – A full impact assessment should be required for certain types of projects in high-risk areas. In this regard The ‘Tools for Mainstreaming DRR: Guidance Notes for Development Organizations developed by the ProVention Consortium provides detailed guidance on how to mainstream DRR into EIA process. The document could be downloaded at www. proventionconsortium.org. Box 3.1 provides examples from Asia where DRR has been integrated in environmental assessments.

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Box 3.1 Integrating DRR in Environmental Assessment. Integrating DRR in Country Environmental Assessment ADB’s CEA for Tajikistan, identifies natural hazards, including drought, landslides and earthquakes, as one of the country’s key environmental problems and highlights a related reduction in vulnerability as a major element in promoting environmental interventions to reduce poverty. In order to enhance resilience, it recommends support for activities that contribute to greater physical stability (e.g., prevention of soil erosion); the exploitation of opportunities for simultaneously reducing vulnerability and supporting livelihoods (e.g., drainage of lands prone to mudslides and use of the water collected for irrigation); careful attention to zoning of economic activities; and, more generally, a policy that favours risk reduction over emergency response and reconstruction. Integrating DRR in Strategic Environmental Assessment Environmental analysis by the ADB of some specific interventions to support the development of irrigation infrastructure in Cambodia found that these interventions could not be considered in isolation from other proposed government and donor irrigation projects and the potential cumulative environmental impacts collectively associated with these schemes. These impacts included those relating to the implications of large irrigation schemes and water withdrawal for the system of flooding (used to economic advantage in Cambodia in normal years) and water flows. In consequence it was proposed that future ADB investments in the irrigation sector should be conditional on integrated basin development planning, which was currently absent in many parts of Cambodia. (Source: ‘Tools for Mainstreaming DRR: Guidance Notes for Development Organizations, ProVention Consortium, 2007)

3.4.1.3

Environmental Risk Assessment, and Environmental Assessment Strategies

As a disaster preparedness measure, a range of policy and strategy tools can be used to reduce the risk and vulnerability of local communities. Of particular significance are tools such as environmental risk assessment (ERA) and EMS. EMS is a relatively new approach, based on the ISO 14001 standard, which when adopted for disaster risk management, enables the systematic identification and assessment of significant environmental aspects that impact disasters and setting of measurable targets. It also includes the monitoring and checking of steps taken to achieve these targets. SEAs can also be incorporated into local disaster plans. Vulnerability and environmental hazard mapping of

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local communities will have to be combined with early warning systems that regularly monitor and evaluate the situation. Environmental codes and standards, and their proper enforcement and monitoring, will go a long way when they are used for disaster preparedness and response purposes. For example, a well-maintained inventory of chemicals and hazardous substances used by local industries, and their proper labeling, will ensure that, during a disaster event, the risks that such materials pose to communities living nearby can be mitigated by proper isolation, handling, and segregation. Clearly then, the above environmental tools for pre-disaster preparedness should focus on the development of policies and strategies, and in strengthening the capacities of local communities and government bodies. Specialized arms of the local government looking at environmental aspects, for example the BAPPEDALDA in Indonesia, should build capacities to be able to look at the environmental dimensions of their preparedness plans. For post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, similar strategies and tools can be identified, which will not only aid the recovery process, but will also assist in strengthening future preparedness. Of particular significance here are REA and EIA tools. These tools are particularly focused on the assessment and implementation of recovery and reconstruction projects, ensuring that programs and projects not only help affected communities to recover their livelihoods, but also restore the local environment. For example, a set of criteria included in forms for approval of projects in the Aceh area of Indonesia were those related to the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects. 3.4.1.4

Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment

In normal, non-disaster, situations an environmental impact assessment (EIA) can be used to identify possible environmental impacts and mitigation measures. However, as indicated in Table 3.3, a disaster is radically different from normal conditions, making an EIA inappropriate. Most governments and humanitarian assistance organizations specifically allow for not doing an EIA in emergencies, recognizing that a full EIA would considerably slow emergency assistance. These guidelines for a Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (REA) fill a gap in the range of tools available to assess

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Table 3.3 Contextual Differences: Normal & Disaster Environmental Assessments. Normal Conditions

Disasters

• Considerable lead time • Legal requirement often exists (country &/or donor)

• Sudden onset • Rarely a legal requirement but some donor may ask for it

• Deliberate & pro-active • Will take time, be thorough & extensive: comprehensive data collection • “No project” option is a possible outcome

• Reactive • May need to be partial in coverage

• “No project” outcome is not an option

• Location chosen • Duration planned

• Unpredictable location • Uncertain duration

• Beneficiary population identifiable & static

• Beneficiary population heterogeneous & dynamic

• Environmental goals may be made compatible with socio-economic ones

• Priority given to “life saving” activities sometime difficult to reconcile with environmental goals

environmental impacts during disasters. The REA is designed to provide input on environmental conditions in disaster situations in a way which is convenient for the fast moving, time compressed operational environment faced in responding to a disaster. The REA is one of several initiatives to improve the linkages between sustainable environmental management and disaster response. Leaders in this area include United Nations Environment Program, CARE International, UNHCR, the WWF and Benfield Hazard Research Centre. These organizations have not only focused on their own needs, but seek to develop means and methods to assist all interested organizations and communities to better deal with environmental issues before, during and after disasters. The REA was developed as a collaborative effort of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre, University College London and CARE International. Funding for this collaboration has come from the United Nations Environment Program, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance USAID and CARE International. The REA development is guided by an international advisory board and in collaboration with over twenty non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations (IOs).

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3.4.2

Opportunities of Development and Disaster Reduction Integration

There are, however, a number of key tools or entry points which offer opportunities for putting disaster risk reduction onto international and national development agendas and setting goals and priorities. These are briefly outlined here and include PRSPs, UNDAFs, donor country assistance strategies/plans, National Adaptation Programs of Action for climate change, tools such as program and project appraisal and early warning systems. There are also many relevant regional initiatives and policy forums, such as the RCC. 3.4.2.1

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)

PRSPs provide the basis of all World Bank and IMF concessional lending and for debt relief under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. They are also increasingly used by many other donors as a basis for their bilateral support. PRSPs describe a country’s macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programs to promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs, and are in principle prepared and ‘owned’ by governments through a consultative process involving civil society and development partners. Given the pre-eminence of PRSPs in HIPC governments’ efforts to address poverty and its cross-sectoral approach, they provide an important opportunity for setting out ways in which disaster risk reduction concerns can be integrated into national povertyfocussed development and associated development assistance. The PRS process provides an entry point for bilateral donors to promote a risk reduction agenda in at least three ways: – Collaborating with the World Bank’s Hazard Management Unit, they can seek to influence the Bank’s support for the PRS process in the direction of encouraging governments to integrate risk reduction considerations into key PRSP components. Guidelines might, for example, include a recommendation for a national working group to compile hazard and vulnerability profiles and consider how appropriate risk reduction strategies can be incorporated into the PRSP. – At country level they can offer targeted support and advice to governments in the preparation of PRSPs, highlighting

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opportunities for integrating risk reduction concerns into sectoral strategies and indicating willingness to support those areas in which these concerns are addressed. – They can ensure that funding is available for implementation of risk reducing activities that are included in PRSPs. While the shift from project-based aid to general or sector budget support means that the scope for earmarking funds for specific activities is reduced, donors can nevertheless ensure that risk reduction principles are highlighted in funding agreements and in systems for ensuring accountability. There is also scope for supporting specific activities outside the framework of direct budget support, including through UN agencies and NGOs. Box 3.2 provides some of the various ways DRR is addressed in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) in Asia Pacific region. Box 3.2 Addressing DRR in Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) PRS identifies DRR as sectoral sub priority: – Lao PDR; DRR has been included as part of sectoral sub-priorities under Agriculture PRS set specific disaster related outcome and impact indicators: – Vietnam; The 2002 PRSP, aims to halve the number of people falling back into poverty due to calamities and other risks by 2010. PRS measuring the achievement of DRR indirectly through other output indicators: – Cambodia; The 2002 PRSP, aims to reduce the area of agricultural land damaged by floods and droughts, the monetary value of flood losses and the number of people affected by drought. PRS seeking to integrate DRR into broad development activities: – Bangladesh: DRR is not explicitly included as part of the four strategic blocks or four supporting strategies on which the PRS is based. However, the extent to which the PRS ensures comprehensive disaster risk management, environmental sustainability and mainstreaming of these concerns into the national development process is identified as one of ten key goals on which the success of the PRS will be judged Source; Adopted from ‘Tools for Mainstreaming DRR: Guidance Notes for Development Organizations, ProVention Consortium, 2007.

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3.4.2.2

Country Programming Framework

Like the Poverty Reduction Strategy, country programming forms another important window for integrating DRR. Programming framework are developed and applied by all international development organizations. These frameworks are usually applied at a national level with a typical timeframe of 3 to 5 years. If the program does not identify particular focus areas, then usually no related projects can be undertaken in that country on that particular focus area by international financial institutions. The exception is post disaster response (see Box 3.3 for the case from Bangladesh). Box 3.3 The fourth five-year plan of Bangladesh The Planning Commission of the Government of Bangladesh draws up fiveyear plans providing guidelines for all development sectors including water resources sectors. The first five- year plan (1973–78) was formulated in 1973 and the fourth five-year plan (1990-95) was formulated in 1990. The plans have two important components; the macro-economic framework and the sectoral framework that sets the sectoral targets and policies. For the first time, the fourth five-year plan (1990–95) placed emphasis on environmentally desirable integrated development and full accounting of externalities of flood control measures. The plan noted that, in the past, the planning and construction of embankments has sometimes proceeded without taking adequate account of agriculture, fisheries, land use and other environmental and socio-economic considerations. The fourth five-year plan proposed to focus attention on these aspects in the planning and implementation of future embankments and other flood control and drainage programs through coordinated planning involving all concerned agencies of the Government as well as the local people. The identification, analysis, assessment and monitoring of such environmental and other impacts and, the inclusion of adequate corrective and compensatory measures, would form an essential component of the flood control, drainage and irrigation projects during the plan.

3.4.2.3

Sectoral Integration

DRR should also be integrated at the sectoral level into policies, budgets and plans and programs. Though the sectoral ministries like health, public works, education etc. are often a member of the national disaster risk management offices, their involvement should be more encouraged from a development point of view and not preparedness and response alone. In this regard, of

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equal importance is building capacity and awareness of officials from sectoral agencies at both national and sub national level. When programs are to be designed to address these priorities, they should be aligned to the sectoral ministries and tied to their budget. Box 3–4 provides key themes for mainstreaming of DRR into priority sectors and has been developed by the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management’s (RCC) Program on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development (MDRD). Box 3.4 Themes for mainstreaming DRR into priority sectors. Agriculture – romoting programs of contingency crop planning; crop diversification; – Supplementary income generation from off-farm and non-farm activities; – Effective insurance and credit schemes to compensate for crop damage and loss to livelihood; Urban Planning and Infrastructure – Introducing Disaster Risk Impact Assessments into the construction of new roads and bridges; – Promoting the use of hazard risk information in land-use planning and zoning programs; Health – Vulnerability assessment of hospitals in hazard-prone areas; – Promoting hazard resilient construction of new hospitals; – Implementing of disaster preparedness plans for hospitals; Education – Introducing DRM modules into the school curriculum; – Promoting hazard resilient construction of new schools; Introducing features into schools for their use as emergency shelters; Housing – Promoting the increased use of hazard-resilient designs in rural housing in hazard-prone areas; – Utilization of national building codes; and the compliance and enforcement of local building laws in urban hazard-prone areas. Source: RCC Program on Mainstreaming DRR into Development Policy, Planning and Implementation in Asia.

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3.4.2.4

UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs)

A noteworthy outcome of the UN Secretary General’s efforts to improve coordination across the UN system at country level has been the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), designed to enhance the UN Country Teams’ collective analysis and programming respectively in support of national goals and priorities, including the MDGs and PRSPs. In principle, the CCA/UNDAF process, supported by the office of the UN Development Group (UNDG), provides an entry point for “a contribution to developing measures and building capacity for crisis prevention and disaster preparedness; and where applicable to mitigation plans, post-conflict/natural disaster recovery and rehabilitation, and planning the transition from relief to development” and for establishing the necessary partnerships (including with donors) for this purpose. In parallel the UNDG has also established a Joint Working Group on Transitions with the UN Executive Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (ECHA) to consider relief-development transition issues in natural disasters and complex emergencies, including how the UN Consolidated Appeals Process for emergencies relates to the UNDAF. So far these initiatives have yet to translate into a systematic incorporation of disaster risk reduction concerns into the UN development planning process, but this could change if more substantial donor support were to be targeted to this area. 3.4.2.5

National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs)

NAPAs need to be fully integrated with national development and poverty reduction strategies. They must focus not just on technical responses, but also on wider societal and institutional adaptation that enhances resilience to shocks, including poverty reduction and improved resource management. The extent to which NAPAs can actually promote these linkages under the current funding processes remains to be seen. The NAPA initiative is still at an early stage, with the first countries due to submit plans within 2004 and 2005. Integrating climate change adaptation with broader concerns places special demands on sectoral coordination and policy-making practices. According to UNFCCC, efforts

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should be made to create a more enabling environment within countries through: education and awareness-raising on climate change and its impacts; development of skills necessary for implementing adaptation strategies; promoting cross-sectoral approach to policy-making; and developing policy and planning frameworks that can accommodate climate change concerns.76 3.4.2.6

Program and Project Appraisal Guidelines

Donor should provide guidance on submitting and assessing funding applications for projects and programs. These do mention assessment of risks to achieving objectives of proposed activities and environmental impact, for example as a component of logframes, in a ‘Risks and undertakings’ section or an environmental issues annex for project submissions. However the guidelines do not at present give explicit attention to assessing ways in which activities might be threatened by or — just as important — might influence disaster risks. 3.4.2.7

Early Warning and Information Systems

Early warning and information systems are key tools for mitigating disaster impacts. In the past 20 years considerable progress has been made in improving systems for providing short-term advance information on extreme weather events, flood surges, volcanic eruptions and food crises which allow timely action to be taken in the realm of disaster risk management. Yet there is also a need for information systems to support longer-term risk assessment and monitoring, focusing on vulnerability as well as hazards, as a basis for disaster risk reduction initiatives within a development framework. Overall, early warning and information systems, often with substantial donor assistance, have significantly improved in terms both of information reliability/timeliness and linkages to early response, saving many lives in disasters. Common shortcomings, however, are that while they establish the means to generate or acquire large volumes of data, including remote sensing data, they are weak at analysis and interpretation and sometimes weaker still at communicating their findings to stakeholders in a useful form which leads to action. In many cases their approach is technical, short-term and oriented towards needs for humanitarian assistance. They are far less attuned to generating knowledge that

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would improve understanding of longer-term socio-economic and political processes responsible for vulnerability (including conflict), or eliciting action to reduce that vulnerability. Better analysis of this latter kind could provide a solid foundation for designing strategies to integrate risk reduction into development processes at national and sub-national levels. This will require appropriate levels of investment in expertise, adequate resourcing of system operation, and a commitment to intersectoral collaboration to strengthen information action links. 3.4.2.8

Risk Transfer Mechanisms

An emerging area of interest is the potential for financial instruments of risk management in developing countries. The World Bank, for example, is exploring the scope for promoting a range of instruments including public-private partnerships, perhaps linked to corporate social responsibility initiatives, to offer affordable insurance services that would spread the burden of disaster risks for individuals or for governments. 3.4.2.9

International Initiatives and Policy Forums

There are a great many international policy forums at which bilateral donors can highlight and promote disaster risk reduction concerns, including world conferences and summits on related issues (e.g. economic and social development, sustainable development, climate change, food, trade etc.) (see Box 3.5). Coinciding with publication of this Study is the intergovernmental World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) being held in Kobe in January 2005. The preparatory conferences held in May and October 2004 revealed a significant improvement in international awareness of relevant issues since the beginning of the IDNDR, though there was a reluctance to include technological hazards or quantifiable targets on the part of some of the bigger players. The importance of Mainstreaming of DRR is recognized by the countries of the AP region and slowly the countries are picking up the momentum to address DRR into development.

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3.5. Recommended Ways for Integration

Box 3.5 Regional Level Flood Management and Mitigation Program The Flood Management and Mitigation Programme of the Mekong River Commission, has five components: – – – – –

Establishment of a Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Center Structural and Flood Proofing Measures Mediation of Trans-boundary Flood Issues Flood Emergency Management Strengthening Land Use Management

(For more detail (www.mrcmekong.org) National Level – Climate-proofing the Strategic Development Plan in the Federated States of Micronesia – Mainstreaming DRR into the National Development Strategy of Kiribati Sectoral Level – Mainstreaming DRR into Land use Planning in Philippines by NEDA and UNDP (Ongoing) – PIP on Mainstreaming DRR into Road Sector in Philippines by DPWH, NDCC with support from ADPC, ISDR and SIDA (Phase I completed) (Implemented under RCC MDRD Program) – Mainstreaming DRR into Education Sector in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Philippines by Ministry of Education, NDMOs with support from ADPC, UNDP and ECHO (Ongoing) (Implemented under RCC MDRD Program)

3.5

RECOMMENDED WAYS FOR INTEGRATION

Both The Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA) and Millennium Development Goals emphasized on environmental and natural resource management. They also encourage the sustainable use and management of ecosystems, including better land-use planning and development activities to reduce risk and vulnerabilities. They call for the implementation of integrated environmental and natural resource management approaches that incorporate disaster risk reduction. Existing programs relating to the convergence area of three sectors mentioned above could be the starting points for the integration. This chapter makes an attempt to explore and make explicit the linkages between environment and disasters in order to aim for pro-active approaches to reduce disaster

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impacts. In this final section of the chapter, some strategic entry points are suggested for integration of disaster environment and development.

3.5.1

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

As mentioned in the previous sectors, NAPA gives an important and significant space for the community level input. Thus it is one of the important windows for integration. Like PRSP, NAPA also provides an opportunity to integrate DRR and help impact the development decisions of the country. In AP region, RCC has circulated the questionnaire survey to the RCC member countries to identify which counties are interested in undertaking PIPs on mainstreaming DRR into the NAPA. Based on the results of the survey, RCC would carry out the project in RCC countries members who would express interest to undertake such a project. Following points should be concerned in developing climate change integration strategy. Below are some key entry points: – Advocacy and dialogues and workshops would be conducted to raise the awareness of the stakeholders on integrating EM and DRR into the NAPA and its benefit for the local communities. – Climate change and sea level rise considerations to be incorporated in strategic and land-use planning for infrastructure and buildings, and social services. – The plan mentions the need for communities to prepare and implement risk reduction strategies to address natural hazards, while preparing for the anticipated impacts of climate change. These strategies should identify structures, infrastructure and ecosystems at risk. – Potential impact of climate change on agriculture and aquaculture sectors to be determined and the findings to provide the basis for strategies to minimize impacts on these sectors.

3.5.2

Land use Planning

Land use changes and haphazard development are undermining our ability to cope with the natural disasters. Natural coastal vegetation such as mangrove, sand dunes serves as green defense

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structures and protects coastal population and property with a bio-shielding effect. This was evident during Asian tsunami in December 2004. The impact of tsunami was less intense on coastal population that was protected by mangroves or sand dunes. Mangroves are very effective at dissipating wave energy and reducing flow velocity. The mangroves in Pitchavaram and Muthupet region of India acted like a shield and reduced the impact of the tsunami. Mangrove regeneration programs need to be incorporated in national programs of coastal states.

3.5.3

Post Disaster Sanitation and Safe Water

Disasters create enormous quantities of waste; comprising hazardous waste, vegetation, soil, sediment, and municipal waste from dumpsites and septic tanks, healthcare waste, demolition debris from destroyed buildings, and wastes generated by relief operations. This waste lying on the soil and beaches poses threats to groundwater supplies and the marine environment. It also poses risks to the human health. Sanitation facilities (toilet and washing chambers) are normally destroyed. The addition of displaced families from severely impacted places put additional strain on the local sanitation systems. Sanitation facilities at relief camps are difficult to be managed adequately thus causing additional wastewater. Any disaster risk management plan must provide a space for sanitation facilities and provision for safe drinking water.

3.5.4

Livelihood Management

Majority of the rural population is dependent on ecological resources. During natural hazards, this population suffers enormous loss owing to the loss of livelihood. For example, agriculture sector is often affected by floods or droughts, thus affecting a large number of population with consequential loss of income. Similarly, fisher population is also vulnerable to coastal hazards. Livelihood management plans are necessary for providing security to this section of population. Effective plans for combating the impacts of natural hazards on the livelihoods of low-income communities need to be crafted.

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3.5.5

Risk Tansferring

Despite all precautionary measures, hazards and disasters have devastating impacts on low-income group people. Long-term sustainability of this population needs to be ensured through strategies that will help them rehabilitate and recover from the hazard impacts. One such strategy is insurance that normally aims at effective hazard mitigation and both ecological and social sustainability. Concerns of precautionary measures, particularly insurance, in the recovery process should not be undermined. 3.5.6

Coastal Zone Management

Observations made by IUCN and other organizations in Thailand and Sri Lanka show how neighboring coasts and islands were affected differently, due in part to the presence or absence of wellpreserved mangroves, coral reefs, and coastal vegetation. New scientific insights from ecologists also show that natural ecosystems such as coral reefs and coastal mangrove forests can adapt to change and recover from storms and floods and still provide services of protecting the coast and absorbing pollution. But once these ecosystems are put under pressure by coastal development, they may lose their resilience. Coastal zone management strategies being considered in AP region after the tsunami highlight the continuum of inland areas, coasts, and oceans. Below are some key entry points. – Create buffer zones and no-build areas that are clearly set back from the edge of the coast. – Replant coastal forests and restoration of mangroves, which have been taken up as a part of the environmental recovery process. – Restoring the health of the coral reefs – Mangrove belts, wetland and watershed protection 3.5.7

Urban Planning

Urban planning has emerged as a big challenge in the recent years. Waste management in urban areas can create severe problems. Similarly, improper urban planning can give rise to traffic hazards, fire breakouts or related hazards etc. Global change and the associated increased frequency of catastrophic events have made

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emergency management plans a necessity. It is necessary to provide a plan for creating resilient urban areas or ‘Disaster resilient cities’. National government must have proper programs in place for dealing with disasters. Below are some key entry points: – Risk exposure to be used as a criterion to rank infrastructure investments nationally across sectors and states. – Natural hazard risk assessments to be carried out at the state level as the basis of guidelines ensuring that risks to infrastructure are identified and addressed at the design stage. – Infrastructure must be located, built and maintained in line with codes and practices ensuring that it remains functional for the projected lifetime and avoids unacceptable risks associated with natural hazards and climate change. – Environmentally sound disposal of debris and waste, particularly in exploring its recycling and reuse potentials. Maintaining a critical balance of natural and man-made aspects of the urban environment particularly in eliminating or reducing the disaster risks and hazards, will have to be built into local development plans, for example, enhancing the ability of natural ecosystems such as mangrove forests and coral reefs to act as a ‘bio-shield’ to protect people and their livelihoods, but also the use of cost-effective and innovative engineering solutions to control coastal erosion. Of particular importance is the quick and environmentally sound disposal of the debris and waste, particularly in exploring its recycling and reuse potentials — so that reconstruction and rehabilitation can commence. Field assessments in Banda Aceh, Maldives, and other regions have shown the haphazard intermixing of different types of wastes such as concrete blocks, bricks, trees, and vegetative matter. The potential for recycling and reusing the debris, particularly those that are inert, was set aside in order to rapidly clear the affected areas and dump the debris in already overloaded landfills. This also resulted, in some cases, in illegal dumping in agricultural fields.

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78

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Chapter Four

Context of Disaster Risk Management in Viet Nam

4.1

CONTEXT OF VIET NAM

Viet Nam with an area of 332,600 square kilometers has a population of 81 million. It is a long, narrow country with more than 3000 km of coastline, sharing its borders with Lao PDR and Cambodia in the west and China in the north. The topography makes Viet Nam susceptible to typhoons, floods, storms and salinity intrusion. Natural disasters particularly typhoons and floods, but also tropical storms, droughts, landslides, forest fires, and occasional earthquakes pose a significant obstacle to sustainable development, poverty reduction and environmental preservation in Viet Nam. With environmental degradation droughts and forest fires have also become a regular occurrence. Uneven distribution of rainfall is one of the main causes for the flooding of rivers. Situated close to the typhoon center of the South China Sea, Viet Nam is very vulnerable to typhoons. On an average it is hit by 4 to 6 typhoons per year. The worst of these water disasters are caused by typhoons that raise sea levels and send storm surges up estuaries to inundate valuable croplands. The country is divided into 8 hazard zones as illustrated in the Figure 4.1. Annually, water-related disasters caused serious damages on both human and properties. According to the official statistics, in 2000, total damages was estimated about 350 millions USD, equivalent to 1.13% of total GDP of the country; while in 2004, total damages was estimated about 250 millions USD, equivalent to 0.56% of total GDP of the country.

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Figure 4.1. Map of hazard zones in Viet Nam. (Source: CCFSC, 2006.)

4.2 HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL AMENDMENTS The people of Viet Nam have a thousand-year long tradition of coping with natural disasters, particularly in the Red River Delta. Since the August Revolution in 1945, the Government of

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4.2. History and Chronology of Institutional and Legal Amendments

the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam has always considered disaster preparedness and mitigation as a very important task in every stage of the country’s development. 1946: At the early stage of the country’s independence, on 22 May 1946, the late President Ho Chi Minh signed the degree No. 70 to establish the Central Committee for Dyke Protection, the forerunner of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC). 1955–56: Establishment of the Central Committee for Flood Control and the Department of Dyke Management and the Committee for Flood Control at national and subnational level. 1963: Decree 73-CP on Dyke Protection issued. 1972: Degree 55-CP on Flood Control issued. 1989: Ordinance on Dyke Protection (the first ordinance) issued. 1990: Recognizing the important role of a focal national agency in charge of disaster management, on 19 May 1990, the Council of Ministries signed the Decree No. 168-HDBT to establish and outline the tasks of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control, the people’s committees and the sectors at all levels (provincial, district and commune). The national committee is an inter-ministerial institution including representatives of key ministries. Its secretariat is provided by the Department of Dike Management and Flood and Storm Control (DDMFSC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The CCFSC formulates all regulations and mitigation measures related to typhoons and floods. Emphasis is on traditional dike protection, surveillance and maintenance. 1993: Ordinance of Flood and Storm Control issued. 1994: The First National Strategy and Action Plan for Mitigating Water Disasters in Viet Nam during the Decade of 1990–2000 was prepared in 1994, first updated in 1995. It identified the need for an approach to disaster management that provides

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a mixture of engineering, institutional and social measures to reduce the vulnerability of the country and improve its capacity to cope. The Government of Viet Nam has recognized the importance of the plan and it was used as the orientation for direct implementation of annual state plans. Three main objectives of the First National Strategy were to reduce the number of people killed and missing, and to limit the negative impacts of water disasters on social activities; to enhance the effectiveness of measures for hazards and disaster damage reduction in water disaster prone areas and to improve the natural and manmade environment. After six years of implementing the First National Strategy and Action Plan, disaster awareness has been raised, particularly that of decision-makers at the central and local government levels. The plan has also strengthened institutions for disaster mitigation and management at both the central and provincial government levels. It has also established a raised consciousness and sense of responsibility in the general population for disaster mitigation and management. The tasks of disaster preparedness and mitigation has been gradually institutionalized by issuing law documents such as the Ordinance on Flood and Storm Control, the Ordinance on Water Resources Structures Protection, the Water Law, and the Environment Protection Law. However, this strategy still only focused on hydrological hazards. However, there were some deficiencies observed in the First National Strategy and Action Plan are: – Insufficient attention is given to preparedness, medium term rehabilitation and medium to long-term recovery; – Failure to originally recognise the fundamental link between disasters and their impacts on the downward economic movement of people and communities into poverty and hunger; – Failure to sufficiently recognize the link between disasters and environmental protection; – Lack of foresight to see that disasters negatively impact all kinds of development progress and often quickly erode prior advances made in sustainable and equitable development; – The recent realization that disasters are becoming more severe, more frequent and more complex to mitigate and manage;

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– The importance of new forms, frequencies and severity of disasters as a result of increased urbanization of people and more industrialization of the economy of Viet Nam. 2001: The Second Strategy and Action Plan (2001–2020) set up several strategies in disaster mitigation and management that aims to reduce disasters and their impacts on people, property, agriculture, economic well-being, environment, and equitable and sustainable development. It also detailed the responsibilities of implementing agencies. The second strategy covers a wider range of hazards. The Second National Strategy and Action Plan has attempted to address the weakness reported in the previous action plan: – Disaster planning will be based on multi-hazard identification and risk assessment, based on the different types of disaster hazard and different levels of disaster risk in different parts of the country; – Disaster preparedness and disaster forecasting are the preferred methods of disaster mitigation; – Disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation are the task of each local area throughout the country; – Measures for ensuring the long-term benefit of disaster mitigation for the whole community are to be given the highest priority; – Measures for reducing the risk of a particular type of disaster must be compatible with reducing the risk of other types of disasters; – All measures must be carefully considered, both for practicality and technology, and these measures have to be realistic in the ese context in its current and future state of development; – Reduction of disaster risk must be compatible with traditional disaster coping mechanisms of local people and must support hunger eradication and equitable poverty reduction; – Measures for disaster preparedness and mitigation must be consistent with the economic development level of each local area, as well as the desired general economic development of the country; – Measures for disaster mitigation must be compatible with measures for protecting the environment development, sustaining natural resources and preserving cultural heritage;

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– Cooperation and coordination between the central level of government, local level of government, state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and the general public must be well established using a bottom up approach starting at the grassroots level. Similarly, cooperation and coordination of external assistance needs to be strengthened and aggressively pursued. Figure 4.2 presents the relationship between the central and the local authority (province, district and commune), reporting line and decision making power. The system is chaired by the head of the Government, the Prime Minister. However, the management and technical power is held by a chairman (equivalent to a minister) of the CCFSC, while the search and rescue activity is held by the CCFSR. In reality, the CCFSC operates based on an ad hoc basis and active in case of a flood or storm. The daily management responsibility is held by the director of the Standing Office of the CCFSC who is also the director of the Department of Dyke Management, Flood and Storm Control (DDMFSC) under MARD. In each ministry or sector, there is a committee in charge of flood and storm control, usually chaired by a vice minister or equivalent. However, this committee is only active during the flood and storm season, within their ministry or sector, and with little interaction with other ministries. Government

Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC)

Standing Office (CCFSC)

Central Committee for Search and Rescue (CCFSR)

Standing Office (CCFSR)

Director of Department Dyke Management, Flood and Storm Control

Committee for Flood, Storm Control and Search Rescue: Provincial Level

Committee for Flood, Storm Control and Search Rescue: District Level

Committee for Flood, Storm Control and Search Rescue of Ministries and Sectors

Other organizations and sectors will establish a committee under specific needs

Committee for Flood, Storm Control and Search Rescue: Commune Level

Figure 4.2. Organization of Disaster Management in Viet Nam.

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From the provincial level down to the commune level, the People’s Committee (PC) is fully in charge of the flood and storm control plus search and rescue activity. At provincial level, the CFSC is chaired by the chairman of the provincial People’s Committee (PC) while the management and technical responsibility is held by the director of the provincial CFSC who is also the director of the provincial sub-department of dyke management and flood and storm control which is under the provincial department of agriculture and rural development. At district level, the CFSC is also chaired by the chairman of the district PC while the management and technical responsibility is held by the director of the district sub-department of agriculture and rural development. At commune level, the CFSC is also chaired by the chairman of the commune PC, with one assigned staff in charge of flood and storm control plus search and rescue activity. At all levels, in the CFSC there are representatives from all concerned sectors and organizations, including Red Cross Chapter. 4.2.1

Legal Framework

In Viet Nam, all legal documents (law, ordinance) are promulgated by the National Assembly. Other sub-laws (decree, instruction, strategy, guidelines, and order) are issued by the Government, while the ministries draft legal documents, and submit to government for approval or submission to the National Assembly for ratification. The National Assembly and the Government of Viet Nam has issued many legal documents related to disaster management. Most relevant to flood and storms include the Water Resource Law, the Ordinance on Flood and Storm Control and the Ordinance on Dyke. Please refer the annex for a summary of legal documents. At present, the government is discussing to promote the Ordinance on Dyke to a law on Dyke Management. It is also expected that the Second National Strategy and Action Plan for Disaster Mitigation and Management will probably lead to a law on disaster reduction in the future. The most important legal document issued by the Viet Nam Government which supports the CBDRM is the Decree on Democracy at Grassroots levels. This decree outlines the rights, roles and responsibility of the citizens and the government authorities in implementing democratic values in the community. The

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decree allows the community and citizens to fully participate in any planning activity including disaster prevention. The “four-atsite motto” (command at site, forces at site, materials and equipment at site and logistics at site), the core principle in disaster response in Viet Nam, is the basis for implementing any CBDRM project in Viet Nam. 4.3 MANDATE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF INSTITUTIONS 4.3.1

National Assembly and State Government

The National Assembly has three main functions which include legislation development, deciding the important and priority issues for the country and carrying out the supreme supervision power of all activities of the State. The state agency controls all state activities based on the Constitution, laws and policies issued by the National Assembly. Key activities undertaken amongst include management of the flood and storm fund, the preparation of the Socio-economic Development Plan (2006–10), Decrees

CCFSC Chairman

Vice Director of Government Office

Vice Minister of Finance

Vice Minister of Health

Vice Minister of MARD

Vice Minister of Industry

Vice Minister of Science and Technology

Vice Director of Vietnam Television

Deputy Chief of Staff Defence

Vice Minister of Transportation

Vice Minister of Trade

Vice Director of Vietnam Radio

Vice Minister of Fishery

Vice Minister of Construction

Vice Minister of MOFA

Chairman of Vietnam Red Cross

Vice Minister of MONRE

Vice Minister of MOLISA

Vice Minister of Police

Director of Meteorology

Vice Minister of Post and Telecommunication

Vice Minister of MPI

Director of DDMFSC

Figure 4-3: Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) in Viet Nam Figure 4.3. Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) in Viet Nam.

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4.3. Mandate and Responsibilities of Institutions

on dyke, flood and storm control measures, second strategy for disaster mitigation, flash flood measures in the Northern Mountains and allocating budget for communes to cope with disasters. 4.3.2

Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC)

Figure 3 presents the organization structure of the CCFSC also includes different central agencies involved in flood and storm control. Each ministry or organization is assigned with a specific task for coordination, forecast and early warning, search and rescue, logistics, or relief distribution. The CCFSC is led by one chairman, three vice-chairmen and 19 members (one resident member and 18 regular members).1 The chairman (equivalent to a minister) is the ex-minister of MARD with a full power to steer the committee when a flood or storm strikes. These three vice chairmen include vice-minister of MARD, deputy director of the Government Office, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense and the chairman of the Central Committee for Search and Rescue. The CCFSC is divided into three main sub-committees, including: the front-line, the logistics and the administrative sub-committee. The front-line sub-committee is responsible for steering and managing the mobilization of necessary means forces to cope with emergencies and conduct search and rescue when a flood or storm strikes. The logistics sub-committee is responsible for steering and managing the mobilization of relief aids for emergency response and recovery. The administrative subcommittee is responsible for steering and managing the regular

1 19

members include the vice minister of the Ministry of Construction, vice minister of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resource (MONRE), vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, vice minister of the Ministry of Finance, vice minister of the Ministry of Fisheries, vice minister of the Ministry of Health, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry, vice minister of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), vice minister of the Ministry of Police, vice minister of the Science and Technology, vice minister of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, vice minister of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), vice minister of the Ministry of Transportation, vice minister of the Ministry of Trade, director of the Hydro-meteorology, director of Viet Nam Television, director of Viet Nam Radio, chairman of the Red Cross, and the director of the DDMFSC of MARD as a resident member who also is the director of the Standing Office of CCFSC.

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preparedness, early warning and forecast, and statistical updates. The key responsibilities of CCFSC are to advise the Prime Minister on flood and storm control and steer the flood and storm control activities. A summary of its activities undertaken before, during and after disasters is presented. Before – Provide materials and supports to communities to respond to disasters; – Training on flood and storm control to district level; – Provide early warning to people; – Cooperate with donors, international agencies, INGOs to implement CBDRM projects; – Cooperate with television to raise community; – Steer sectors and localities to build flood and storm mitigation works; enhance community awareness; complete legal framework; – Strengthen the organization of CCFSC; – Strengthen the operation regulations of CCFSC; – Strengthen the solutions and responsibilities when disasters occur. During – Report to the Prime Minister on the disaster situations; Advise the Prime Minister on how to cope with specific disasters; – Manage disaster mitigations works based on the State’s assignments to control disaster in accordance with designed capacity, and minimize disaster impacts; – Mobilise resources to cope with disasters; – Steer ministries, sectors and localities according to the State’s assignments, in coping with disasters in order to minimize loss of people’s lives and property; – Directly resolve any troubles that over power of a ministry, sector, locality of concerned more than 2 localities. After – Report to the Prime Minister on the disaster consequences and response needs; Advise the Prime Minister in providing assistance to localities when it is out of local coping capacity;

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– Manage disaster mitigation works back to normal status to be ready for coping with the next disaster; – Steer other ministries, sectors and localities based on the State’s assignments, to implement recovery; – Review and draw lesson-learned for future implementation. 4.3.3

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (vice chairman)

State management body on agriculture, water resources and irrigation, forestry, rural development is responsible for dyke management, flood and storm control, irrigation and forest fire control. The Ministry also cooperated with the television to raise awareness on dyke management, irrigation or forest fire control. 4.3.4

Ministry of Defense (vice chairman)

The state management body on defense is the main agency responding to disasters, especially in search and rescue. It provides materials, forces, equipments (high speed boat, helicopter, etc.) during the disaster event for supporting communities in search and rescue. 4.3.5

Ministry of Fisheries (member)

State management body on fisheries has a warning system for fisherman using radio. It also develops a wharf system for the fishermen. 4.3.6

Other Ministries

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (member) is responsible for installing gauging stations. The Ministry of Construction undertakes preparedness activities in housing and residential areas by undertaking both mapping and building flood-resistant residential clusters. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (member) provides allowance to disaster victims. The Red Cross (member) provides services in the field of social relief — disaster preparedness, health care, development cooperation and internal improvement. They are also involved in raising community awareness and organizing Red Cross volunteers

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to participate in commune search and rescue, aid delivery and commune level propaganda to raise awareness. The Viet Nam television and radio transmits early warning messages, and awareness raising, and broadcasting the call for response. It broadcasts daily weather forecast and government instructions on coping with disasters and raising community awareness. In the recovery phase, the Ministry of Health undertakes cleaning of the environment after disasters. The Ministry of Health undertakes preparedness and response on health issues during emergencies. It is the focal organizations for coping with healthrelated disasters such as SARS and Avian Flu. It also provides free health care and medicines to disaster victims. 4.3.7

Central Committee for Search and Rescue (CCFSR)

The key responsibility of the committee is to steer the search and rescue for all types of hazards in the country. The following activities are undertaken by the committee at different stages. Before – Approve the long-term development plan, training plan, drilling plan, annual search and rescue plan; – Invest and store means, materials, equipment, and goods for search and rescue and disaster response; – Monitor and supervise search and rescue and disaster response plan of other sectors, ministries and provinces; – Regularly monitor all situations relating to search and rescue (air, sea, river, as well as natural disasters); – Develop steering and coordination plans among search and rescue teams of sectors, ministries and provinces; – Coordinate with other relevant bodies on management, training, equipment for search and rescue teams. During – Coordinate with CCFSC in conducting search and rescue during natural disasters; – Steer and decide ways to conduct rescue activity: air, sea or river, to cope with natural disasters;

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– Coordinate search and rescue among sectors, ministries or province; – Coordinate with other countries and international organizations in search and rescue. After – Report to the Prime Minister on the search and rescue results; – Steer the preparation to cope with the upcoming disasters; – Review and draw lesson-learned for future implementation.

4.3.8

Central Committee for Forest Fire Control (CCFFC)

Steer forest fire and control. Activities undertaken at different stages. Before disaster – Steer relevant sectors such as agriculture, forestry, or natural resources and environment and localities to guide forest owners to build forest fire prevention works; – Coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to develop policy and guidelines on forest fire control; – Steer localities with large forest area with high risks, to conduct forest fire drills. During – Report to the Prime Minister to mobilise forces and means to timely respond to serious forest fires; – Steer coordination between inter-ministerial and intersectoral forces and localities in forest fire control. After – Steer coordination between sectors and localities to implement recovery; – Review and draw lesson-learned for future implementation.

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4.4 INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT Currently, in Viet Nam there is no “official national disaster management office — NDMO”, which is a focal agency for managing all kinds of disasters including natural and man-made. Depending on each specific hazard, a ministry or an organization is assigned to be the focal agency to take the lead in response and preparedness.2 The lack of a central organization may cause confusion in term of coordination, preparedness or response, especially when a disaster which is not under any organization’s duty occurs; or ignorance to the least prominent disasters. For example, during emergencies, the people may not know where to report the damages or needs (the people usually tend to contact CCFSC for any disasters); the international aid agencies may confuse with whom they need to contact to get first damage and need information, updates or permission to respond (i.e. People’s Aid Coordinating Committee, Viet Nam Red Cross, CCFSC, or the Fatherland Front). It is observed that during the preparedness stage, floods and storm control received majority of resources (budget, material, or human resource), often neglecting other potential disaster. The current thematic disaster committees only operate on a need-basis, with emphasise on response (except the CCFSC or the CCFFC). Limited government funding is available to ministries, sectors and provinces to invest in prevention and mitigations works. This is exemplified by the part-time staff of these committees, perhaps due to the limited resources for building staff capacity or early warning system, etc. (full operation capacity). Recently, this issue was brought to attentions of the government through some consultative meetings among donor and INGO community with hope that in the next National Strategy for Disaster Management 2010–2020, the Government will place more resources (both human and financial) for disaster management in Viet Nam. The Prime Minister is responsible for the administration of disaster related tasks, which include: – Allocation of Emergencies. 2 As

responsibility

for

different

kinds

of

mentioned, there are separate central committees for different hazards i.e. CCFSC, CCFFC and CCFDC.

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4.4. Institutional Assessment

– Building risk reduction management into government at all levels and Identifying Missing Government Functions or Powers in Disaster Risk Management. – Rapid Release of Funding (Response Phases). 4.4.1

Prevention and Mitigation

In Viet Nam, the role of identifying disaster risks, assessing probability of potential hazards or assessing vulnerability is laid within different bodies at the central and local levels. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) is responsible for prevention and mitigation of flood and typhoon, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is responsible for drought, forest fire and most recently the threat avian flu. Each ministry holds responsibility to report to the Government and to instruct their relevant departments at provincial level for relevant action. At the provincial level, the People’s Committee (PC) holds responsibility to report to the Central Government and to instruct district and commune authorities.3 The relevant ministries at central level and the People’s Committee at provincial level are responsible to assess vulnerability while at the community level the Viet Nam Red Cross is actively conducting projects to conduct Hazard-VulnerabilityCapacity Assessment (HCVA). Significant structural measures have been undertaken in Viet Nam that include construction of dykes (Red river dyke, South China sea, and other river dykes) to protect and minimise risk to people, crops and other property assets. However, there have been concerns on the limited resources, construction quality and involving the beneficiaries in monitoring quality. National Strategy for Disaster Mitigation is the key document to communicate long-term probability of potential hazards to stakeholders. It elaborates different strategies for people living in different parts of the country, namely “river dyke management for the North and living with flood for the Mekong delta. However, there is still gap in the disseminate strategy as the information does not reach the beneficiaries at the community level, even 3

Earthquake scientific research and mitigation is undertaken by the Ministry of Science and Technology, while the Ministry of Health is responsible for prevention of SARS epidemic.

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though public consultations and awareness raising techniques are applied. Mapping of flash flood areas, river and sea bank erosion, sea intrusion, floodwater ways, dam and reservoirs etc. is undertaken by relevant ministries such as MARD, MONRE, provincial PCs, or research agencies and disseminated to the stakeholders (i.e. ministries, provincial PCs or provincial CFSC) so that they can make appropriate decision on whether to invest on mitigation works or to relocate people to safe areas.

4.4.2

Risk Insurance

The Ministry of Fisheries regulates the law that fishermen must buy insurance for their boats, etc. Though there is a national insurance company provides insurance services, it does not yet provide insurance to farmers, shrimp breeders or people residing in disaster prone areas. At the same time, Vietnamese people also do not have a tradition to insure their property or crop.

4.4.3

Early Warning and Forecast

Different ministries, bodies and offices are responsible to monitor and forecast imminent disasters. However, the focus is given to flood and typhoon, while a little investment on other hazards. Annually ministries, sectors, provinces, districts and communes are required to prepare response plans with clear roles and responsibilities and are responsible to communicate news to people and communities. The Viet Nam television and radio communicate the imminent flood and storm warning to the public. The most inaccessible group i.e. people living in remote areas, and poor fishermen do not always receive time information and warning.

4.4.4

Response and Relief

Need and damage assessment system is laid within the CCFSC and the CCFFC for impact due to flood and storm respectively. However, for other hazards it is not clear who is responsible to undertake needs assessment or report damage. Government support during relief includes rice, food supplies, materials and human resources.

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4.5. Operational Capacity

The local government, army, and Viet Nam Red Cross are main players in providing aid relief to disaster victims. The Fatherland Front, People’s Aid Coordinating Committee the one to call for internal and external assistance. Though Viet Nam has responded well and timely after disasters, the large magnitude of assistance required as often led to gaps.

4.4.5


There is currently no mechanism to map the economic impact of disasters on the affected communities. There only exists a general economic situations report and disaster damage assessment report. Flood and storm control has been always given priorities with more focus on structural measures and little investment on awareness raising. Each relevant ministry is responsible for recovery and reconstruction activity. For example, MARD is in charge of dyke, irrigation system, reservoirs, etc; Ministry of Transportation is in charge of road network; Ministry of Construction is in charge housing and residential areas; Ministry of Fisheries is in charge of aqua-agriculture areas and boat shelters.

4.5 4.5.1

OPERATIONAL CAPACITY Human Resources

Staff working on disaster management is mostly part time (i.e. active during a disaster event). There are 40 management and administration/personnel staff and 37 technical staff working for CCFSC and DDMFSC. Most of them work in the field of hydrometeorological hazards including dyke management. In the flood and storm control sector, the system is developed to sufficient levels from preparedness, early warning, response, search and rescue to recovery and rehabilitation. There are currently no guidelines or document that rates the staff’s performance, but the staff have been actively involved in undertaking various tasks, refer Table 4.1. Though the staff is part-time, a clear legal framework and mandate and a well-developed network strengthens the organization’s capacity to cope with flood and typhoon. However, for other disaster management sectors, the coping capacity is still weak from early warning to response.

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4.6 CURRENT SITUATION OF PARTICIPATORY DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN VIET NAM Along with significant economic growth and increasing damages caused by disasters, there is an ongoing process of developing institutions for disaster risk management and decentralizing responsibilities to local levels. For example, the role of local government is being strengthened according to Government decree no 29 (1998) on Grassroots Democracy. Investments financed within the framework of the State program for the ‘communes in most difficulties’ (decree 135, 1998) are based on commune priorities and participation in planning and implementation. This trend brought up remarkable changes in the Vietnamese disaster risk management paradigm. The old paradigm was a centralistic government with top-down approach that was almost no room for people initiatives. During that time, disaster response and management as well as structure came from the national level down to the village level. The people involved received considerable adequate training and budget allocation to do their duty. The CCFSC as a National Coordination body supported and had adequate power to respond and manage disasters across the country through well-organized operational structures such as local CFSC and Red Cross. Despite well-prepared structures and capacity to provide quick response, there is a big potential of government to depend on local people who are not ready to reduce risks and manage them with their own capacity. In the transitional period, the new paradigm like CBDRM which expected to be more comprehensive, decentralized, more human and participatory is sill far from being fully operational due to the slowness of decentralization process and lack of laws and regulations that cause poor coordination in disaster risk management. The laws and regulations should be set as the foundation and basis for the local governments and sectors in realization of the new paradigm in CBDRM in Viet Nam. Without adequate laws and regulations, it will be difficult to expect local government to develop CBDRM strategy comprehensively and in a coordinated manner. Recently, in order to fill the gap on laws and regulations, international organizations, NGOs and CCFSC made an effort to incorporate CBDRM and gender issues in the Second National Strategy and Action Plan for Disaster Mitigation and Management in Viet Nam from 2005 to 2020. Two Task Forces for these themes have been established by Disaster Management Working Group (DMWG). The primary goals of these task forces have been facilitating technical

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4.6. Current Situation of Participatory Disaster Risk Management in Viet Nam

perspectives on CBDRM and Gender into the Strategy. UNDP is the focal point for CBDRM and OXFAM is for Gender respectively. To get a perception’s consensus on CBDRM, currently a simple survey has been disseminated amongst DMWG members and other concerned bodies. Table 4.2 shows the definitions of CBDRM of some NGOs working in Viet Nam and their activities on this course.

Table 4.1 Category

Technical

Administrative

Others

Tasks undertaken at the national level.

Sub-category Legal framework and policy on disaster management and dyke Technical expertise on irrigation and disaster prevention infrastructure Planning and coordination among agencies in steering and managing disaster prevention works (reservoirs, flood) Technical expertise to cope with dyke troubles or flood and storm control Annual planning on dyke management Evaluation of project, investment plan on dyke or flood and storm control Reporting to the State Develop plan with community participation Raise community awareness Early warning and communication Hazard mapping State administrative management General administrative knowledge and skill Monitoring and supervision of implementation of legal documents Solving problems concerned more than 2 localities Management of budget on dyke maintenance Implementation of decisions from higher levels Handling proposals from lower levels Making state management decision Monitoring the decision implementation Development of working agenda Organizing conferences and meetings Drafting laws, ordinance or decree, Drafting legal documents Drafting strategy, 5 year plan, annual plan on dyke management and flood and storm control Drafting procedure and guideline relating to dyke management and flood and storm control Drafting policies on disaster mitigation, flood and storm control

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IFRC

Community base disaster risk management is a range of disaster preparedness, mitigation and response activities that are developed by members of a vulnerable community, based on their vulnerabilities/needs, capacities and perceptions of risk

CBDRM activities have been carried out in some communes. Building a bridge in Long An province, Safe water system in An Giang Province. Water drainage system in Nghe An etc. HVCA training will be held for key local people from different sectors. Trained key local people will lead HVCA by holding meetings, interview with local people, PC, other mass organization and develop a Action plan which will be funded by local and external contributions from people, companies, local government, Red Cross, NGO etc. The Action plan will be done and monitored/supervised by the community members.

Save the Children

CBDRM is a process of disaster risk management in which at risk communities actively participate in the identification, analysis, treatment and monitoring and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacity (developed by ADPC)

Over the past few years, Save the Children has been implementing some projects to enhance the capacity of the local communities (from provincial to commune level) on child-focused disaster preparedness and response planning, in about 30 communes in 8 provinces of Viet Nam. The objective is to reduce the vulnerability of children and communities through building the capacity of communities to develop, improve and implement annual preparedness and response plans. The community representatives including children together with local authorities conduct HVCA and then propose action plans to reduce the risks to community and children during emergency. Funding for implementation of action plans comes from various sources: Save the Children, local contributions (in-kind, money, or manpower), and from the next government agencies (flood and storm control sector, education, public health etc.).


Example of CBDRM practices

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CBDRM definition


Organizations

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Table 4.2 CBDRM definitions and practices by INGOs in Viet Nam.

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Table 4.2 (Continue)

CBDRM is the process of preparing, preventing and responding to disasters in order to reduce the negative impact, in which the community is taking the main role in all phases (needs assessment, design, implementation, operation)

The Netherlands Red Cross conduct CBDRM is by doing HVCA in communes and let them prioritize adaptation measures. Then local communities will be supported financially and technically in implementing small-scale adaptation measures to reduce their vulnerability to natural, weather-related disasters. Also, in daily Red Cross work, VNRC takes the lead in rescuing lives and reducing suffering during disasters by mobilizing community volunteers

Quang Ngai NDM project

A process through which communities take action to reduce risk (By building up their capacities, or reducing their vulnerability and often a bit of both)

The project has encouraged and supported a wide range of community-initiated and community-managed activities, e.g. skills training, safety planning, provision of safety equipment, dyke improvement, planting of vetiver grass to stabilize riverbank erosion, promotion of life jackets and shore-based marine radios in fishing communities. Some examples include: Construction of a Pedestrian Railing: Household representatives in flood-affected areas made the plan and the budget, and a construction team from the village carried out the work, supervised by many interested people from the area. Blind Association Training in Disaster Preparedness: A training on disaster preparedness was organized for blind people. Each district


The Netherlands Red Cross


To date, our project has been successfully implemented in many communes. The local authority and people actively participated in all project activities, highly appreciated the project approach and wanted to expand to other community. The project is also received a strong support from the provincial and central level of the flood and storm control sector as well as from the Viet Nam Red Cross.

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The process for creating village and commune level action plans for reduced risk is linked to the overall development planning process from commune to provincial level. The CBDM approach engages communities in the analysis of their vulnerability and preferred solutions from a broad perspective. Risk reduction measures are assessed within the context of the overall development needs of the communities. From this perspective, resulting plans and priority actions are designed and owned by the community. This model was developed by CECI through its Hue Reconstruction project in 2000, and through the Capacity-building for Adaptation to Climate Change project. CECI has documented the approach and collaborated with the Natural Disaster Mitigation Partnership to disseminate it through newsletters and workshops. In addition, CECI has contributed to sharing approaches and tools to community risk assessment and disaster mitigation planning at the national and regional level in collaboration with UNCRD. CECI has also provided technical assistance, through Hydro Quebec International, to the MARD-World Bank National Disaster Mitigation Project to provide a model for developing commune disaster mitigation investment plans, building on the CBDM approach


CBDRM is to involve the entire community to be able to cope with disasters in a quick, prompt and effective way by mobilizing human and material resource effectively in cases of emergency by inclusive procedures that ensure close cooperation between the community, independent organizations, and other participants for the community to be better equipped to mitigate the risks of disaster. The CBDM approach provides opportunities for local communities to evaluation their own potential hazardous situations based on their own experiences. Under this approach, local communities not only create safer village plans and make decisions, but they are the major players in its implementation. CBDM promotes the development of local capacities to not only respond to emergencies but in accessing resources and basic services

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CECI


association sent its report and a plan for future activities to the project and the Province People’s Committee. Community Marine Radios. In this program shore-based marine radios are managed and maintained by operators appointed by fisher people in each of five fishing communities.

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Table 4.2 (Continue) CBDRM example can be taken from Quang Ngai project: Communities can benefit from physical interventions, provided those interventions take community needs into account in the planning process. More subtle benefits from inclusive planning result from community perceived needs to modify the physical and ecological causes of flood and storm, and the vital need for building community resilience in disaster events through recognition of looming disaster events, which in turn provides confidence to seek safety. Increasing community wealth gives increasing security and translates into less vulnerability in times of disaster. Those communities or households that fall below a poverty line are more vulnerable; those communities or households that are physically isolated are more vulnerable; those communities that are socially different from the majority, such as ethnic minorities are more vulnerable; and those households without an adult male are more vulnerable. The project will identify and support each of these vulnerable groups. This objective will be achieved through five related programs that build the capacity of community organizations and communities to manage and mitigate the impact of natural disasters through improved awareness, practical skills, preparedness, and responsiveness to disaster situation.

Oxfam

CBDRM is as a process of disaster risk management in which the community women, men and children at risk are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, planning,

Oxfam International Affiliates in Viet Nam started CBDRM activities in late 2002. Currently Oxfam is managing CBDRM projects in seven provinces and national level advocacy for institutionalization CBDRM, promotion SPHERE and gender in Humanitarian actions.


CBDRM is as a process of disaster risk management in which at risk communities are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, treatment, monitoring and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities (developed by ADPC)


AusAid

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Some of CBDRM practices :Sensitize the CBDRM agenda among local district, province and National level stakeholders; Training on CBDRM and participatory hazards, vulnerability and capacity analysis for Facilitators from commune, district and province to work with men, women and children; Participatory analyze vulnerability, risks, capacity and identify risk reduction activities by community men and women; Communes and villages develop and implement Disaster Management Action Plans; Households receive information on what to do before, during and after disaster and demonstrate improved preparedness Early warning mechanisms established or improved by message dissemination through commune/village loud speakers on what should be done relating to weather forecast information; community rain measuring; Commune taskforce teams get training on first aid and rescue skills and perform better during disaster periods; Children and women receive swimming training and are able to swim; School children learn well about disaster risks, risk reduction measures and practice helping parents on disaster preparedness; Small scale disaster mitigation infrastructure construct or repair. Provincial, district and commune representatives of the CSFC receive appropriate disaster risk management training and relevant technical assistance; Province, district CFSC improve DM monitoring and evaluation, communications and data management systems; Households demonstrate increased awareness and changed practices on disaster related health and hygiene; Selected households improve access to clean water


implementation, monitoring and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities. National Policy prioritization and its implementation within governance is the key to enhance the long-term sustainability in CBDRM programming

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ADPC

CBDRM is an integral part of most of the ADPC programs. ADPC has been implementing CBDRM programs since 1997. The key activities of the ADPC with the communities include the following. Formation of community groups/teams for disaster risk reduction; Training of community groups; e.g. risk assessment training for community members, fire fighting training for community volunteers, masons training on earthquake safer construction. Awareness raising through community level activities; e.g. walks, exhibitions, meetings, posters, brochures, pamphlets, use of alternative medium; e.g. cinema, motor-rikshaw, wall painting. Development of target audience specific messages on the basis of community risk assessment and community socio-economic profiling. Community based risk assessment using participatory methods; e.g. PRA. Active participation of most vulnerable groups, as well as less vulnerable groups; Community based action planning; Implementation by community groups with the support of outside agencies; e.g. local government, NGOs


A process of disaster risk management in which at risk-communities are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, treatment of disaster risks and monitoring and evaluation of disaster risk reduction efforts in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance capacities. This means that people are at the heart of decision making and implementation of risk reduction activities. The involvement of the most vulnerable is paramount and the support of the least vulnerable is necessary. In CBDRM local and national governments are involved and supportive. In CBDRM there are two types of actors; (i) Insiders, and (ii) Outsiders. Insiders include the members of the community; e.g. farmers, fishers, women, youth, community groups.


Income generating activities for poor and vulnerable households; Households demonstrate improved management of livelihoods assets during disaster times; The project management capacity of the project partners strengthened Active coordination and collaboration with INGOs and other international agencies on CBDRM issue; Sharing field experiences with national and province/ district stakeholders for changing policy and practices

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Community based early warning systems by linking community groups with the government system; e.g. provision of climate forecasts to the farmer’s groups to encourage crop diversification, and changes in plantation and harvesting seasons to reduce the losses from climate variability Exercises and simulations by community groups on evacuation, fire fighting; Small scale flood and landslide mitigation measures; e.g. construction of a bridge, culvert, dyke or elevation of a road, concrete walls to stop land-erosion The ADPC activities with practitioners include: Development of technical frameworks, toolkits for practitioners; Capacity building of practitioners through training ; Information exchange and sharing of lessons learnt amongst different sectors and across countries on CBDRM practices. The ADPC activities with the local/commune government include: Working with Provincial, District and Commune level committees on storm and flood control on enhancing the effectiveness of flood preparedness planning and program implementation by these bodies and their constituent member organizations at these levels. The ADPC activities with the government include: Development of national strategy plans on institutionalization of CBDRM into government system, and particularly strengthening the role of local government the national disaster risk management offices; e.g. CCFSC in the case of Viet Nam.


Outsiders include the government, NGOs, UN, media, private sector, donors and other stakeholders who aim to reduce vulnerabilities of the community and enhance its capacities. The aim of CBDRM for outsiders is to empower the communities and community groups to take action to reduce disaster risks, and prepare for and cope with hazards on their own. In order to undertake risk reduction interventions, the communities and community groups would always need multiple kind of assistance from outside agencies; e.g. technical information on hazards and risks, expert assistance for risk assessment and hazard mitigation and in resource mobilization etc. The CBDRM approach recognizes that the capacities and vulnerabilities of different social groups within a community vary from each other. As well as the perceptions of risk of different groups in a community might differ from each other. CBDRM should contribute towards general improvement in the life of people and the natural environment.

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Chapter Five

Context of Thua Thien Hue Province

5.1

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS

Thua Thien Hue is located in central Viet Nam, bordered on the east by the South China Sea and on the west by Laos. The province has an area of 5,053 square km. The most general topographic form of the province is the mountains in the west and the sea in the east. A narrow delta is located immediately the east side of the Truong Son mountain range and cut into many small plains. The central coastal plains were formed by the combined impact of the rivers and the sea. These plains are the stretch land whose soil is mixed by alluvium from the mountains and sea sand, and they are allocated as the chain along the east side of the Truong Son mountain range. Thua Thien Hue comprises of two basins of four main rivers: O Lau, Bo, Huong, and Truoi rivers. From the western the Truong Son mountain range the topography slopes downwards to the coast and is divided into three areas geomorphologically, i.e., higher mountain area (25 km wide and over 250 m in elevation), low-lying area (19 km wide) and coastal plain (Figure 5.1). Like many other provinces in Viet Nam, Thua Thien Hue is no exception of vulnerability to disasters. In fact, it is considered amongst the most disaster prone areas of Viet Nam. The province has a varied geography including, forested mountains and hills, rivers, streams, paddy fields, coastal lagoons and marine areas, and is located in the tropical monsoon climate zone (see Figure 5.2). The main river basins are the areas where agriculture has been the main economic activity since ancient time, and

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Figure 5.1. Thua Thien Hue Province.

these areas are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters due to both geographical and meteorological conditions. During the rainy seasons, crops, infrastructure, natural environment, and the inhabitants of these river basins suffer huge losses due to disastrous floods and storms. Loss and damage to property and homes coupled with insecurity to human lives caused by disasters keep many households trapped in a cycle of poverty. Moreover in the dry season, low rainfall and saline water intrusion around the river estuary also badly affect agriculture, lagoon and aquatic resources. Together this, the cycle of natural disasters inhibit the social and economic stabilization and growth of Thua Thien Hue Province (TTHPPC 2002 & 2005).

5.2 SOCIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Thua Thien Hue province is divided into eight administrative districts and Hue city. The population is 1,135,000 in 2005 with about 230,000 households; 300,000 people reside in or around the capital city, Hue. Being an ancient capital city of Viet Nam, Hue City is a politic, economic and cultural center of Thua Thien Hue Province. Hue City is located in the center of Thua Thien Hue Province with the natural area of 67.8 km2 including 24 wards and 3 communes.

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5.3. Environment Disaster Linkages

Uplands

Hue City

Lowlands

Boat people communities

Figure 5.2. Landscape of Thua Thien Hue.

The city’s population is 326,000, of which over 170.000 in the working age (TTHPPC 2005). The province has a workforce of more than 620,000 people, of which 100,000 are highly skilled. The latter includes 25,000 technicians, 12,500 graduates from universities and colleges, and 800 post graduations. The gross domestic products (GDP) of Thua Thien — Hue achieved 2,621 billion VND in 2002 (1994 price level); its average growth rate was 9%/year, from 2000 to 2002, while the gross output value reached 5,790 billion VND, with an average growth rate of 14,5%/year (see Table 5.1). The economic structure of the province shifts to the direction of increasing percentage of industry and service, and decreasing that of agriculture-forestry fisheries in GDP (Figure 5.3). The economic growth rate was 9–10% during the period 2001–2005, and expected to be 15% during the period 2006–2010. 5.3

ENVIRONMENT DISASTER LINKAGES

In Thua Thien Hue province land degradation, unsustainable agricultural practices, inappropriate infrastructure development,

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Figure 5.3. Distribution of GDP of Thua Thien Hue (Source: Thua Thien Hue PPC 2004). Table 5.1 Main general indicator of social — economic (2006 – 2010). Main general indicators

2008

2006 – 2010

1. Gross domecstic product (GDP) Gross output of investment and construction Gross output of Agriculture – Forestry – Fishery Gross output of Services

15%

15%

20 – 21%

20 – 21%

2,5 – 3%

4,5 – 5%

14 – 15%

14 – 15 %

2. GDP per capita 3. Turnover of tourism

700 USD 30%

1.000 USD 32%

265 thousand tons

250 thousand tons

5. Exported value 6. Total of investment general

150 Mill USD 7100 bill dong

300 Mill USD 40.000–45.000 bill dong

7. Nature growth rate 8. Employment had instructed

1,24% 34%

1,2% 40%

9. Rate of children under 5 age

19%

20%

10. Rate of fame household used fresh water 11. Number of empoyed persons

81%

95%

15 thousand persons

14 thousand persons

12%

10%

4. Gross output of cereals for grain per year

12. Rate of poor house hold

(Source: Thua Thien Hue province homepage: http://english.thuathienhue.gov.vn)

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Figure 5.4. Cause and effect of environment degradation and disasters.

backward waste management system, and poor coastal zone management that have contributed substantially to the natural hazard risks. Firstly, there is a significant impact of land degradation on disaster situation in Thua Thien Hue province. In the upland areas, slash and burn practice is still commonly used among the ethnic minorities to grow upland rice (see Figure 5.4). This erosive farming practice is often one of the main causes of soil erosion, landslide in upland areas (CBRM 1997). For example, after clearing and burning shrubs, due to the absence of vegetative cover, the plots will be exposed to severe erosion if there is heavy rain. Another evidence of the increasing disaster risks due to environment degradation is that after 1975, with the support of local government authorities for the New Economic Zone (NEZ) program, people from the Hue city, lowland villages, and the boat people came to settle at the upstream areas of the Huong river. To survive in the new environment, they cleared the forest and grew upland crops in the hills and wet rice in the small valleys and alluvial areas alongside springs. Due to the absence of a master plan for proper use of the abundant land, the new settlers used the land at their disposal for short-term benefits. Without experience in sloping upland farming, they used the land in a very destructive manner. Consequently, the stability of the soil and the

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ability of the soil and the vegetation to retain water are substantially reduced, and thus the risk of flashfloods, landslides, and droughts increased. Annual flooding in lowland communes is a perennial phenomenon. Huong river and lagoon system play an important role in local people livelihood such as providing food, water, and transport. The flood-borne sediment provides the food that maintains one of the Southeast Asia’s largest lagoons, and also serves as a natural irrigation system for the region. For centuries, farmers, fishermen, and others have made the river, delta and its vast lagoon their home. Huong river functions have been hindered by extensive deforestation in the region. Deforestation increases the severity of flooding as rainfall on deforested areas washes quickly into river ways instead of being partially absorbed by forests. These ’quick-rising’ big floods pose risks to farmers who plant rice and vegetables on the banks of rivers in anticipation of beneficial silt-laden ’slow rising’ floods. The fear is that, in the context of the low capacity in the past to prevent serious deforestation, an acceleration of unfettered market-driven economic development will worsen such disasters. The most recent flooding in November 1999 had caused a great deal of suffering for the inhabitants of the province, particularly in lowland and coastal areas. It inundated 90% of the lowlands. The province became isolated. The flood that lasted for one week broke five new floodgates and created a new river mouth near the lagoon. The heavy rainfall in the uplands caused numerous landslides. Strong winds caused fierce waves, which made mobility even more difficult. The flood caused 352 deaths and 1,700 billion VND ($120 million) in damage. This flooding is regarded to be the worst disaster in history of Viet Nam. Secondly, the construction of dams has been proposed as a method to control devastating flooding. Dams are designed to mitigate floods, provide adequate supplies of water during droughts, and provide potential source of hydropower. There are two dams that have been constructed in the upstream of Huong river: Ta Trach multi-purpose dam (with 56 m in height, about 1,112 m in crest length, active storage volume of 538 million m3 , and with the catchment area of 717 km2 at the dam site) and Binh Dien Dam (Figure 5.5). In the Huong river mouth, Thao Long barrage has been constructed with the purpose to keep fresh water and avoid salinity intrusion in dry season (Figure 5.6). The dams

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Binh Dien Dam

Figure 5.5.

Huong Dien Dam

Binh Dien and Huong Dien Dams in the uplands.

Figure 5.6. Vulnerable communities and dam, barrage locations.

and barrage are designed to reduce the occurrence of the flood and salinity intrusion. However, they will also bring environmental consequences to downstream areas such as negative effects of sediment changes, salinity changes, and impacts on fauna flora in the upstream and downstream areas (see Tables 5.2 and 5.3). The downstream communities, particularly the boat people whose livelihoods are heavily based upon fishery capture and sand/gravel exploitation are the most vulnerable ‘victims’ of these changes, as fisheries and agricultural yields in these communes are largely dependent on the normal water flow cycle of the Huong river, and the quantity of sand/gravel sedimentation (see Figure 5.6). At the same time, intensive logging has been

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Operation period Logging

Dam construction

Road

Reservoir

New resettlement

Vegetation change surrounding reservoir Impact on terrestrial flora Impact on terrestrial fauna Micro climate change

−−/C −−/C −−/C −−/C

−−/C −−/C −−/C *

−−/C −−/C −−/C −−/C

−−/C −−/C −−/C *

−−/C −−/C −−/C −−/C

* =/C =/B ++/C

−−/C −−/C −−/C *

Overall assessment

−−/C

++: positive effect, −−: negative effect, =: neutral A: relatively severe impact; B: relatively medium impact; C: relatively slight impact; * : no impact or not correspondent

−−/C


Road construction

Resettlement

Ecological Impact Items

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Construction period


Activities caused impact

Impacts of Ta Trach reservoir on Fauna (Source JBIC 2003).

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Table 5.2

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Table 5.3

Impacts of Ta Trach reservoir on Flora (Source JBIC 2003).

Activities caused impact

Ecological Impact Items

Road construction

Dam construction

Flood control

Reservoir

Maintenance flow

Change of biodiversity of fish in the river (upstream) Change of biodiversity of fish in the river (downstream) Impact on the fishery in the river Change of biodiversity of fish in the lagoon Impact on the fishery in the lagoon Change of aquatic ecosystem in the lagoon Impact on the aquaculture in the lagoon

−−/C −−/B −−/B * * * *

* −−/B −−/B * * * *

* ++/C =/C =/C =/C =/C ++/C

−−/C −−/C ++/C * * * *

* ++/C ++/C −−/C =/C −−/C =/C

Overall assessment

−−/C

++: positive effect, −−: negative effect, =: neutral A: relatively severe impact; B: relatively medium impact; C: relatively slight impact; * : no impact or not correspondent

−−/C


Operation period


Construction period

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Figure 5.7. Waste dumping in upstream areas and its effects in downstream communes.

implemented to clear the area that will be submerged in the dam reservoir. Ta Trach reservoir will affect 714 households with a population of 3,460; most of them are resettlers under NEZ policy. Thirdly, the traditional waste management system is under pressure and contributes to intensify the disaster risks. Indeed, in lowland communes in Thua Thien Hue, most of villagers have historically relied on a traditional land use systems that consist mainly of a garden and livestock areas. They continue to follow traditional practices they learned from earlier generation in dealing with their wastes. In general, villagers lack the ability and experience to deal with the ‘new wastes’ such as industrial wastes, emissions, mineral exploitations, and pesticide uses in agricultural production. For example, they dump waste collected in settlement areas into ponds or along the banks of rivers within or around the village (Figure 5.7). As a result, open drains that carry storm water and domestic wastewater into neighboring rice fields are likely also carry grease and oil from equipment, acids and heavy metals from plating liquors, organic wastes from food processing, as well as pig manure and household wastewater. Ponds that were used to raise fish and retain storm water have been filled in for the construction of houses and shops. Thus,

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villages that have been able to deal with the ‘new generation’ of pollution within their settlement areas have increased pollution in the adjacent areas that provide sources of water for irrigation, vegetable farming, and aquaculture. Environment is, therefore, getting more seriously polluted. This situation is intensifying the factors and risks of natural disasters. In both rural and urban areas, it is revealed that traditional risks remain serious or even worse (i.e. flood, storm and drought), but new risks are rapidly increasing. Before, most of communities already had wisdom and social institutions to cope with traditional risks (e.g. house constructed in high areas, and mutual help among people). But with the shift of risks, these customary practices have broken down in many cases. For example, social cohesion has been gradually reduced due to the rapid processes of urbanization and privatization, and wastewater management methods in villages still follow ‘old customs’ and discharge waste directly into canals. This waste exceeds the water carrying capacity to proceed with the natural degradation process. Hence, customary practices do not currently work and at the same time, new methods to deal with the ‘more modern’ problems have yet to be materialized. This phenomenon not only happens in rural villages, but also in the cities where most households and industries are not equipped with sufficient waste treatment technologies. Finally, the conversion of mangrove forest to shrimp ponds and other aquaculture cultivation has serious impacts on the lagoon ecosystem and surrounding natural environment. The consequences of these impacts are the increasing of natural disasters. In addition, the pressure of economic and population growth are creating acute threats of pollution from oil and domestic waste, over exploitation, and habitat damage. Other sources of environment concern include: the frequent displacement and closure of lagoon inlets as a result of large-scale climatic and hydrological disturbance (due to flood water and sand movement along the seashore); and changes in water distribution and water balance in the river basin due to human activities in both the watershed (deforestation, excess water use) and activities in and around the lagoons (over harvesting of water grasses for fertilizer and livestock feed, high density of fishing, excessive use of land and waters for shrimp culture without properly waste water management).

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As a result of all those factors, severe flooding is a serious environmental risk confronting communities in the basin. The increases in the unpredictability, frequency, and magnitude of floods have been responsible for high human and material costs in province. As part of the many risk transitions underway in the province, natural disaster has been added to the lists of unresolved environmental and health problems accompanying economic development.

5.4 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT In the past few decades, in Thua Thien Hue Province the frequency and severity of disasters increased significantly. In fact, during the 19th and the first half of 20th century from 1804 to 1945, there were only 38 floods and typhoons in the historical record. In contrast, within only 25 years from 1975 to 2000, there were 41 disasters with one storm, eighteen floods, and twenty-two stormfloods (Do 2000). The severe disasters also happened during the last decades, such as severe flood in 1983, destructive storm in 1985, and the historical flood in 1999. There is also a tendency that the disaster season comes earlier than before. As can be seen from figure 5.8, the number of major disasters from 1975 to 1999 had occurred mainly from August to December while the number of major disasters from 1804 to 1945 had happed mostly from September to January. Climate change may already have contributed to a rise in intensity and frequency of those adverse meteorological phenomena. In reality, climate change is already happening. The Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) observes that the 1990s was the warmest decade, and 1998 the warmest year of the world, in the instrumental record. Surface temperature, the number of extremes in terms of temperature and precipitation (either droughts or floods) have already increased. Moreover, the IPCC also concludes that “observed changes in regional climate have affected many physical and biological systems, and there are preliminary indications that social and economic systems have been affected” (IPCC, 2001). El Nino events have been more frequent, persistent and intense during the last 20-30 years compared to the previous 100 years.

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5.4. Climate Change Impact

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Number of major disasters from 1804 to 1945 Number of major disasters from 1975 to 1999

Figure 5.8. Disaster frequency by month in Thua Thien Hue Province (Source: Author’s elaboration from data of Do, 2000).

At the local level, according to the observation of Thua Thien Hue Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control (PCFSC 2000), the numbers of floods increased significantly when there were the impacts of ENSO such as 7 floods in 1996, and 6 floods in 1998. In the last ten years, along with increasing precipitation, the daily maximum and monthly maximum precipitation increased drastically. Particularly the precipitation on November 2, 1999 was 978 mm, and the total precipitation in November 1999 was 2451.7 mm that were the highest one in the historical record (IMH 2006). The observation shows that disasters in the region tend to last longer and unpredictable than before. For the coming decades, the IPCC predicts that larger changes in global climate are underway. Depending on emissions scenarios, and given remaining uncertainties in climate models, global mean temperatures are projected to rise by 1.4–5.8 degrees Celsius until 2100 and sea level by 0.09 to 0.88 meters (IPCC 2001). But regardless of whatever changes may occur in the climate, the risks in Thua Thien Hue Province are also rising for several other reasons. General economic development simply means that more assets are at risk; unsustainable use of natural resources, and concurrently, population growth has lead to larger settlements in vulnerable areas. These risks once again highlighted that a holistic disaster risk management program of the region will require

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substantial understanding of the issues and problems specific to the region, which include: the nature of the region and disaster, the link between disasters, natural resources and human activities, the roles of stakeholders at local and national level in disaster and environment management. In the next section the author will discuss why it is needed to look at the environment and disaster issues in a more synergic way, and incorporate these elements in the environment and disaster risk management.

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Chapter Six

DRR Operation Assessment in Thua Thien Hue

6.1

PROVINCIAL DRR FRAMEWORK

Thua Thien Hue Provincial Committee for Flood & Storm Control and Search & Rescue is the focal provincial agency, established under the decision of the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue province that is responsible for disaster risk management and search and rescue activities for the entire province. The flood and storm control is the responsibility of the technical staff in the DARD while the search and rescue is the responsibility of the provincial defense department. This helps to streamline the leadership and facilitate a more effective decision making process in case of emergencies. Annually, the reform of the provincial committee is initiated and decided by the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) focusing on personnel development and responsibility of the committee to make sure representation of the provincial leadership and other relevant bodies. There are mainly two provincial level entities that are actively involved in undertaking disaster risk management related activities, the PCFCS and the Provincial Defense Department.

6.1.1

Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control (PCFSC)

Figure 6.1 presents the organization structure of the Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control (PCFSC). The committee comprises of about 35 staff members, all which are part time except for 5 members that are involved in administrative support

119

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Chairman CFSC, Search and Rescue (Vice Chairman of Provincial People’s Committee)

Resident Vice Chairman (Director of DARD)

Vice Chairman (Deputy Director of DARD in charge of irrigation)

Vice Chairman in charge of search and rescue (Head Local Defense)

Director CFSC Office (Director DMFSC)

Member (Department of Finance)

Member (Red Cross)

Member (Department of Fisheries)

Member (Local TV and Radio)

Member (Department of Construction)

Member (Department of Planning and Investment)

Member (Department of Transportation)

Member (DONRE)

Member (Department of Social Welfare)

Member (Other relevant bodies)

Figure 6.1. Organizational chart of the Provincial CFSC and search and rescue.

(Field Survey, 2005). The Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee is the Chairperson of the PCFSC, the director of the DARD is the resident member and the head of local defense is in charge of search and rescue operations. There are other members from relevant departments and organizations, namely, fisheries, transportation, labor and social welfare, Red Cross, media (television and radio) and hydro-metrology. The main tasks of the committee are managed by the CFSC office by the 12 part-time staff members (that include 1 management, 6 technical, 1 administration, 2 finance assistants and 1 driver staff). There are only 4 staff members in the CFSC office whose base salary is subsidized by the

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6.1. Provincial DRR Framework

provincial budget but the rest are externally contracted. PCFSC tasks at different stages of disaster risk management. Before – Steer sectors and localities to build flood and storm mitigation works; and enhance community awareness. – Strengthen the PCFSC by improving operational regulations and identifying solutions and responsibilities when disasters occur. During – Report and advice to the chairman of the People’s Committee on the disaster situations and how to cope with specific disasters. – Manage disaster mitigations work in accordance with designed capacity and minimize disaster impacts. – Mobilize resources and steer departments, sectors and localities, in coping with disasters in order to minimize loss of people’s lives and property. After – Report to the chairman of the People’s Committee on the disaster consequences and response needs and advise her/him in providing assistance to communes and villages with weak local coping capacity. – Steer relevant departments, sectors and localities to implement recovery and review and draw lesson-learned for future implementation. – Manage disaster mitigation works and return their activities to normal status in order to cope with the next potential disaster. 6.1.2

Provincial Defense Department

The provincial defense department is mainly responsible for undertaking search and rescue in the province. Its responsibilities before any disaster include approval, monitoring and supervision of drills and annual search and rescue plans of other sectors. It stores material, equipment and goods for annual search and rescue plan and disaster response. The supplies are housed in provincial warehouse, under the supervision of the provincial

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PC. In addition, relevant sectors (such as transportation, defense, police, etc.) also house their supplies in their warehouses. It regularly monitors situation related to search and rescue (air, sea, river, as well as natural disasters). With respect to planning, it develops steering and coordination plans among search and rescue teams of sectors and districts. It also coordinates with other relevant bodies on management, training, and equipment for search and rescue teams. During a disaster event, the department coordinates with the PCFSC and other sectors, province and districts in conducting search and rescue during natural disasters. It also organizes 24 hours on-duty for search and rescue. The department identifies the means to conduct rescue activity in air, sea or river. The department reports to the Chairman of the People’s Committee on the search and rescue results for the province. It review and draws lessons learnt for future implementation and prepares to cope with the upcoming disasters. In offices of other relevant departments and organizations, there is no full time staff in charge of flood and storm control or other kind of natural disasters. In these offices, once a year, the head of the organization forms a committee for flood and storm control with representatives from different sub-departments, leading by the director or deputy director of that organization. The flood and storm control committee is only active during the emergency on response rather and preparedness or other DM phases. 6.1.3

District and Commune Level

At the district level the Vice Chairman of District People’s Committee is the Chairman of the CFSC, comprising of members from the district agriculture department, police and defense. In both districts and communes, the flood and storm control is the main technical theme. Search and rescue is under the district defense sub-department or local civil defense at commune level. The Red Cross volunteers also play an important role in search and rescue tasks at commune level. The district CFSC consists of all about 26 part-time staff that includes 16 members from the district CFSC, 7 from the district agriculture and rural department and 5 from the office of the People’s Committee. The chief of the district office for agriculture and rural development is the resident deputy chairman of the CFSC

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6.2. Operational Capacity Assessment

that reports to the PCFSC office, other members come from fisheries, agriculture, irrigation, finance and admin. There are no focal or full-time staffs in charge of flood and storm control. 6.2 6.2.1

OPERATIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT Risk, Hazard and Vulnerability Identification

A flood inundation map was developed after the floods of 1999, but it was not very detailed to map houses (the scale is 1/50.000). However, based on past experiences of CFSC, it is possible to identify the location, time, frequency, impact of flooding, typhoon, whirlwind, drought, salt intrusion and flash flood. The CFSC has been technically unable to develop or apply a scientific mapping system and statistical tools for risk and hazard identification. However, based on past experiences, CFSC is able to identify risk areas, and vulnerable people. The risk areas in the province include the commune/district along the Huong River, Hue lagoon and the communes in mountainous districts (A Luoi, Nam Dong districts). The most vulnerable group are fishermen, people living on boat (in the Huong River), in Hue lagoon, along rivers (facing land erosion), in mountainous and remote area (facing land slide and flash flood). 6.2.2

Disaster Risk Management Planning

Every year, the disaster risk management planning process (mainly flood and storm control) takes place in the commune, district and province, which is mainly prepared by the leaders without community’s participation. Once the plan is approved, the commune authorities disseminate decision to people before the flood and storm season on loudspeakers or through hamlet leader during community meeting. The annual plan on flood and storm control is not detailed and mainly focuses on organization, structure, roles and responsibilities of members rather than a comprehensive preparedness, mitigation and response plan. At provincial level, a detailed plan for preparedness, mitigation, response and drilling is prepared only for high-risk area. The disaster preparedness and response plan also requests relevant sectors and organizations to reserve materials for responding to emergencies. E.g. In a commune level plan CFSC requests each

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household to reserve materials such as: bamboo, sack, sand/soil and human resources in response to a possible dyke or dam failure in their area. Decision support systems and the application of GIS are mainly used and developed at the national level for use by the PCFSC. The PCFSC then provides advice and guidance to the district and commune level. 6.2.3

Emergency Preparedness, Forecasting and Warning

Annually, before rainy and typhoon season, the provincial CFSC organizes a meeting to draw lessons from past year in coping with natural disasters and plans for upcoming possible disaster season. Representatives from relevant bodies in the CFSC at the province level and the heads of district CFSC are present at the meeting. In turn, the district CFSC will organize same kind of meeting with all heads of commune CFSC. Mock drills are undertaken by CFSC and Red Cross in risk areas. Figure 6.2 presents a typical provincial forecast and warning system that uses desk phones for information dissemination. Between the provincial and district offices fax is used as means of communication supported by generators in case of power cut. Mobile phones are personal property not provided by the government and used in emergency situation. The field survey shows that most leaders from commune level and above have their personal mobile phones to use in regular management and during emergency. Internet and computer network is very limited, and

` `

` G3

`

G2

G4

G1

`

Gn Standing Office CFSC (Land, Cell, Wireless phone, Fax, Internet)

District 1 (Land phone, Fax)

Commune 1 (Land phone)

Commune n (Land phone)

District 2 (Land phone, Fax)



District n (Land phone, Fax)



Figure 6-2: Provincial forecasting and warning system

Figure 6.2. Provincial forecasting and warning system.


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only available at the provincial CFSC. The province is proposing to install a computer network between the CFSC office and other relevant and important bodies down to district level. However, due to the lack of funding, this proposal is not expected to be implemented in the next few years. With respect to forecast, the province has 10 gauging stations, 4 of which are automatic, installed in the most critical areas of the provinces to measures the hydro-metrological conditions and transfer information to the provincial CFSC. The staff members of the CFSC are mainly responsible to gather as much information as possible from other sources including the CCFSC correspondence, website, daily weather forecast on Viet Nam TV and Radio, local TV and radio, etc. The province has also built 15 “typhoon warning poles” along its coastline, using different color bands to warn the people living near the ocean and the fishermen. The province also built some 100 flood warning poles to measure flood water and to give warning messages to the people living near the rivers or in low land/flood prone areas. At provincial level warning messages received from the CCFSC are passed on to the district, which in turn passes to the commune. Though, daily weather forecast are show on Viet Nam TV and radio, warnings are given to people using the telephone an fax to all provinces through the CCFSC communication networks with more detailed information about the wind speed, flood water level etc. At commune level, commune loudspeakers are used to disseminate information and warning messages. Recently, more than 750 fishermen received FM radio receivers from the project funded by UNDP/USAID. This will help fishermen to get weather forecast daily and timely warning message when they are at sea. 6.2.4

Prevention and Mitigation

The annual disaster preparedness and response plan sets clear role and responsibilities of general management, dyke management, search and rescue, irrigation and reservoir, recovery, social welfare, relief, security and safety, health, reconstruction, transportation, foods and necessity, power, communication, forecast and warning, awareness raising, statistics and reporting. However, there is no clear responsibility for organization, which is in

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charge of hazard mapping, risk identification. Awareness raising is very limited and often implemented through INGO, due to limited budget constraint. 6.2.5

Response and Relief

Annually, mock drills in the event of emergency take place in most hazard prone districts and communes. The drill themes cover wide range from evacuation, first aid, to search and rescue. The local Red Cross chapters are very active in conducting and participating in these drills. The most active and experienced group of people to respond to emergencies are communities and their leaders, army and the flood and storm control staff. The first activity during the response stage is the evacuation of people from risk areas, calling fishermen back to the shore and strengthening dykes, houses and public structures. Relief usually comes from the local people first and only when the coping capacity is weak then outside assistance is needed. There is a famous saying in Vietnamese: “People that do not suffer from disaster help the affected people, while the people who suffered least help the people suffered the most, all to overcome the difficulties”. The local People’s Committee, army and flood and storm control are the frontline forces to deliver relief to affected people. The Red Cross volunteers are also very active, especially at community level. However, inadequate skills of working during relief operations often make their presence less effective. 6.2.6


The past recovery and reconstruction operations have mainly been supported financially by the Central government budget or from the international aid. It has proven very difficult to mobilize financial contribution from the community for recovery and reconstruction. The community has mainly participated in planning and contribution of labor, time and material. 6.2.7

Promoting Disaster Risk Management as Part of Overall Development

In recent years, efforts to integrate disaster risk management into the overall development process have been made. This was observed during the development of the 5 year social-economic

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development plan (2006–10), where the provincial authority’s role in disaster risk management has been considered as part of the development plan. However, at the community level exercise promotion of disaster risk management in the planning process has been limited. It is only in some of the projects supported by international organizations where disaster risk management has been included as part of the community development plan. This integrations needs more time, efforts and investment. Impacts of the ignoring disaster risk management integrations in the development plan are commonly visible. One of the most common effects has been the occurrence of localized flooding caused by the construction of new roads, making adjacent communities more vulnerable to health. 6.2.8

Access to and Maintenance of Stockpiles and Safe Areas for Emergency Preparedness

The amount of stockpiles depends on the government funding and scale and impact of a particular disaster. Usually the CCFSC subsidies and delivers materials to the province before the disaster season, which is delivered by the PCFSC to the district and to the commune. Depending on the extent and impact of the disaster, the CCFSC provides additional supplies to the province to ensure enough stockpiles. In case of urgency, the PCFSC can decide to give some reserves to a specific district CFSC to cope with disasters. For example, in 2005, after the typhoon Damrey, the Thua Thien Hue received 60 shelters (different sizes), 1000 lifebuoys and 1500 life vests. However, annually the provincial CFSC must stock about 300 live vests, 300 lifebuoys, 40 temporary shelters, some thousands of steel cages and 70,000 jute bags for dyke protection work. The CFSC at the province and district level identifies safe areas for evacuation such as people’s committee office, school, public facilities, or selected people’s houses (must be strong preferably 2 floors and located in high land), safe hiding place for boats etc. In the past years, evacuation has been successful in saving lives of many people. 6.2.9

Mobilizing Human and Material Resources

As part of the annual Flood and Storm Control Plan and the 4-on-spot policy (materials, command and logistics on the spot),

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in most small or moderate disasters CFSC effectively and timely mobilizes local resources and people’s contributions such as labour and local materials (e.g. bamboo, jute bags, sand/soil, rope, small boats, transportation means etc/). During large scale disasters, CFSC mobilizes army, police, CFSC staff members, Red Cross volunteers, NGOs, and other relevant bodies.

6.2.10 Ability to Liaise with and Mobilize Resources In the past few years, CFSC has built a strong relationship with some INGOs working in disaster risk management to build the capacity of communities and help raise awareness on preparedness and undertake small scale structural measures like house strengthening, school and road upgrade.

6.2.11 Past Experiences and Achievement Early warning, structural measures and awareness undertaken by CFSC and NGOs has resulted in significant improvements in the lives of communities. In 2005, CFSC successfully evacuated people and called fishermen back home safely before the Damrey and Kai-tak typhoons. In the past CFSC built 9 reservoirs (2 big ones are Truoi and Hoa My) for flood control, a dyke system in lower basin of the Huong river, identified relocation areas for people living on boats in Huong river and strengthened houses in areas prone to typhoon, etc. The NGOs in collaboration with PCFSC have also successfully organized a number of trainings and campaign to raise awareness on disaster risks at community level, over the past few years.

6.2.12 Past and Current Practices in Providing Financial and Technical Support to Communities Annually each commune receives only few hundred US dollars from the State budget to respond to disasters. Flood and Storm fund (collected from individuals and private sectors) is used only during response to assist affected people by disasters. Within the technical support, mock drills are undertaken in high-risk communes organized by CFSC and/or Red Cross. Training activities

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6.3. Assessment of a Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Project

are generally limited and are mostly undertaken by NGOs or international organizations. 6.2.13

Participatory Planning and Public Awareness

In recent years, Red Cross and NGOs have introduced participatory planning; however this process has not been institutionalized. As mentioned earlier, community people usually are informed about the annual decision on flood and storm control, and asked to prepare materials to respond to disasters. Local TV and radio have programs providing basic knowledge on different hazards to community people, such as: typhoon, flood, forest fire. However, such mediums are not available to most poor families. There have been some activities undertaken by the Red Cross that include a project to educate primary school children on disaster risk management. NGOs also introduced some projects to raise awareness on people on disaster risk management. At the commune level, the local authority use commune loudspeakers to disseminate information about disaster risk management and forecast and early warning to people. 6.2.14

Support to Traditional Community Coping Mechanisms

According to the National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management of Viet Nam, Hue and other central provinces must apply coping mechanism to avoid disasters (unlike the Mekong delta, where people are encouraged to live with flood). Therefore, in the past years, the CFSC and community have relocated people from risk areas such as along Huong river, Hue lagoon and strengthened houses for people living in coastline that prone to typhoon (DW initiative), etc. 6.3

ASSESSMENT OF A COMMUNITY-BASED DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT PROJECT

This section presents the assessment of the Safer Village Plan developed by villagers under the Community building for Adaptation to Climate Change (CACC) project to see how much of these plans were implemented, and to see what were the advantages as well as the obstacles encountered during the implementation

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process. During the two-week field trip in November 2005, ten focus group discussions, two of which were at commune level and eight at the village level were carried out. We also received the comments on CACC project from provincial and district level, the chief of Provincial Red Cross Association and the vice chairman of Phu Vang district. The Community building for Adaptation to Climate Change (CACC) project was a three-year joint effort, funded under the Canada Climate Change Adaptation Fund. The purpose of the project was to “strengthen capacity to plan and implement community based anticipatory adaptation strategies through disaster preparedness and integration of risk reduction and mitigation into local development planning”. The project was implemented in partnership with the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue with two districts, Quang Dien and Phu Vang as implementing partners. The project assisted communities in the two districts to plan and implement adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerability to the negative impacts of climate change. CACC project had been implemented from 2002 to 2005 and covered 8 villages in 4 communes. 6.3.1

Key Findings

There are four main components in the Safer Village Plan: (1) Infrastructure Planning; (2) Land Use Planning; (3) Water and Sanitation Facilities Planning; and (4) Housing Reinforcement Planning. Each component will be analyzed separately for each village. The lesson learnt and recommendation will be presented in the next section. 6.3.1.1

Infrastructure Planning

Most of participants in the FGD are very interested in sharing the experiences of the Infrastructure Plan implementation. In fact, it is one of the most important components of the Safer Village Plan. There was a very strong expectation of local communities on CACC sub-projects that invested in infrastructures, particularly the public facilities. Almost all studied respondents agreed that the improvement of public facilities such as village roads, clinics, or schools would have increased the community capacity to cope with catastrophic events, and the implementation of public

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facility plans is much easier than the implementation of awareness raising activities in terms of resource mobilization or labor contributions. Many participants think that it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which awareness-raising activities can contribute to alter the livelihood practices and the risk perception for adaptation to climate change. The participatory process to develop the SVP, according to all interviewed persons, was quite new. It was all villagers who had a change to identify and prioritize what need to be done in their villages made the project implemented easier. Normally the plans for infrastructure are developed at the higher levels: district or province or outside organizations depend upon the amount of budget, and then the villagers are informed only, no room for participation. The process that involved local communities’ opinions has created a strong consensus among villagers. CACC have invested in the most crucial parts of infrastructures that can help local communities to reduce the vulnerabilities to the natural disaster. For example, the village roads were constructed to enhance the mobility of villagers during the rainy seasons, particularly the evacuation in case of severe floods or typhoons; septic latrines built with partly financial support from CACC have a significant contribution to reduce the spread of waste and disease during the floods. However, there are some shortcomings need to be concerned. At the beginning of the project, lack of communication among stakeholders made it very complicated to choose who would be the main partners to implement the infrastructure, particularly the project with relatively big investments. For example, villagers wanted to construct the roads by themselves in order to mobilize the local material and local labor force. However, the district wanted to appoint an authorized contractor to build the roads. Thus, some villages were allowed to construct the roads but some villages were not allowed to do so. As a result, for villages that had the rights to build the roads, the implementation was more smoothly than others in terms of mobilizing the budget for 30% co-finance. Another problem was that for the villages whose roads were constructed by the villagers. It was somehow complicated to withdraw money from the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank at District. Many respondents contended that the quality the village roads constructed by contractor which was appointed by

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district and CACC are not good compared to that of constructed by villagers. Furthermore, it is very difficult to mobilize 30% contribution from villagers by cash only. For example Dinh Cu has a problem in paying 30% of construction cost of the roads since the road has been degraded dramatically only after one year of construction by the contractors. See Figure 6.3 The process of creating the adaptation plans for the safer villages have increased the capacity of local leaders. Most of village heads and commune People’s Committee staffs who involved in CACC project assure that they have applied the lesson learnt from CACC to integrate community based adaptation strategies into the development plans for their villages. However, the applicability of these lessons varies from village to village. It is depend heavily upon the capacity and the enthusiasm of the leaders. For example, even in the same commune Phu Ho, Su Lo Thuong village leaders seem to be more active than Nam Duong village leaders, as a result, Su Lo Thuong had been allowed to constructed the village roads and the maintenance activities have been carried out regularly such as plant tree along the roads to protect them and to reduce the wind force affecting the village, whereas Nam Duong leaders were not so active in taking the responsibility of implementing the infrastructure even they had

Figure 6.3. The Road of Dinh Cu Village after one year of Construction.

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the capacity to do so. In Viet Nam, there are policies to empower local communities such as the democracy at grass-roots level policy or the four principles for disasters preventions and mitigations (use as much as possible local commands, local means, local logistics and local forces), however the process of decentralization and devolution is still slowly implemented due to a few higher levels want to take control the project management. In fact, the management right is not given to local communities, unless the leaders play an important role in enhancing the level of participation based on the policy framework developed by government. For other construction activities like constructions of public buildings, irrigation systems, water supply systems etc., it is important to notice that the local builders should be employed in implementing the infrastructure plans, not the outside contractors. By doing so, the infrastructure implementation can create significant job opportunities for local worker to increase their income as well as from which they can apply and practice the techniques they learnt from trainings. Local builders then can help other villagers to build strong houses later. Beside the positive results of involving local communities in process of implementing infrastructure plans, participatory implementing process will create the solidarity among villagers, enhance the responsibility and capacity of VDG, particularly all community activities will be implemented smoothly and the mobilizing local resources is much more easier than before. 6.3.1.2

Land Use Planning

Land use plans developed by all villages mainly focus on allocating safer land for residents living in high risk areas to move in; planting tree in the bare hills to reduce soil erosion or grow tree around the house to reduce the wind force. Diversify the crop pattern and use high yield seeds are also encouraged. Villages which locate near the rivers or lagoon such as Dinh Cu and Lai Ha also have planned to encourage people engage in fish cultivation. In general, all villages have a detail land use plan, but to implement this plan it needs a strong support from commune and higher levels, particularly the technical supports in agricultural and aquaculture diversification activities.

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It is important to note that any changes in agriculture or aquaculture cultivation such as the introduction of new seeds or new species must be consulted carefully with local knowledge and local conditions. It should be tested in small scale first and then scale it up later if it yields a good result and suitable to local condition but not cause the negative effect on local ecology. Otherwise thoughtless or only scientist based implementation will create more vulnerabilities to local communities. In Lai Ha, for example, the sub-project of planting 30ha of cajuput trees was failed. 70% of cajuput trees died due to the incorrect planting periods and not suitable planning techniques. It can be concluded that the land use planning of each village was too ambitious that went beyond the community’s capacity. After three years, the land use plan has been implemented very little due to lack of support in terms of financial as well as technical assistance. 6.3.1.3

Water and Sanitation Facilities

Although the main fresh water supply pipelines have been installed in some villages, many households still cannot afford to connect to the water supply systems due to the locations of their houses far away from the main pipeline or the high cost of installing water pipe. Some people argue that the families located in the main road have double benefits to both access to the concretized roads and water supply, normally the water supply system is installed along the village roads, but the contribution to build these facilities are equal to all villagers. Therefore, when implementing water supply system, it needs to concern this issue. For villages that are not the beneficiary of CACC the question about access also raises another issue that is the main water supply pipeline goes through non-beneficiary villages thus they also can access to fresh water but paid very little contribution to install it. For the family septic latrine construction, almost all family beneficiaries are really in need of standard toilets. Therefore, they are happy to co-finance with CACC project to build the toilet. Many families have invested three to four millions dong more to build a very good septic latrine with an incentive from CACC project. According to FGD, in order to change the bad habit of local communities in order to improve their livelihood practices or

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to improve environments, there should be some small incentives at the first stage and then people can learn from the benefits of pilot projects and sustain the activities by themselves. At present, not all households have access to a latrine since they do not put sanitation and hygiene in a high priority of their family. Thus, hygiene planning should be supported and encouraged by the governments in terms of environment awareness raising activities and financial support for construction. Develop regulations within communities are also important to promote better environments to adapt to harsh conditions caused by disasters. 6.3.1.4

Safer Housing Planning

This sector is very promising in reducing loss and damages caused by natural disasters. However, like hygiene and sanitation planning safer house planning need high perceptions and acceptances of local communities about housing retrofitting first. Only training on building code is not enough to encourage people to pay attention to reinforce their houses. In fact, all studied respondents contended that without little support from government or other organizations it is difficult to encourage local people to apply the resistant techniques into their houses even the techniques are quite simple and not require expensive materials. The training materials on building codes are carefully prepared to cover all necessary parts of retrofitting techniques, but this make complicated to local builder and villagers to apply. Other training materials also have the same problems that uses too many technical terms thus for the training documents try to avoid terminologies as much as possible. 6.3.2

Lesson Learnt and Further Considerations

• Use as much as possible the local materials, local means, local logistics and local labors in order to reduce the burden of villagers in the cost of co-finance. By doing so, the strong consensus among communities has gradually formed. It helps communities to be more resilient to disasters and more solidarity. • Participatory process has brought encouraging results. It helps local authorities and local people increase their sense of ownership over the process of planning and implementing the projects.

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• Local people know how to plan, implement and mobilize the local resources effectively and efficiently. • Local leaders who have highly responsible and enthusiastic are the key factor ensuring the effectiveness of program implementation. • There exists a dilemma of making a balance between the limitation of available resources and the high needs/expectations of local communities on CACC activities, between local partner’s preference to infrastructure building and project’s relatively strong focus on capacity building. Therefore, it should not be placed too high requirements on partners and communities and should be more flexible. • Awareness raising activities must be combined with support for infrastructure and other equipments to ensure that villages have the means to implement plans. • The human factor play an important role in ensuring good results of most activities and the team of dynamic, enthusiastic and well trained VDG in CACC project is a good example. The village-based management of activities seems empower CACC partners, particularly at village and commune level. • Partners and communities have capacities to implement activities while CACC only provides technical supports and monitoring. This approach makes partners feel that they have been listened and can contribute to the process of making decision. They will participate in and contribute more actively. • To sustain the capacity building activities after project finished, there should be some small fund to support VDG/VEG activities. Such as commune and village should allow the VDG retain some fees collected from the renting of project tractors or harvesters or boats. • Capacity building can be done through direct involvement in program management and implementation not only from training. • Regular meetings during the program implementation between CACC staffs and partners for exchanging, sharing or updating opinions/information are very useful. It helps very much each stakeholder to become more responsive and enhances mutual understanding. • Provision of detailed information on objectives of project, content and finance of program activities to local people and commune authority will help them to understand, take part

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6.4. Key Gaps Identified

•

•

•

•

eagerly and become highly accountable to their work (in case of the villages whose roads were constructed by outside contractors, they did not actively participate in the program management and implementation due to unclear process of choosing contractors, unclear finance of activities etc.). Thus, lack or even neglect of information dissemination will have very negative effects on project implementation. Good partnership and working through partners are crucial in ensuring successful implementation of CACC. Close collaboration between partners is a decisive factor in realization of commitments of stakeholders: village, commune, district and CACC. There is a strong linkage between disaster mitigation activities and community developments. Most of CAF has been used to improve livelihood such as paved village roads, latrines, building schools and installing water supply pipes. Thus, disaster mitigation activities need to be integrated with local development plans e.g. annual development budget of province and district. DRM must keep livelihoods in focus. For example, hire members of the local community to create employment. Purchase food supplies and building materials from the local community whenever possible in order to boost the local economy. Improvements in physical infrastructure must be accompanied by increased public awareness and community participation.

6.4 6.4.1

KEY GAPS IDENTIFIED Institutional and Legal

Understanding of legal documents related to disaster risk management is weak, especially at the community level and in the organizations, which are not directly involved in the disaster risk management. This is perhaps due to limited dissemination of legal documents to communities and organizations that are not involved in disaster risk management. 6.4.2

Human Resources

There is an absence of a central disaster risk management office to respond to all kinds of disasters. The staff members working

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on disaster risk management at the provincial, district and commune levels are part-time and work during emergencies (see Table 6.1 for the roles and responsibilities of organizations/institutions working on DRR). The staffs at the provincial and district level need regular training, especially for new members. Most of the disaster risk management staff are not professionally trained and often receive training for few days on general disaster risk management. Their main source of knowledge is their past work experience on disaster risk management related jobs. 6.4.3

Resource

Material reserves for response are available from central to province, district and commune, however they are not sufficient. There is limited funding available (from local budget) for largescale activities during preparedness, mitigation, early warning. The lack of decentralized budgeting has resulted in delay in undertaking large scale work as the central government has to first approve. Although the Decree 52 legally permits the flood and storm control sector to collect household contribution, it has been very difficult to collect contributions from households and private sector (especially in the poor and mountainous areas). At commune level, each year only few hundred US dollars are allocated and available from the government budget for the CFSC to operate. Moreover, this fund can only be used during the response stage and not for preparedness and capacity building. At the provincial level the funding is much larger but again can be used for relief and response and also for specified disasters from flooding, typhoon or bird flu. At the district and commune level, the CFSC can mobilize local contribution. However, lack of professional inventory/reserve system makes it difficult to quantify. Private business operating in the community also have to reserve some materials for flood and storm control. However, it is very difficult to assess and count the stockpiling. There is no government budget for training of staff working in the sector from provincial to commune level. Every year the province organizes 1 to 2 meetings to review the past year plan and to plan for the coming year on disaster preparedness and response. At district and commune levels, the situation is the same. The only training opportunity is offered by different projects of INGOs and Red Cross working in the province. The CFSC staff has never gone through formal and technical training

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Table 6.1

Roles of organizations and institutions in DRR.

Phases

Main organizations/institutions

Disaster Planning Mapping

CFSC, Office of CFSC Office of CFSC: flood, typhoon; DARD: drought, forest fire

Forecasting

Meteorology: flood typhoon, DARD: drought, forest fire

Warning

CFSC, Office of CFSC, central and local Radio & Television Office of CFSC: flood, typhoon; DARD: drought, forest fire

Preparedness Response

CFSC, office of CFSC and relevant bodies

Relief

Reconstruction

Aid Coordinating Committee including: Fatherland Front, Finance, Red Cross, Social Welfare People’s Committee, and relevant bodies

Recovery

People’s Committee and relevant bodies

on disaster risk management and they were mainly trained in universities on agriculture, irrigation or general management. 6.4.4

A Gap of Disaster and Environment Management

The environment and disaster linkages have been recognized in the national strategy for natural disaster prevention, control and mitigation as well as in the provincial socio-economic development plan. However, there is a big gap between policies and actions, and between different levels due to lack of coordination among stakeholders. In most cases, decisions and actions on environment and disaster are taken separately, and roles and responsibilities are distributed among different and separate institutions. The latest national strategy for natural disaster prevention, control and mitigation has integrated disaster risk management into the overall development process. It was observed that in the five-year-socio-economic-development plan (2006–2010), the provincial authority’s role in disaster risk management has been considered as part of the development plan. In this plan, there are well documented linkages between environment and disaster risk management, for instance, protect and reforest upstream areas to reduce flood risk, protect environment and implement structure

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and non-structural measures to reduce hazards in coastal and wetland areas (TTHPPC 2005). While it is encouraging that the linkages are being recognized, the document appears to have had little influence on actual efforts in disaster risk management. Indeed, the annual disaster risk management plan is not detailed and mainly focuses on flood and storm control in which the organization, structure, roles and responsibilities of members are mostly mentioned rather than on a comprehensive preparedness, mitigation and response plan. A detailed plan for preparedness, mitigation, response and drill is prepared only for high-risk area. There is a lack of public participation in the process of disaster risk management plan formulation. In fact, most of disaster risk management plans that have been formulated in the commune, district or province are mainly prepared by the leaders without community’s participation. Once the plan is approved, the commune authorities disseminate decisions to people before the flood and storm season on loudspeakers or through hamlet leader during community meeting. Indeed, at the community level exercise promotion of disaster risk management in the planning process has been limited. It is only in some of the projects supported by international organizations where disaster risk management has been included as part of the community development plan. There is a weak coordination among development, environment and disaster risk management programs between different sectors and levels. For example, after a terrifying storm in 1985, the provincial People’s Committee and other functioning agencies made greater efforts to implement settlement for boat people. However, several years later, most of these people returned to living on boats due to the consequences of missing links between disaster, environment and economic development. The author examines the level of disaster and environment linkages that are reflected in disaster risk management projects supported by international NGOs. Unfortunately, it is found that little attention is paid to it; only in a few cases the linkages are mentioned. In fact, most of disaster risk management efforts in Thua Thien Hue were started in the wake of disasters, particularly after the 1999 flood, and focus mostly on relief and rehabilitation, such as the Thua Thien Hue reconstruction project implemented by CECI (CECI 2000), Disaster Resistant House Rehabilitation Program implemented by International Federation of Red Cross and

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Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and post-disaster housing program implemented by Catholic Relief Services (IFRC 2001). More recent projects often contain some elements aimed at disaster mitigation. However, while they may sometimes recognize the effect of environmental degradation on natural hazard risk, they usually take other angles to address the hazard risks, such as building codes, infrastructure design, and attention to the location of human settlements. For instance, Development Workshop France projects aim to reinforce houses and community buildings against typhoon winds, to raise the awareness among local community and local authorities in the impact of disasters (Norton & Chantry 2002), or the Spanish Red Cross project aims to enhance disaster preparedness capacity with training and smallscale infrastructure improvements in particularly vulnerable communities (Bufala 2005). There are only two projects: “Capacity building for adaptation to climate change in Central Viet Nam” funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (2002–2005), and currently “Enhancing Human Security for Environment and Disaster Management” funded by the Asian Development Bank (2005–2006) that have strongly addressed the linkages between disaster, livelihood and environments, and have promoted activities linked to environmental degradation, particularly pay attention to community-based disaster mitigation and institutional strengthening (CECI 2004; Uitto & Shaw 2006). However, with the time constrain coupled with limited resources, implementation has faced challenges. Thus, the projects’ main focus remains on more traditional risk factors (including some trainings for livelihood climate change adaptation regarding animal husbandry, agriculture, aquaculture activities, or physical protection works and attention for the institutional capacity to address issues like the location of settlements, infrastructure vulnerability, building codes, and disaster preparedness). The author also examines the extent to which natural hazard risk concerns have been taken into account in the area of natural resources and environmental management. At the national levels, there are some programs that have addressed only the improvement of environment, but they also bring positive effect to disaster risk management. For instance, the program efforts encourage community involvement in the protection of trees and agricultural land by, in essence, contracting out parcels of

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land to highland dwellers. People are then to act as stewards of the land, caring for the forests and engaging in sustainable agricultural practices (Douglass et al., 2002). There are some initiatives, which try to incorporate multiple sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, environment, disaster risk management, tourism and health into natural resource management. Integrated approaches have been gradually accepted through the development of new planning paradigms, Integrated Coastal Zone management (ICZM) and currently Integrated Management of Lagoon Activities (IMOLA) in Thua Thien Hue. However, the author can conclude that, although the situation may currently be improving, the linkages have, again, not received much attention. In some communes, land use appears somewhat irregular; forest trees are grown on low slope plots and crops are grown on steep slope plots due to lack of disaster risk management concerns in this programs (Bui 2001). For instance, reforestation activities began quite extensively in the early 1990’s when the United Nations’ World Food Program had implemented its initiative. Through this program, capital and other material incentives were given to villagers to enable them to establish forest plantations. The more trees people grew, the more incentives they got. So, to gain more from the programme, villagers grew forest trees in gently sloping areas that should have been used for crop production. In fact, the program had notice that erosion and flood in downstream due to deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices in the watershed area were becoming crucial problems, but did not explicitly link that to natural hazard risk management, and did not even attempt to address the underlying problems (Bui 2001). In addition, there also have been a number of environmental or agricultural projects that do not explicitly aim to reduce natural hazard risk (CBRM 1997). In conclusion, there are many important linkages between natural resources and environmental management and hazard risks as mentioned earlier, however only limited efforts have been made to identify and address these linkages. While the linkages may have been neglected, it is clear that both disaster mitigation and environmental degradation have been recognized as serious issues in Thua Thien Hue. Nevertheless, despite all the attention and efforts, hazard risks keep rising, and environmental degradation continues.

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6.4.5

Key Issues of Disaster Risk Management in Thua Thien Hue that the Research Try to Address

The analysis in chapter 5 and 6 shows that the disaster and environment are inherently linked. The environment degradation exacerbates the impacts of natural disaster and vice versa. For example, unsustainable agricultural practices and inappropriate development programs have contributed to substantial increase of flood risks. Floods cause damage to natural resources and environmental quality and indirectly contributes to increasing poverty, which in turn further add to the vulnerability of both natural and human systems. The environment and flood linkage has been recognized, and many environmental programs such as reforestation, forest protection, upland fixed cultivation and resettlement, have been implemented to reduce flooding since 1990s. These flood management measures have achieved significant results in reducing the negative effects of low magnitude flooding. However, they are now under pressure because they are also used as main measures to reduce the risks of catastrophic floods, which are unfortunately increasing both at the local and global level. One of the key issues is that despite the doubts that many scientists have expressed on the linkages between forest and catastrophic flood, the people and policies makers often assume that the forest in uplands can reduce the catastrophic in lowlands as in the case of low magnitude flooding. Therefore, reforestation is one of the key programs for flood mitigation. This perception if on the one side prompted positive forest protection/reforestation programs, on the other produced often-unwarranted blame of upland communities for their forest management practices. Thus, this issues need to be addressed for the uplands forest management and for lowland catastrophic management. The detailed analysis of this issue will be presented in Chapter 7. Beyond the local observation of disaster environment linkages, there are many insights from understanding how the impacts regarding disaster and environment occurring in one region are resulting from many aspects from natural to social environment, and the connection of localities into the process of urbanization and globalization. For example, deforestation in the uplands is not taking place in isolation from demands for timber, relocation of people from one region to another, and the push for export crop

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production. The difficulties in sustaining traditional systems of environmental management in upland and lowland areas are not simply a problem of too many people in these locations or lack of knowledge, but are instead an outcome of gross increases in degree and type of environmental problem linking to broader processes over space. Therefore, it is important to bring livelihood, poverty, social vulnerability, and the allocation of public and private functions and responsibilities into focus as core aspects of disaster risk management. These issues will be analyzed in the coastal communes of the province in Chapter 8. Finally, the effective disaster risk management requires more local and community stakeholder involvement. Local communities should not be passive recipients or victims, but partners with a real voice, and thus some power. Local knowledge and concerns should be a key aspect of efforts to address these issues, and the decision-making and incentive structures should reflect a large degree of local ownership and responsibility. How to mobilize community participation and how to incorporate local knowledge in DRR are the key points of disaster risk management and these will be addressed in chapter 9.

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Chapter Seven

Forest Cover and Catastrophic Flood Linkages

7.1

INTRODUCTION

As presented in Chapter 5, Thua Thien Hue province is one the most disaster prone areas of Viet Nam. With a mixed geomorphology of mountains and coastal plains, the province is subject to severe extreme events such as typhoons, and floods. These hazards appear to have worsened in recent years, causing devastation to the entire province, particularly to vulnerable populations in mountainous areas and along the coastal zones. See for example, the flood of November 1999 in Central Viet Nam, killed 780 people, affected around one million residents, and sunk and damaged more than 2,100 boats. The economic damage was worth US$364 million (CCFSC, 2006). Various other catastrophic floods, with water levels were above the alarm level II (see Table 7.1), also caused severe losses of human lives, assets and infrastructures. Global climate change impacts have been widely recognized as the causes of intensification of the global water cycle with a consequent increase in flood risk (Milly et al., 2002). The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) states that warming of the Earth’s climate is now unequivocal. At the continental, regional, and ocean basin scales, numerous long-term changes in climate have been observed. These include the frequency of heavy precipitation events that have increased over most land areas. As a result, more intense floods have been observed over wider areas since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics (IPCC 2007). Yet, despite these findings, after each catastrophic flood, deforestation and

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Table 7.1 Flood Alarm Levels Used in Viet Nam. (Source: Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) available at http://www.ccfsc.org.vn). Warning level

Description

Alarm Level I

Possible flood condition — River water level is high; threat to low height embankments; flooding of very low lying areas; infrastructure safe.

Alarm Level II

Dangerous flood condition — Flood plane inundation expected; towns and cities still generally protected by flood defenses; high velocity river flows pose danger of bank and dyke erosion; bridge foundations at risk from scour; infrastructure generally safe.

Alarm Level III

Very dangerous flood condition — All low lying areas submerged, including low lying areas in cities and towns; safety of river protection dykes in jeopardy; damage to infrastructure begins.

Alarm Level III +

Emergency flood condition — General and wide spread uncontrollable flooding; dyke failure a certainty and probably uncontrollable; damage to infrastructure severe.

rapid land use changes in the uplands are still blamed as one of the main causes. The underlying argument is that these floods were mostly induced or aggravated by human interference with the hydrological system. Consequently, many national and international government programs on natural resource management and economic development have hard-pressed for forest protection and reforestation, and improvement of land use practices in the uplands, as important remedies to reduce the catastrophic floods in the lowlands. See for example the United Nations World Food Program (WFP — often identified by the acronym PAM in Viet Nam), the ‘fixed cultivation and settlement’ program, the Viet Nam government program 327 and the Five Million Hectares Reforestation Program (5MHRP). Thus, unlike the regular flood-risk-management procedures, which have been developed in Viet Nam for centuries, the more demanding measures necessary to effectively deal with catastrophic floods are more difficult to implement because misperceived among local people and decision makers (especially those at higher levels). There are two main misperceptions that challenge the development of effective measure to reduce catastrophic floods. First, because of the low frequencies of such events, people often believe that a catastrophic flood will not hit them, and that their lives and property will not be destroyed.

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7.2. Common Perception and Science

Therefore, they prepare for floods at a level commensurate with the worst disaster they experienced, and not for the greater floods that are likely to strike in the future. Second, conventional wisdom about the flood-prevention role of forests, has clouded the perspectives of decision makers, leading to an over-emphasis on reforestation and forest protection at the expense of more holistic watershed and river-basin management. These misperceptions coupled with the lack of resources for disaster preparedness or risk assessment leave many communities unprepared for catastrophic flood. It becomes evident that it is necessary to understand the mechanisms governing individuals and communities’ perception of catastrophic flood risks and how they invest and act to prepare for those events. Hence, this chapter analyzed the disparity between the scientific evidences relating the causes of catastrophic floods and the common perceptions on the relationship between forest and flood. Investigations also comprised the impacts of the perception-based mitigation measures of catastrophic floods in the Huong river basin of Thua Thien Hue province. The chapter begins with the literature review of the relation between forest and flood.

7.2

COMMON PERCEPTION AND SCIENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOREST-COVER CHANGE AND FLOODING

In many cultures there is a strong belief that forests can prevent or reduce floods (FAO & CIFOR 2005). A review of Hamilton (1992) on the linkage between tropical forest and flood reveals that many newspapers and journal articles have blamed devastating floods on logging or firewood cutting in upper watersheds. For instance, both Openshaw (1974) in the case of India and Corvera (1981) in the case of the Philippines supported this contention. Sharp and Sharp (1982) also stated that: “over logging is now officially recognized as the cause of the July 1981 severe flooding of the Yangtze” in China. Reporting on the Bangladesh floods of August 1988, which killed 1,600 people and left 30 million homeless, an article from the Knight-Ridder news service (Kaufman 1988) was entitled “Bangladesh flood disaster blamed on deforestation”, and it went on to say: “By almost all accounts,

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the main environmental problem is the widespread and growing deforestation of the Indian and Nepalese mountains to the north of Bangladesh.” The rationale behind this belief is that all forests tend to have higher evaporation rates than other types of vegetation, and natural forests exhibit higher infiltration rates, due to porous soils and the existence of under storey and humus layers. The combination of these two factors generally contributes to lower runoff. Some types of plantation forests may also increase infiltration rates by providing preferential flow pathways down both live and dead root channels (FSIV & IIED 2002). Therefore, it is often argued that forest covers, compared to most alternative vegetation cover types, will always diminish the risks of downstream flooding (FAO & CIFOR 2005). Land use activities in uplands are also commonly believed to have significant impacts on storm runoff volume, peak magnitude and timing of the peak. Thus, the immediate frequently drawn conclusion is that floods occur because forests have been cleared or degraded. However, many scientific observations reported that direct links between deforestation and floods are far from certain, and hydrological systems are so complex that it is extremely difficult to disentangle the impacts of land use from those of other natural processes and phenomena (Hamilton and Pearce 1988, Chomitz and Kumari 1998, Walker 2002, Bruijnzeel 2004, Andreassian, 2004, Kaimowitz 2004, Enters et al., 2004, FAO & CIFOR 2005, Calder et al., 2004, Hayward 2005, Calder and Aylward 2006). In the case of upland/lowland as well as forest and flood relationships, existing knowledge is frequently based more on perceived wisdom, or myths, than on science (FAO & CIFOR 2005). In the rush to identify the causes and responsibilities of the most recent flood disaster, assumptions are made about processes in one region based on observations from other regions, which often have quite different environmental characteristics, or by extrapolating from small to large scales. Considerable scientific doubts remain about most of these linkages, since many of them are highly complex and dependent on site-specific conditions. Scientific assessments have shown the following claims. First, it is often the management activities associated with forestry, cultivation, drainage, road construction, which are more likely to influence the size and frequency of floods than the presence or absence of forests themselves

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7.2. Common Perception and Science

(Anderson et al., 1976, Jones & Grant 1996, Bradshaw et al., 2007). Furthermore, while clearing and other forestry management operations can cause short-term increases in runoff, the relative magnitude of these events is inversely proportional to the magnitude, intensity or duration of the storms (FSIV & IIED 2002). Hence, little of the impact of floods from large storms can be attributed to changes in land use (FSIV & IIED 2002). For the largest, most damaging flood events there is little scientific evidence to support anecdotal reports of deforestation being the cause. Instead, flood events are more likely to result simply from climatic events. Evidence from Viet Nam, for example, shows that about 78% of discharge from the Da River happens from June to October each year, and that regardless of changing land use, large floods occur approximately every 8–9 years and very large floods approximately every 23 years (FSIV & IIED 2002). Second, many research confirm that during heavy storms in small watersheds, storm-flow volumes are higher from bare land or logged slopes than from areas where natural forests remain intact. However, evaluation of the basin-scale effects has been problematic (Tu et al., 2005). Scale consideration is also of fundamental importance when assessing impact of land use and its change (FAO & CIFOR 2005). Increases in peak discharges from any headwater catchment can have little effect on downstream peaks because of the routing and desynchronization that normally occur. However, when storm flow volumes from upland catchments are increased and not damped along the river channel, they can result in a cumulative effect on downstream volumes and peak discharges (Brooks et al., 1997). Some scientists also argued that the evidence for a strong connection between deforestation and increased flooding is uncertain, and that hydrological data do not demonstrate that good vegetative cover in large river basins is necessarily a factor in preventing rapid runoff of storm water (Ross 1984). Others suggest that there is no convincing evidence of an increase in runoff, despite the supposed increased incidence of flood disasters (Ives and Messerli 1989). Based on the above arguments, it may not be appropriate to state on the direct effect of deforestation to flooding. Nevertheless, it is important to note that deforestation brings detrimental impacts to the adjacent environment increasing the vulnerability of local communities (Tran and Shaw 2007). Unlike the problem of deforestation in relation to landslides where there may be a much

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more immediate connection between cause and effects (Wisner et al., 2004), deforestation and flooding causation is complex and often widely taken for granted, but not substantial (Wisner et al., 2004). Deforestation and ‘de-vegetation’ have many causes, and the effects of various patterns of land use can be significantly different from place to place. The relationship between land use and hydrology is complex and thus difficult to be generalized from each case. 7.3 RESEARCH IN UPLANDS OF THE HUONG RIVER BASIN 7.3.1

Characteristics of the Study Area

The Huong river basin is the largest basin of Thua Thien Hue Province (Figure 7.1). The area of the basin is 2,830 km2 in which more than 80% of the area is mountainous and hilly with their heights ranging from 200 m to 1,708 m. The basin, located on the East of Truong Son mountainous range and on the North of Bach Ma range, covers the majority of the province territory. The main flow of the Huong river originates from the high mountain area of Bach Ma range where the altitude is from 900 m to 1,200 m through Huu Trach tributary. The longest flow originates from the altitude of 1,318 m, which runs from South to North, through the Huu Trach tributary with the length of more than 104 km. The Huong river basin has three main tributaries named Ta Trach, Huu Trach and Bo. The length of the Ta Trach river is 51 km and the area of its drainage basin is 729 km2 . The length of the Huu Trach river is 70 km and its drainage basin is 691 km2 . The Ta Trach meets the Huu Trach at the Tuan confluence. The Bo river is 94 km long and the total area of its drainage basin is 938 km2 and converges with the Huong river at the Sinh confluence (see Figure 7.2). The Huong river basin has the highest rainfall in Viet Nam, with medium annual rainfall of 2800 mm in coastal areas and 3500 mm in the upper part of the basin. On average, 3500 mm of rain falls in the A Luoi area, 3200 mm in the Nam Dong area, and up to 2850 mm in Hue city. Rainy season prolongs from August to December. According to the result of a study by Thua Thien Hue Hydrometeorology Center (TTH PPC 2008), the Huong river basin has two main climatic zones, which consist of seven microclimate zones (Figure 7.1). The topography of the basin changes rapidly,

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7.3. Research in Uplands of the Huong River Basin

Figure 7-1: Research location and selected weather stations Figure 7.1. Research location and selected weather stations. (Source: Author’ elaboration).

with hardly any transition area, from the upstream high mountain down to the plain and large lagoon system. During the rainy season this morphology causes high runoff upstream and large floods and inundations in downstream areas. 7.3.2

Methodology

This study can be divided into four major phases: first, identifying the public perception of the relationship between forest cover change and catastrophic flooding. The main factors considered in this perception analysis included: the experiences of forest cover change and flood disasters, the social norms and traditional knowledge, and the policies and programs on forest management and flood management (see Figure 7.3). This was done through questionnaires and focus group discussions surveys carried out in the mountainous areas and relevant policy analysis. Second, identifying flood causes, the available hydro-meteorological data of the last thirty years were analyzed to highlight the causes of catastrophic floods, and third, classifying land cover and detecting land cover change. This was done with satellite imagery and GIS analysis, and finally the findings of the above sections were compared

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Upland agriculture

Upland home garden

Upland people and housing

Forest plantation

Figure 7.2. Landscape of upland areas.

Doctrine of national policies - Forest protection policies - Reforestation programs - Land allocation - Flood control policies and programs

1

Attributes of communities

Physical conditions

Flood trends

- Forced and autonomous migrations - Demographic characteristics - Traditional knowledge

- Forest cover - Topography - Infrastructure development

- Rainfall - Catastrophic floods - Regular floods

2

Perceptions of forest and catastrophic flood relationship

3

4

Gaps

5

6

Scientific evidences of forest and catastrophic flood relationship

Figure 7-3: Research framework

Figure 7.3. Research framework.

and interpreted to establish the correlations, if any, between forestcover change and catastrophic floods in the Huong river basin (see Figure 7.3). 7.3.2.1

Identifying the Common Perception of the Relationships Between Forest and Flood

Common perception of the relationship between forest and flood was based on field surveys carried out in four upland communes

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of the Huong river basin: Binh Thanh, Binh Dien, Huong Nguyen, and Hong Ha (Figure 7.1). These selected communes best represented the socio-economic and physical conditions of the uplands. Knowing the inherent shortcoming of the non-random nature of the sampling procedure, prior to the selection of survey communes the investigators conducted a reconnaissance visit to the upland areas to find out economic status, main livelihood activities, and ethnic composition. During such visit, the staffs of commune people’s committees also informed the investigators about the significant changes in the surrounding landscapes. In each surveyed commune, transect walks, participatory exercises (mapping, wealth ranking, historical and problem tree) with focus groups, household surveys and interviews of key informants (staffs of commune people’s committee, elders, and village chiefs) were carried out. Before administering the questionnaires, the investigators obtained the lists of all households within the commune along with their village location, main livelihood activity, and economic status (divided into three levels: poor, medium, and better off). The samples of households contacted were randomly selected from these lists. The final number of questionnaires gathered was 404 (average 100 per commune). The investigators collected both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data were analyzed using textual analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. 7.3.2.2

Identifying Flood Causes

There are three main weather stations in the Huong river basin: Hue, A Luoi and Nam Dong stations. The Hue station, which is located in the downstream of the Huong river near Tam Giang Cau Hai lagoon, provided data to characterize the floodplain and the coastal area. The A Luoi station, located at an elevation of 600 m and within the watershed forest, provided data to characterize the mountainous upstream area. The Nam Dong station, which is located in the transition areas between coastal lowland and mountainous areas at the south of the Huong basin in the toe of Bach Ma mountain, provided data to characterize the transitional inland zone. Amongst the various parameters of these three weather stations, this study focused on the rainfall data of the least 30 years to find out the changed trend. Monthly as well

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as daily records were available to analyze precipitation patterns. The records available from the Hue station covered a period of time from 1928 to 2004, whereas the records from the Nam Dong and the A Luoi stations were from 1974 to 2004. The hydrological data such as the peak discharge, floodwater level, and time to peak, were obtained from two selected gauging stations in the Thuong Nhat for the Ta Trach tributary, and the Kim Long for the Huong river. The Thuong Nhat gauging station had records of daily discharge from 1981 to 2001 and the maximum floodwater level record of each year from 1979 to 2000. The Kim Long station had records of the maximum floodwater level from 1977 to 2005. These hydro-meteorological data were obtained from Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (IMH 2006). Statistical analysis were applied to test if there is any upward and downward trend of rainfall, maximum flood level, and number of catastrophic flood of each year for the last thirty years. The linear regression model was used to evaluate the correlation and variance between the flood level/number of catastrophic flood and the rainfall in the upstream areas. The study also used the rational method in hydrology to detect the runoff coefficient in a small watershed located in the Nam Dong areas. The peak discharge at Thuong Nhat station of each month, and the day occurring rainfall peak discharge were also used in this analysis. The rainfall data for calculating runoff coefficient was obtained from Nam Dong weather station. Mathematically, the rational method relates the peak discharge (q, m3 /sec) to the drainage area (A, ha), the rainfall intensity (i, mm/h), and the runoff coefficient (C) with q the following equation: C = A×i Following are the assumptions used in this rational method: (i) rainfall intensity and duration is uniform over the area of study; and (ii) storm duration must be equal to or greater than the time of concentration of the watershed. Since the time of concentration is the time required for water to flow from the most remote point of the area to the outlet once the soil has become saturated and minor depressions filled, it was assumed that when the duration of the storm equals the time of concentration, all parts of the watershed are contributing simultaneously to the discharge at the outlet. Finally, considering that the studied watershed is relatively small, about 212 km2 , it was treated as belonging to the same microclimate zone (see Figure 7.1). Thus, because during the flood season in Thua Thien Hue the rainfall duration is normally

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very long, from three to four days, the above assumptions (i) and (ii) were easily satisfied in the studied watershed. 7.3.2.3

Classifying Land Cover and Detecting Land Cover Change

The spatial and temporal data to detect land cover changes over the past two decades are not available for the entire basin. Therefore, this study focused only on one of three main subwatershed of the Huong river basin, the Huu Trach watershed (see Figure 7.1). Changes in land cover were measured using time series of satellite data. Remote sensing images for the research area were interpreted for the years 1989 (thematic mapper, TM), 2005 (SPOT), and 2008 (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection — ASTER) (see Table 7.2). All images were taken in the spring season between the 16th of February and the 17th of March of all three years. Hence, these images stem from the same cropping season and from comparable climatic conditions. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with the resolution 15×15 m from ASTER, was also obtained to delineate the watershed boundary. In addition, other available ancillary maps such as QuickBird image, topography, hydrology and road system, commune boundaries were geo-referenced, and merged to obtain a consistent set of base information. These maps allowed the verification of land cover delineation using additional point information and linear features such as, roads, and rivers. In addition, statistics and descriptions of the past land use and available from other sources, including official statistical yearbooks, regional statistical database, scientific publications and project reports etc., were also used in combination with results from the analysis of remote sensing images. The data gathered allowed to present an overall picture of land-use changes in Huu Trach watershed.

Table 7.2 Remote sensing images. Satellite Image

Resolution

Imaging date

Landsat TM SPOT ASTER QickBird

28.5×28.5 m 10×10 m 15×15 m 1×1 m

Feb 17, 1989 Feb 16, 2005 Mar 17, 2008 April 6, 2006

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Unsupervised classification methods ISODATA, which are mostly based on spectral information, were used to extract the main land cover types. Because some land cover classes had similar spectral properties, it was difficult to differentiate such cover classes only using this automatic classification algorithm. Thus, interpretation procedure that utilized other supporting information such as ground truth data from GPS survey, finer-resolution data from QickBird image, and other land use thematic maps to develop the land cover, were used. Figure 7.4 represent the procedure of land cover classification and change developed for this study. Four major phases can be identified. First, the 1989 Landsat, 2005 SPOT-5, and 2008 Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) images, were projected to UTM 48N, WGS84, to match the existing ancillary data. A nearest neighbor re-sampling method was applied during geo-referenced process with a pixel spacing the same as the original images in order to maintain the integrity of the pixel values. The geo-referenced images were clipped to the Huong river basin boundary. Although the images do not cover the entire the Huong river basin, they do cover the entire Huu Trach watershed. Second, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images were created. NDVI is the most widely used of all vegetation indices because it only requires data from the red and near infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and it can be applied to virtually all multi-spectral data types. NDVI has demonstrated to be well suited for monitoring broadleaf forest condition, and for many other applications (Lunetta & Elvidge, 1999), and is least affected by topographic features (Lyon et al., 1998). The equation used was: NDVI = (NIR – Red)/(NIR + Red). Third, ISODATA unsupervised classification was applied to extract objectively 24 classes of each NDVI image. These 24 classes were interpreted using field data, local knowledge, and evidence from finer-resolution image of QickBird taken in 2006, and allocated into five major land cover types (see Table 7.3). A majority filter was applied to the land cover to remove some ‘speckle’ effects that can occur when classifying images on a pixel basis in areas of very mixed land cover. The majority filter was based on a window size of 5×5 pixels. If pixels within the 5×5 area were of a minority class, these were reallocated to the neighboring majority class. The outputs of these steps were the land

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cover maps for the years 1989, 2005 and 2008. Forth, and finally, the comparison of these land cover maps, using with ArcInfo and ERDAS software, allowed detecting the land cover changes, both spatially and quantitatively.

1989 LandSat TM Image

2005 SPOT-5 Image

2008 Aster Image

Creation of NDVI Image (Band4-Band3)/ (Band4+Band3)



1989 NDVI Image

2005 NDVI Image

2008 NDVI Image

ISODATA Unsupervised Classification



1989 Classified Image (24 classes)



Field data and local knowledge



Quickbird Image

Class allocation

Class allocation

Class allocation




Majority Filter (5x5)



1989 Final land cover map (5 classes)



GIS Overlay

GIS Overlay

Output table 1989-2005

Output table 2005-2008

Identify and quantify changes

Identify and quantify changes

Land Cover change 1989-2005

Land Cover change 2005-2008

Figure 7.4. Flowchart of land cover classification and land cover change detection.

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Table 7.3 Classification system used for land cover mapping. No

Classification

Description

1

Rich Natural Forest

The forest has a stable structure, multi-story, diverse diameter sizes, but sometimes lacking lower story. The stable structure of the forest has not changed; biomass is high with a high percentage of large trees.

2

Medium Natural Forest

Heavily exploited forest, but significant time for regeneration. The forest has at least two stories; the upper story coverage is not continuous, being mostly established by the trees from the lower story before; there are maybe a few large trees.

3

Poor Natural Forest

Most heavily exploited forest. The upper story may have some large trees, but generally the forest is of low quality with numerous of vines, bushes, and bamboos.

4

Regenerating Forest and Plantation

Regenerating forest with pioneer species that have smaller diameter. These forest, regenerating after agricultural activities are characterized by pioneer species that are fast growing and prefer light. Trees are of similar age and there is only one story.

5

Non forest

Includes water, grasses, bushes, wild bananas, scattered wooden trees and bamboos, and other human land uses such as agriculture, villages.

7.4 RESULTS 7.4.1

7.4.1.1

Driving Forces of the Perception on Forest-Flood Relationship Among Upland People Social-Economic and Natural Conditions in the Period Before 1989

According to the research of Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF 1997), before 1954 natural forests occupied most of the upland areas of the Huong river basin. Upland farmers mainly lived on shifting cultivation, hunting and collecting products from forests. However, because of large forested areas, low population density and long fallow period, the impact of shifting cultivation on forestry resource was almost insignificant.

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7.4. Results

Damages were instead created by the war of 1967–1968 and 1972–1973 which seriously destroyed the upland forests. Subsequently, after 1975 until the late 1980s, the Vietnamese government implemented ‘fixed settlement’ policies, which provided land and financial support to upland people to build ‘fixed houses’, while villagers still lived on shifting cultivation. Unfortunately, this cultivation practice and forest exploitation carried-on without any planning degraded the quality of forests, often causing soil erosion, landslide (HUAF 1997). For example, after clearing and burning shrubs, due to the absence of vegetative cover, the plots were exposed to severe erosion from heavy-rain. Because the negative impact of clearing forest for shifting agriculture was so obvious, upland people strongly perceived that forests besides bringing positive impacts to the environment also helped reduce flood risks. Another important experience shaping the forest-flood perception was the New Economic Zone (NEZ) program, also started in 1975. With the support of local government authorities, people from Hue city, surrounding lowland villages, and the boat people (who lived on the boat along the river and lagoon), came to settle the upstream areas of the Huong river. To survive in the new environment, these new settlers cleared the forest and grew crops in the hills and wet rice in the small valleys and alluvial areas alongside natural springs. Regrettably, without proper training for sustainable long-term use of the abundant land (for example sloping for upland farming), these new settlers, allured by shortterm benefits, heavily exploited the upland severely degrading it. According to the results of the focus group discussions with upland farmers, in this period, no formal rules governed forestland management. Work in the uplands was neither managed nor controlled by the co-operative or a State Forest Enterprise (SFE). Instead, local people had designed their own rules. Everyone was free to clear as much land as he or she wanted; how much land farmers could open up only depended on their will and available labor force. Upland access was not restricted to any individuals or group of people. Furthermore, logging activities, and over harvesting of forest products heavily contributed to degrade the forest.

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7.4.1.2

Social-Economic and Natural Conditions in the Period After 1989

During this period, the important factors influencing the perception of the forest-flood relationship were forest management policies and land use regulations, which changed from exploitation to protection of the river upper watersheds. Indeed, many reforestation programs were launched in the Huong river basin. They included the United Nations World Food Program (WFP — often identified by the acronym PAM), the ‘fixed cultivation and settlement’ program, the government program 327 and more recently the Five Million Hectares Reforestation Program (5MHRP). Vietnamese decision makers started perceiving flood risk reduction as one of the most important “environmental services” of the forest. Consequently, with the establishment of the 5MHRP, in 1998, the Vietnamese government focused its environmental policies on reforestation of the hill slopes and bare lands. This watershed management policy prioritized comprehensive forest cover, and one of the stated aims was to reduce the severity of natural disasters (The Government Socialist Republic of Viet Nam 1998). Forest management of major areas in the uplands was allocated to the Watershed Management Boards under the Thua Thien Hue provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Between 1994 and 2000 the Boards organized the planting of a major part of the hill land, mainly with acacia. Agricultural production has gradually been transferred to the river valleys instead of the hill slopes, in order to protect the forest. As a consequence the forest cover types have been significantly redistributed during this period (see Figure 7.5). Forest and flood relationship perception has also been influenced by social norms. These norms can be viewed as statements that regulate behavior and act as informal social controls (peer pressure). They are usually based in some degree of consensus and are enforced through social sanctions. For example, the “sacred forests” in the head watersheds have been protected by traditional upland minority social norms. However, starting in 1975, with a large number of lowland people and city dwellers migrating to the upland, these norms started to be ignored. The lowland and city people brought their norms, namely intense lowland farming approach, to the new locations. These norms have gradually influenced the perception of upland people on the forest and flood relationship.

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7.4. Results

Figure 7.5. Land cover in Huu Trach watershed in 1989, 2005 and 2008. (Source: Auther’ calculation from satellite images).

It is important to note that annual flooding in lowland communes has been a perennial phenomenon since ancient time. The Huong river and lagoon system play an important role in local people’s livelihoods, such as providing food, water, and transport. The flood-borne sediment provides the nutrients that maintain lowland agriculture and aquaculture, and also serves as a natural irrigation system for the region. For centuries, farmers, fishermen, and others have made the river, delta and its vast lagoon their home. Therefore, the lowland farmers and fishermen living along the lagoon often welcome the annual flood to bring down sediments rich in nutrients and water of sufficient volume to clean the lagoon environment for the next aquaculture crop. A survey in the coastal areas revealed that a high percentage of respondents think that floods help to clean the environment (e.g. rinse lagoon and rivers) (Tran el al., 2008). Floods also bring alluvium to agricultural land and kill insects and rats. Respondents even claimed that every three years, a big flood is needed to refresh the lagoon environment. Many respondents agreed that the production of aquaculture, and agriculture Lowland farmer norms

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Increase agriculture productivity

13

Increase aquaculture productivity

35

10

Necessary for lagoon system

21 31

7

27

0%

13

19

40%

Strongly agree

13 30

43 20%

26 39

38

16

Make lagoon, river cleaner

35

40 19

Fertilize agriculture land

26

34

16

Kill the insects, rats

27

Agree

60% Not sure

22 80%

100%

Don't agree

Figure 7.6. Perception of positive impacts of annual flood on environment in lowlands. (Source: Tran et al., 2008).

increase after a large flood (Figure 7.6). However, lowland farmers claimed that they could do a little or nothing to avoid destruction from catastrophic floods (Tran el al. 2008). As a result, the common flood coping strategy was to “live together with the flood”. Houses were often constructed in elevated areas or high foundations to avoid normal floods, production activities were adjusted to avoid the adverse impacts of the flood as much as possible, and livestock (and other properties) were moved to higher places before the flood season. In the city, where most of the people are no longer relying on floodplain waters for their livelihoods, normal flood cycles are seen as a danger. For city dwellers flood is no longer a very important natural phenomenon that keeps the river ecosystem in balance, but rather a negative event provoked by human activities. Thus, flood control measures to protect the city from floodwaters have always been top priorities of the flood risk management. Most of these measures are structural measures, which include the constructions of levees, reservoirs, redistributions of flood flows to other areas, and outlets widening (PCFSC 2000). Forest degradation in the head watersheds are also considered the causes of the catastrophic floods. Thus, the reaction of the government after flooding was to call for an intensification of tree planting. For example, the Vietnamese newspaper Lao Dong reported from a meeting for flood recovery on November 15, 1999 where the prime minister of Viet Nam announced City dweller norms

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7.4. Results

Migrated households

Others

Upland farming

Aquaculture (capture, fishing)

Hired labor

Waged labor

Services (small trade, vendor)

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Lowland farming

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Upland households

Figure 7.7. Percentage of main occupation before settling in the uplands.

the implementation of the ‘five million hectare forest program’ in the central provinces as being a priority (Beckman 2006). The Thua Thien Hue provincial committee for flood and storm control also put forest protection in the uplands as one of the priorities to reduce the flood risks for the Hue city (PCFSC 2000).

7.4.2

Empirical Results of the Perception Amongst Upland People

Before analyzing the perception amongst upland people, it is important to know the human geography of upland population. The survey shows that in the studied area only a slightly majority (54%) of households originated as upland farmers. The remaining households came from Hue city (29%), lowlands (14%), and boat people (3%). In terms of general education, the residents of the surveyed communes received limited schooling. Amongst 404 respondents, only 5% of them had high school education, 23% of them had secondary education, and 72% of respondents had no primary education. In addition, most of the new migrants from outside the uplands had no skills in upland agriculture (see Figure 7.7), and only 7% of them received upland farming training before moving to the mountains. The survey also highlighted that differently from the lowlands and Hue city dwellers, the upland people did not perceived flood as a serious problem for themselves. 26% of the respondents claimed that flood disasters significantly impacted their families,

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and only 7% of them stated that flood disasters had seriously impacted their livelihoods. This study highlights that upland people’s common perception of the relationship between forest-cover change and flooding appeared to have been shaped in two distinct phases. Before the 1980s, upland people recognized the forest’s role in the watershed discharge through their observations and experiences. However, after the 1990s this perspective was gradually shaped by government forestry policies/programs, and mass media persuasion, which started paying increasing attention on the relationship between forest cover-change and catastrophic flooding. Thus, forest management practices of upland communities become perceived as one of the main causes of catastrophic floods in lowlands. For example, as it can be seen from Figure 7.6, the survey found that 93% of respondents believed that the biodiversity of fauna and flora, in terms of density and quality, have decreased. Most importantly, these changes were seen as concurrently with the increasing of catastrophic flooding. Thus, when asked about the impacts of forest degradation, upland people believed that deforestation impacted negatively the environment, and like the city people, they also believe that degradation of upstream forest causes the catastrophic flooding. Figure 7.9 shows that almost half of the respondents from the upland communes believed that deforestation significantly intensify all kind of meteorological related disasters (e.g. flood, flash flood, soil erosion and reduced stream flow during the summer).

Flood

72

13

Biodiversity 2 (quantity/density) 0%

93

20%

40%

Increasing

15

5

60%

Decreasing

80%

100%

No change

Figure 7.8. Observation of upland people on the changing biodiversity and flood.

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7.4. Results

5% 26%

2% 49% 3%

15%

Increase flooding

Reduce water in summer

Cause flash flood

Cause soil erosion

Cause all mentioned above

No significant impact on environment

Figure 7.9. Perception of upland people on the impacts of deforestation.

God punishes human being 8

Upland farmers

40

5

23

24 Degradation of upstream forest

Lowland 2 farmers

39

City dwellers 3

40

21

14

23 Impact of climate change

12

20

26 Natural circumstances

Boat people

25

0%

20%

33

40%

25

60%

17

80%

100%

Impact of climate change and improper use of natural resources

Figure 7.10. Perception of people in the uplands on the causes of catastrophic floods.

The second most indicated cause of catastrophic floods was the degradation of upstream forest (40% of the total respondents). Remarkably, it can be concluded that upland people now consider themselves responsible of the catastrophic flood downstream. Figure 7.10 shows that 40% of people who originated from uplands now believe that degradation of up stream forest causes catastrophic flooding downstream. It is difficult to assess to what extent upland farmers believe in the environmental benefits of reforestation (which was mainly

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pushed by government and international projects) or still rely on their own observations. In fact, in terms of perceive solutions to catastrophic flooding, the majority of respondents thought that flood protections should be based on forecast and mitigation, and only 22% of them thought that forest protection is important. This proposed measure seem to contradict the previous finding that upland people believe that catastrophic floods are due to forest cover changes. Yet, this inconsistency could be explained with the fact that upland people rationally choose the flood mitigation measures that minimally impact their livelihoods. As discussed above, the majority of upland people did not report direct damages from a catastrophic flood, but almost half of the respondents stated that forest protection programs (i.e. State Forest Enterprise and Watershed Management Board) have decreased the family income. It is clear that these policies are affecting the livelihood of upland people making them poorer. Thus, it is likely that only those respondents whose livelihoods were seriously affected by floods, suggested forest protection and better land use management in the upland as the most important measure to mitigate catastrophic floods (Figure 7.11).

7.4.3 7.4.3.1

The Facts from Hydro-Meteorological Data and Land Cover Change Analysis The Causes of Catastrophic Flood Impacts

The analysis of flood level trends based on the time series data for the last 30 years in the Huong river basin highlighted the following findings: (1) significant increasing trend of the yearly highest flood peak (flood level) in the lowlands (very high probabilities of 95% at Kim Long station on the Huong river), (2) the number of days with floodwaters above alarm level II (200 cm) has also increased (however, this trend is not statistically significant at 95% level of confidence, see Figure 7.12), (3) the upward trend over time for annually maximum rainfall was observed at the three weather stations, however, this trend is not statistically significant at 95% level of confidence, and finally (4) a strong linear correlation was found between the highest flood level in lowlands and the rainfall in the uplands on the days of flood peak. The linear regression model between highest flood level and rainfall showed that more than 71% variance of these flood levels at Kim Long gauging

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7.4. Results

47

Serious

13

11

29 Good early warning and effective evacuation plan

46

Little

33

12

9

Flood control such as (dike, dam, reservoir) Rescue and recovery

33

Very little

26

16

26 Focus on forest protection and land use in the upland

9

Not at all

0%

39

20%

33

40%

60%

19

80%

100%

Figure 7.11. Relationship between the level of flood impact and suggested flood reduction measures. Day

Cm 700

20 18

600

16 14

500

12

400

10 8

300

6

200

4

100

2

0

0

19 77 19 78 19 79 19 80 19 81 19 82 19 83 19 84 19 85 19 86 19 87 19 88 19 89 19 90 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05

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Number of days above alarm level II

Flood level at Kim Long (cm)

Linear (Flood level at Kim Long (cm))

Linear (Number of days above alarm level II)

Figure 7.12. The increasing trend of flood peak and duration at Kim Long station. (Note: The alarm level II at Kim Long station is 200 cm).

station (lowland) can be accounted for by the variance of the rainfall in A Luoi station (upland). This means that catastrophic flood levels appear mainly caused by climate change/variability. Furthermore, the linear regression model between the maximum rainfall per day within one month at Nam Dong station and the respective discharge at Thuong Nhat gauging station showed that more than 77% variance of the discharge was accounted for by the variance of the rainfall (Figure 7.13). This means that in case of extreme rainfall, the forest cover has minor role in reducing the discharge. Also, the results of a multiple linear regression model for the Ta Trach tributary (in which the rainfall on the day of flood peak and the runoff coefficient of Thuong Nhat watershed were used as the predictors for the flood peak at Thuong Nhat station), showed

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1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200

Rainfall (mm/day)

243

232

221

210

199

188

177

166

155

144

133

122

111

89

100

78

67

56

45

34

23

0 1

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12

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Discharge (m3/s)

Figure 7.13. Rainfall and discharge at Thuong Nhat and Nam Dong stations.

a statistically significant correlation between rainfall and flood peak (90% level of confidence, see Table 7.4), but no correlation between flood peak and runoff coefficient. Hence, the runoff coefficient, which is often used as a proxy for land cover, has negligible impact on the catastrophic flood levels. In other words, in the Thuong Nhat watershed, the changes in the forest cover had no significant impact on catastrophic flood levels. Nevertheless, climate change alone may not fully explain the increasing trend of catastrophic flood impacts in the Huong river basin. Something else may be at work. As mentioned earlier, the topography of the Thua Thien Hue province, with its steep hills that ring the coastal plain, located at a short distance to the sea, on average 50 km, and quickly rising to altitudes ranging from 200 to 1708 meters, heighten the risk of flood. This is particularly true during the monsoon season in October and November, when the heavy precipitation in the mountains quickly drains into the floodplains. Unfortunately, most flood defenses in the lowlands were built as individual local schemes with little consideration of their impacts across the wider river catchments, the aquatic and coastal environments, and their overall economic consequences. The fact that embankments and other engineering structures were most effective only for small- to medium-sized flood events was often not recognized. In addition, roads and other embankments sometimes inhibited the discharge of rainwater from waterlogged areas into the river system (particularly where the number of sluices in the embankments was insufficient) thus increasing the dimension of flooding. The available water storage of a typical

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Table 7.4 Results of multi linear regression model. Dependent Variable: Flood level at Thuong Nhat station. Standardized Coefficients

T

Significance e

Beta

B

Std. Error

B

Std. Error

(Constant)

6040.156

86.517

69.815

.000

Runoff Coefficient

232.127

273.148

.187

.850

.407

Rainfall at Nam Dong station

.387

.219

.389

1.771

.095


Unstandardized Coefficients

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reservoir is generally much less than the volume of a major flood surge. Finally, it should be considered that structural solutions often have spillover effects, shifting problems from one location to the next. For example, emergency releases of water during periods of high rainfall can dramatically and dangerously increase water levels immediately downstream of dams. Indeed, during the last thirty years the transportation systems have been significantly improved and developed, and the railway and north-south highway act as two-meter dams across the entire valley during the catastrophic floods. Furthermore, the dyke systems along the lagoon, which have been upgraded and developed during the last three decades, also block the water flow during the flood season (see Figure 7.14). Although there are numerous culverts, bridges and other openings, the main transportation and dyke systems are likely to restrain the flow of water towards the coast. During periods of intense rainfall and consequent peak flows, these structures probably increase the flood level and pressure at the few openings toward the lagoon area. In conclusion, although there is a significant relationship between catastrophic flood level and climate variability, the increasing trend of catastrophic flood impacts in the Huong river

Figure 7-14: Transportation and dyke systems in the Huong river basin

Figure 7.14.

Transportation and dyke systems in the Huong river basin. (Source:

Author’ elaboration).

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7.4. Results

basin, may be also related to the human’s intervention on the low drainage basin (lowland). While changes in forest covers and land use in the uplands have been shown to have negligible impacts on catastrophic flood levels, more studies are required to understand whether the development of main roads and dyke system in the lowland have significantly contributed to increase catastrophic flood impacts downstream. 7.4.4

Impacts of Land Use Policies and Programs on Upland People

As stated earlier in the chapter, the perception that forest cover change and catastrophic floods are linked is ingrained in the Vietnamese policy-making. The rationale for many forest management policies relies to a large extent on the perception that forests can reduce catastrophic flooding. Hence, to protect the lowlands from excessive floods anything that interferes with the forest integrity was forbidden. For example, shifting cultivation, practiced by ethnic minority groups was pointed out as the major cause of flood risks, and consequently banned. To leave space to reforestation programs the total amount of land available for agricultural purposes decreased with time. The end result was an increased competition over agricultural land among the villagers. The only land that could be used for agriculture cultivation was the upper river valley floodplains (obviously exposed to flashfloods, see Figure 7.15). Ironically, these forestry programs and policies in the attempt to reduce flood risk have in fact intensified the vulnerabilities of the upland people to flood disasters. The lack of access to the hill slopes was perceived both by households and commune authorities as the main constraint for recovery from the 1999 floods (Beckman 2006). Today households and commune authorities are not longer encouraging shifting cultivation, yet they argue that erosion control and flood protection is workable with agro-forestry production on the slopes. Namely, environmental and livelihood needs can be met without increasing flood vulnerability. Furthermore, by ignoring the value of indigenous practices, these modern policies have considerably disrupted existing local management systems, and thus increased the vulnerability of the upland people. For example, the forestland allocation policy in the decision 327 (Council of Ministers, Socialist Republic of

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Figure 7-15: ‘At risk’ agriculture area in the valley at Hong Ha commune Figure 7.15. ‘At risk’ agriculture area in the valley at Hong Ha commune. (Source: Author’ elaboration from DEM and QickBird Image).

Viet Nam 1992) has instituted a land use system where all land is either state-owned or private with no consideration of traditional common land use practices. A visible serious consequence of this policy in the uplands was riverbank erosion. Up to the 1980s, when forestlands were still under common property, people had been planting bamboo along the river to protect the riverbanks from erosion. Upland dwellers also used to plant bamboo and indigenous forest species for protection of agricultural and residential areas. However, when the forestlands became controlled by state forest enterprise or retailed to households, the incentives for community forestry initiatives decreased. Today, the riverbanks are largely without protective bamboo planting. In addition, the role of the communities was minor in the new regime for protecting watershed forests. Participation to the forest management program was mainly restricted to payment for services and the community was not allowed to participate in the planning and management. For instance, reforestation activities began quite extensively from 1986 to 2000 when the United Nations’ World Food Program implemented a series of projects (e.g. Project 2780 (1986–1989), Project 4126/Q (1990–1991), and the Project 5322 (1997–2000)). Through this program, capital and other material incentives were given to villagers to enable them to establish forest plantations. The more trees people grew, the

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7.5. Forest Cover and Catastrophic Flood: Key Findings

more incentives they got. So, to gain more from the program, villagers grew forest trees in gently sloping areas that should have instead been used for crop production (The 2001). As a result, within areas delineated for watershed protection, poverty problems arose due to insufficient land being allocated for agriculture and food production. At the same time, access to extract timber and other forest products became uncertain for the high percentage of people that are still depending on forest products for their living. Overall, the forest cover changed spatially (Figure 7.5). In terms of forest quality, however, the medium natural forest has been decreasing, while the poor natural forest along with the regenerating and plantation forest have been increasing in the last twenty years (Figure 7.16). 7.5

FOREST COVER AND CATASTROPHIC FLOOD: KEY FINDINGS

The causes of catastrophic flood are very complex and case specific. Integrated river basin approaches can take the complexity of flood disaster into proper consideration and lead to adaptive and effective flood management. A river basin approach integrates land management in the uplands with land-use planning, engineering solutions, flood preparedness and emergency management in the lowlands. This requires good understanding of all the physical processes involved, as well as the social behavior and culture of local residents. Furthermore, this approach should draw upon the best available scientific knowledge about 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 Rich Natural Forest

Medium Natural Forest

Poor Natural Forest

1989

2005

Regenerating Forest and Plantation 2008

Figure 7.16. Forest cover in Huu Trach watershed (ha).

Non forest

173

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the environmental, social and economic impacts of floods and the corresponding costs of interventions. In the case of the Huong river basin, the misperceptions about the causes of flooding that have misguided decision-makers, planners and managers alike, need to be replaced by rational understanding based on facts. It should be clear that in largescale reforestation programs, the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in agriculture, logging bans and the resettlement of upland people to lowland areas will not significantly reduce the incidence or severity of catastrophic floods. Importantly, the unfounded habit of blaming upland dwellers for catastrophic floods must be abandoned. Instead, practical solutions are needed to redress watershed degradation caused by inappropriate infrastructure development. Moreover, policymakers and development agencies have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that new regulations and strategies are based on the best available scientific knowledge and avoid placing unnecessary vulnerabilities on upland communities. While the ability of forests to prevent catastrophic floods appears to be limited, watershed management should definitely not be abandoned. Forests provide a variety of environmental services, which need to be protected and nurtured for the benefit of today’s and tomorrow’s upland and lowland populations. Watershed management must consider the needs and interests of local populations, but should also account for the needs of the wider society. The most effective approaches to reducing damage caused by catastrophic floods in the Huong river basin require a strong focus on downstream zones and floodplains. People in these areas need to ‘learn to live with flood’. At the same time, policymakers need to abandon their belief in quick fixes for flood-related problems. While the high costs of floods in the lowlands are evident, it is important that the beneficial aspects of floods are also acknowledged. It is only by promoting and supporting comprehensive integrated watershed and floodplain management that the needs and aspirations of all residents can be adequately addressed.

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Chapter Eight

Annual Flood Impact: Issues in Coastal Areas

8.1

INTRODUCTION

Floods in Viet Nam are well known phenomena and occur in all regions of the country, especially in the Central Coast region, Mekong delta, and Red River delta (CCFSC, 2006). People had to learn to live with floods, particularly those whose livelihood depends on the productive functions of annual flooding. Severe floods are well known and embedded in the Vietnamese culture, as ancestors of the Vietnamese nation regarded flooding as one of the four biggest dangers to people, along with fires, robbers, and invaders. Since ancient times, a large system of river and coastal dykes has been constructed to control flooding. For many centuries, this flood control measure achieved results all over the country. But this structural approach to flood control is now under pressure because the conditions inducing flooding are intensifying, both at the local and global level (CCFSC, 2006). For example, population increase, rapid urbanization, high demand for natural resource exploitation, environmental pollution and degradation are coupled with global threats, such as climate change. Catastrophic floods are increasingly causing losses of human lives, assets and infrastructures. As an example, the Central Viet Nam’s flood of November 1999 killed 780 people, affected around one million residents, and sunk and damaged more than 2,100 boats. This flood caused damage worth US$364 million (CCFSC, 2006). Indeed the negative impacts of floods are often so prominent that their benefits are underestimated or even ignored in flood

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management planning (Ogtrop et al., 2005). In fact, floods are also an essential component of agricultural and ecological systems, because floods provide the basis for the growth of crops, plants and aquatic life (Wisner et al., 2004; Few, 2003). Thus, it is important for Viet Nam to adjust its current flood management strategy both to protect the livelihoods of people who survive because of annual flooding, and to reduce the property and economic loss caused by the floods. Many researchers have, therefore, called for a broader approach to the flood phenomena (Dutta & Herath, 2004; Werritty, 2006; Ogtrop et al., 2005; Wong and Zhao, 2001; Dixit 2003). This research project explored the impacts of floods on economy, environment, and society in Central Viet Nam to understand the coping mechanisms developed by rural communities. It focuses on social dynamics such as flood risk perception and social capital that shape the responses to flood. The findings helped formulate an appropriate flood risk management model for Central Viet Nam.

8.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF SURVEYED AREAS The study was conducted in Tam Giang — Cau Hai lagoon of Thua Thien Hue province (Figure 8.1). Tam Giang — Cau Hai is the largest lagoon in the South East Asia, with an area of 22,000 ha, and length of 68 km along the coastline of the province. It is located at the intersection of the Northern climate and Southern climate, and within the region of the West Pacific typhoon, one of the greatest tropical cyclone regions of the world. The lagoon itself is the region of highest rainfall nation-wide. For this reason, it is frequently affected by various types of natural disasters such as storm, flood, cyclone, and coastal erosion. There are about 280,000 people living around the lagoon in 236 villages (from 32 communes in 5 districts) who earn their living by directly or indirectly using natural resources in and around the lagoon. Lagoon communities generally depend on three main income-generating activities: agriculture (including livestock), capturing fisheries, and aquaculture. Other complementary occupations include trade, seasonal work, construction and service (IMOLA, 2006).

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8.2. Characteristics of Surveyed Areas

Figure 8.1. Study areas.

Aquaculture in lagoon

Agriculture around lagoon

Transportation by boat

Housing

Figure 8.2. Landscape around lagoon areas.

During the rainy seasons, crops, infrastructure, natural environment, and the inhabitants around the lagoon suffer losses due to disastrous floods and storms. Loss and damage to property and homes coupled with insecurity to human lives caused by disasters

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keep many households trapped in a cycle of poverty. Moreover in the dry season, low rainfall and saline water intrusion around the river estuary also badly affect agriculture, lagoon and aquatic resources. This cycle of natural disasters inhibits the social and economic stabilization and growth of Thua Thien Hue Province (TTHPPC, 2002 & 2005). 8.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Effective flood risk management requires understanding of the environmental context, the identification, analysis, evaluation and monitoring of hazard, as well as the development of risk management policies, procedures and practices. Accordingly, this research applied the AS/NZS 4360: 1999 Risk Management Framework (Standards Australia, 1999), as the standard analytical process to achieve greater insights into flood management in Central Viet Nam. There are four main steps in this process as shown in Figure 8.3. The main purpose of this framework is to help decision-makers more effectively to achieve flood risk reduction. When treatment options are found to lower flood risk effectively and in a

Understand context (Physical and Socioeconomic condition)

Identify Risk (Flood trend)

Assess Risk (Flood impact)

Communicate Consult

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Monitor Evaluate

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Treat Risk (Flood perception and coping mechanism)

Figure 8.3. Flood risk management framework. Adapted from the Risk Management Standard AS/NZS 4360: 1999.

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8.3. Research Methodology

cost-efficient manner, and appear acceptable to those affected, they may be undertaken. In this risk management framework, flood disaster is considered as a product of hazard and social vulnerability. Thus, structural measures to reduce the hazard factors and non-structural measures to mitigate the social vulnerability are considered. The surveyed sites and the interviewed residents were selected according to geographical location, economic status, and main livelihood activity. The four studied communes were requested to provide a list of all households within the commune together with their village location, main livelihood activity, and economic status that includes three levels: poor, medium and better off. From these lists, households were randomly selected. The final number of questionnaires gathered was 401 (average 100 per commune). Knowing the inherent shortcoming of the non-random nature of the sampling procedure, the investigators were consciously cautious in the selection of the survey sites and respondents. Prior to the selection of survey villages, the investigators conducted a reconnaissance visit to some of the most vulnerable communes in coastal areas. During the visit, the staff of commune people’s committees informed the investigators about the magnitude and impact of the flood and the commune’s socio-economic situation. After careful deliberation, four communes were selected as the survey sites: Phu An, Hai Duong, Vinh Hien and Quang Phuoc (Figure 8.1) which best presented the socio-economic and physical conditions of the whole lagoon area. The research used both qualitative and quantitative data with the standard methodology shown in Table 8.1. Qualitative data were analyzed using textual analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. Indirect data were obtained from published academic and consultancy work, internal documentation from governmental and non-governmental organizations. Direct data, or primary data were collected through focus group discussion, questionnaires survey and semi-structured interview. Forty focus group discussions with community leaders and local people, and four hundred and one household questionnaire surveys were conducted. Questionnaires were carried out by staff of the Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, who have experience in survey techniques and were involved in the piloting and final draft of the questionnaire. Several semi-structured interviews

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Data sources

Method

Data analysis

1. Understand the context

Describe the socio-economic conditions that may influence or be influenced by flood disasters

Published books, journals, reports Key informants

Literature review Interviews with local scientists and commentators

Qualitative analysis using discourse and text analysis

Assess physical conditions including natural, built environment of case study areas

Published books, journals, reports Key informants Community leaders

Review the secondary data Transect walk Interviews with local scientists and leaders

Qualitative analysis using discourse and text analysis Quantitative analysis

2. Identify risk

Identify flood trend

Published books, journals, reports Meteorological dataset from province Disaster record data from province and nation Key informants

Review the secondary data and reports from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Review the historical records of floods Interview with local academics

Qualitative analysis using discourse and text analysis Quantitative analysis by SPSS

3. Assess risk

Examine the flood impacts on social, economic and environmental conditions of case study areas

Households Community leaders Key informants

Focus group discussion with community leaders and key informants Questionnaire survey of 401 households

Qualitative analysis using discourse and text analysis Quantitative analysis by SPSS

4. Treat risk

Identify the flood risk perception and flood coping mechanism of case study community

Households Community leaders Key informants

Focus group discussion with community leaders and key informants Questionnaire survey of 401 households

Qualitative analysis using discourse and text analysis


Research aim

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Risk management process


Research methodology.

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Table 8.1

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8.4. Results of Empirical Survey

with key informants (for example public officers, village heads, knowledgeable persons, and chiefs of mass organizations) were also carried out to validate and complement the information. The questionnaires used a multiple-choice format and were compiled into four sections: the general information of respondent’s household, disaster risk perception, flood impact, and coping mechanism. The household interviews were conducted in September 2006. The main occupations of respondents were agriculture, fishing, small business, or elderly who were no longer working. The majority of the respondents were males (74.3%) and most of them were the head of household (79.8%). They belong to two main age groups: 35-60 year old (67.4%), and 60-95 year-old group (22.9%). Most of respondents had primary and secondary education (74.8%), though more than 16% of respondents had no formal education.

8.4

RESULTS OF EMPIRICAL SURVEY

This section presents the findings of the four stages of flood risk management process stated in Table 8.1. The findings support the argument that in central Viet Nam, flooding is an essential element in the economic sustainability of coastal communities, yet it also causes losses and damages to humans and the natural environment. People had evolved sophisticated coping mechanisms, yet these mechanisms are under pressure. 8.4.1 8.4.1.1

Context of the Tam Giang — Cau Hai Lagoon Socio-Economic Conditions

The survey shows that in the studied area there was 52% of the surveyed population in the working age (from 18 to 55 year old), but only 35% of them had a well defined and permanent job, and 65% of the population was under-employed or dependant. In fact, due to the short duration of agriculture and aquaculture production activities, high percentage of population in the working age was under employed. In addition, the utilization of new techniques in cultivation significantly reduced the human labor for these sectors. As a result, under employment is growing. Almost all the surveyed population has skills in agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing. However, the level of education in

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these communes is still relatively limited. Most of the population received primary and secondary education (73%), while about 10% of the population over 6 years of age never attended school. Only 17% of the population attended high school or higher education. This low educational level is closely related to the stagnant local economy (IMOLA, 2006). 8.4.1.2

Physical Conditions

This study noted that there was development of the road network and public buildings all around the lagoon after 1986 when Viet Nam moved from central planning to a market economy. However, many households live in weak houses5 and semi-solid houses6 located far from the main roads and public facilities. They face additional difficulties to evacuate to safer areas such as two-story public buildings and higher places. The weak houses are gradually being replaced by semi-solid and solid houses,7 but paradoxically the improvements that have been made in the built environment have contributed to increased vulnerability to disasters and increased economic losses (computed in terms of the cost to recover or rebuild a damaged house after a disaster). Furthermore, despite the large amount of investment in housing, 78% of housing stock is classified as semi-solid houses, 19% of the housing are weak houses, and 3% of housing is classified as solid houses. The experience of the 1999 flood was the most traumatic to the villagers, particularly for those who live in simple houses, as they did not have any refuge when the water level rose up to many houses roofs. In addition, the strong wind caused fierce waves which made mobility difficult. A common reaction of villagers was to take out loans to repair and strengthen the houses, hoping to lower their vulnerability to future floods and typhoons. This is likely to cause future problems for many households, who have invested beyond their capacity to pay back.

5 Bamboo

or mixed material frame house, roof covered by thatch or corrugated metal or tiles 6 House built with reinforced concrete materials but some parts are insecure due to improper construction techniques 7 Reinforced concrete house with thick brick or block cement walls, secure doors and windows

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8.4.2

Risk Identification: Flood Trends

In the past few decades, in the Thua Thien Hue Province the frequency and severity of disasters increased significantly. In fact, during the 19th and the first half of the 20th century from 1804 to 1945, there were only 38 floods and typhoons in the historical record. In contrast, between 1975 and 2000, there were 41 disasters with one storm, eighteen floods, and 22 storm-floods (Do, 2002). These severe disasters included events such as the severe flood of 1983, a destructive storm in 1985, and the historic flood in 1999. There is also a tendency for the flood season to start earlier than before (Tran and Shaw, 2007). The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) states that warming of the climate system is now unequivocal. At continental, regional, and ocean basin scales, numerous long-term changes in climate have been observed. These include the frequency of heavy precipitation events that have increased over most land areas, consistent with warming and observed increases of atmospheric water vapor, and more intense and longer droughts have been observed over wider areas since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics (IPCC, 2007). The analysis of precipitation data, which was obtained from the databases of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (IMH) of the Vietnamese government for the study area from 1960 to 2004, shows that there is a significant increase of the rainfall in the rainy season, from August to December, and a decrease of the rainfall in the dry season from January to July (Figure 8.4 and Figure 8.5). This trend implies that there will be very likely more floods and drought in the future in Thua Thien Hue. Moreover, according to the observation of Thua Thien Hue Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control (PCFSC, 2000) the numbers of floods increased significantly during ENSO conditions, 7 floods in 1996 and 6 floods in 1998. In the last ten years, along with increasing precipitation, the daily maximum and monthly maximum precipitation increased. Particularly, the precipitation on November 2, 1999 was 978 mm, when the total precipitation in November 1999 was 2451.7 mm against the annual mean of 2849.4 mm (data from 1928 to 2001), the highest monthly precipitation in the historical record (IMH, 2006). Indeed, flooding in the region tends to last longer and be more unpredictable than before.

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Average monthly precipitation (mm) in flood season

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700

600

500

400

300

200

100 1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Year

Figure 8.4. Average monthly precipitation in rainy season (Aug–Dec) from 1960 to 2004. Average monthly precipitation (mm) in dry season

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200 180

160 140

120

100 80

60 40 1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Year

Figure 8.5. Average monthly precipitation in dry season (Jan–Jul) from 1960 to 2004.

8.4.3

Risk Assessment: Flood Impacts

In Thua Thien Hue province, flood is widely considered to be the factor directly causing impediments to economic development, environmental degradation, and intensifying poverty. It

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intensifies the poverty gap in the population and rapidly increases the poverty rate, especially in flood-prone areas. However, flooding is by no means a phenomenon solely of negative consequence. For example, floods irrigate and fertilize fields, flush out salts and toxins from soils and watercourses, and recharge the reservoir. In order to incorporate these dimensions into a general flood reduction plan further investigation is necessary to improve the understanding of the role of human activities and local environment in natural hazards. This section presents three main impacts: economic, environmental and social with both negative and positive aspects. 8.4.3.1

Economic impacts

Drought often occurs in summer from June to August and floods and storms happen between August and December (Do, 2002). For aquaculture activities, the second crop has limited time because the flood after the dry months does not allow proper pond preparation. In the flood season, rain and overflowing limit transport, impacting on the local economy. The entire area around the lagoon is prone to annual floods and low-lying areas are particularly vulnerable. The frequency of catastrophic flood is almost every ten years; e.g. the flood of 1983, 1985, and 1999. In November 1999 a severe flood occurred in Thua Thien Hue inundating 90% of the lowlands. The province was isolated. This flood lasted for one week, broke five new floodgates and created a new river mouth near the lagoon. Strong winds caused fierce waves, which made mobility even more difficult. The flood caused 352 deaths and damages for US$177 million (PCFSC, 2000). Figure 8.6 shows the percentage productivity loss and damage caused by the last three major flood events. Annual floods, which are more frequent and of lower magnitude, also bring significant damage to agriculture and aquaculture, e.g. destroying crops in the rice field, or sweeping away aquaculture products or ruining the fish and shrimp ponds. Although annual floods have a lower severity of impact than catastrophic ones, they can isolate villages by disrupting community roads, prevent access to services, suspend business activities and exacerbate health risk in the built and natural environment. Thus, many economic opportunities are lost due to the

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Flood 2004 (normal flood)

72

Flood 1999 (catastrophic flood)

32

Flood 1985 (flood and storm)

Aquaculture

18

18

0%

10%

Capture fisheries

21

23

20%

30%

Agriculture

16

11

40%

10

5

50%

Livestock

25

42

60% Housing

70%

6 111

13

9

80%

90% 100%

Household appliences

Figure 8.6. Percentage productivity loss and damage caused by three major floods.

isolation caused by annual floods. This study showed that 55% of respondents claimed that annual floods caused serious damage to sanitation systems, and 41% of surveyed households experienced serious damage to community roads. In short, most income generating sources and infrastructures were affected by these ‘normal’ floods every year (Figure 8.7). Since Viet Nam started its doi moi policy in 1986, which moved Viet Nam from central planning to a market economy, thousands of hectares of agricultural land were converted into aquaculture ponds and farming cages have mushroomed around the lagoon. According to TTHPPC (2005), aquaculture helped to increase the income of local people. However, aquaculture production is very vulnerable to flood. As can be seen from Figure 8.6, some 25% of respondents claimed that their aquaculture has been affected every year, and only 6% of them experienced flood impacts at a lower frequency (every three year or more). However, there is a difference between well-anticipated events and unanticipated ones with the same intensity. For example, a flood that always occurs at the same time of year (annually predictable flood) has very different effects to a flood that occurs at different times each year or only in certain years. The former, because expected and thus planned for, may be beneficial, while an unexpected flood may be disastrous, particularly to a large investment such as the aquaculture sector. Despite these negative impacts, floods are essential components of human lives in coastal areas of Thua Thien Hue province. Not surprisingly, the survey revealed that a high percentage of

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55

Sanitary

13

41

Road

17

Property

29

16

Housing

29

15

Livestock

29

16

Fish cage

18

Fishing gear/boat

9

22 24

Aquaculture products

25

17

64

13

52 8

10%

50

6

51

3

57

37 0%

39 46

13

18

Rice field

39

9

18

27

Vegetable

21

20%

30%

Every year (%)

24 30

16

9 13

Fish/shrimp pond

8

12

40%

4

50%

1-3 years (%)

38

60%

70%

More than 3 years (%)

80%

90%

100%

Not relevant (%)

Figure 8.7. Respondents’ perception of the type of damages caused by annual floods since the year 2000.

Increase agriculture productivity

13

Increase aquaculture productivity

35

10

Necessary for lagoon system

21

31

7

Fertilize agriculture land

Make lagoon, river cleaner

27

13

19

40%

Strongly agree

13

30

43

20%

26

39

38

16

0%

35

40

19

26

34

16

Kill the insects, rats

27

Agree

60% Not sure

22

80%

100%

Don't agree

Figure 8.8. Positive impacts of annual flood on environment.

respondents think that floods help to clean the environment (e.g. rinse lagoon and rivers). Floods also bring alluvium to agricultural land and kill insects and rats. Respondents even claimed that every three years, a big flood is needed to refresh the lagoon environment. Many respondents agreed that the production of aquaculture, and agriculture increase after a large flood (Figure 8.8)

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Table 8.2 Average of 1999 flood level and current level of plinth by household category. Household category

Height reached by water during the 1999 flood (cm from ground floor)

Elevation of current ground floor from garden level (cm)

Better-off Poor and medium

122.77 162.15

88.82 66.32

Note: statistical significant at 95% of level of confidence.

8.4.3.2

Poverty impacts

The results show that poverty and vulnerability to floods are integrally linked and mutually reinforcing. For example Table 8.2 shows that although most Viet Nam coastal houses are built with elevated ground floor (higher than the garden level) most of the poor and the medium households have the ground floor erected at a lower level compared to that of better-off households. Hence, the poor are more exposed to flood water. There is a statistically significant difference in impact during the 1999 flood event in better-off, poor and medium households; it can be said that in absolute terms the flood caused less economic impact and damages to the better off, while the poor suffered more from the floodwater. At the household level the poor have fewer resources upon which to draw to counteract the impacts of flooding. In the study areas 24% of the surveyed households was under the poverty line with an average per capita monthly income of US$11 or less. Flood disasters make production activities and livelihoods of the poor become unstable. The survey show that most of the poor household have only from two to five different sources of income, such as agricultural production activities (46%), hired labor (25%) or fishing (18 %). In addition, the vulnerability is often cyclical with regard to flood hazards, because disruption to assets and livelihoods by one flood event often make households more vulnerable to future impacts. After each flood, the same families tend to lose their houses, possessions and livelihoods, thus finding themselves forced to heavily exploit environmental resources for survival, for example, the necessity for the poor to go fishing in dangerous areas during the flood season or the need to get sand for construction along the river during the dry season. These activities accompanied with unregulated destruction of

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mangrove and coastal forest for shrimp farming, augment both the risk of, and exposure to, flood disasters. Increased population pressure in recent years is also causing over-exploitation of agricultural and aquatic resources on vulnerable areas. For example, rice-growing areas are intensively farmed flushing greater and greater quantity of fertilizers and pesticides into the lagoons. These practices directly affect the natural environment, and may hurt the very resource base on which many poor people survive. As a result, the rural communities, which depend on resourcebased activities, are those who pay the direst consequences.

8.4.3.3

Environment Impacts

One of the most significant effects of floods is the impact on human health, particularly in those communities with limited access to safe drinking water. Floodwater can also increase the risk from water-borne pathogens, and insect borne infection. The surveyed areas were located in the down stream of the river basin, and were often recipients of solid waste, dead animals, mud and debris from upstream communities. As can be seen from Figure 8.8, there are three factors: solid waste, unsafe drinking water and stagnant waters that are interlinked and cause serious environmental problems during the flood season due to the downstream and lowland areas of the lagoon. The study also found that the lack of ability and experience to deal with the ‘new garbage’ such as industrial wastes, emissions, mineral exploitations, pesticide, and waste from aquaculture and agricultural production brings new environmental hazards, making living conditions for many people uncertain. For example, villagers dump waste collected in settlement areas into ponds or along the banks of rivers within or around the village. As a result, open drains that carry storm water and domestic wastewater into neighboring rice fields are likely also to carry industrial pollutants such as grease and oil from equipment, acids and heavy metals from plating liquors, organic wastes from food processing, as well as pig manure. Ponds that were used to raise fish and retain storm water have been filled in for the construction of houses and shops. Thus, villages that have been able to deal with the new pollutants within their settlement areas have increased pollution in the adjacent areas that were used as sources of water for irrigation, vegetable

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23

Solid waste, household waste

37

21

Unsafe drinking water

27

34

14

16

28

Stagnant water, extended vector habitat such as mosquitoes

16

28

Dead bodies of animals

16

28

33

23

Large amount of mud/debris

15

29

33

23

5

Spread of pig manure, human waste

0%

15

10%

38

17

38

20%

30%

Most serious (%)

40% Serious (%)

42

50%

60%

Less serious (%)

70%

80%

90%

100%

No serious (%)

Figure 8-9: Environmental problems during the flood season

Figure 8.9. Environmental problems during the flood season.

farming, and aquaculture. Figure 8.9 shows the responses about the environmental issues arising during the flood season. Fortunately, no severe epidemics were reported so far in the surveyed areas even in the presence of epidemic agents. This was not due to mass vaccination or emergency health campaigns, but more likely to both inbuilt local immunization (i.e. biological adaptation through bodily defense mechanisms) and socialcultural practices such as hygienic practices, treatment of injures, sewage control, etc. 8.4.3.4

Social Impacts

Flood disasters and their aftermath significantly impact on social systems, both within the household and with the community at large. Many villages in the surveyed areas have been recognized by provincial and local governments as “Cultural villages”. One of the criteria for this recognition is a good relation among villagers. Community members helped each other to overcome day-to-day difficulties, and appeared motivated to participate in social and cultural activities in order to promote good traditional cultural values (IMOLA, 2006). When the people were asked what had been the sense of community after the severe consequence of the flooding, most responders were positive that community cohesion was stronger, and people tended to help each other

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Table 8.3 Impacts of annual flood on child education. Children cannot go to school due to annual flood

Frequency

Percent

Not applicable Less than 1 week 1-3 weeks More than 3 weeks

25 293 49 4

6.7 79.0 13.2 1.1

Total

371

100.0

(79.9%). However 10% of them claimed that community cohesion was stronger at first, but then broke down due to the stress of the flooding and the recovery process. Furthermore, according to the socio-economic survey of IMOLA (2006), there was a high rate of out-migration, particularly during the flood season when the main laborers migrated to cities to search for jobs. This left the people at home living more “at risk”, especially the infirm and elderly, and the communes remained without adequate human resources for flood response and recovery. In addition, annual flood prevents many children from going to the school during the flood season (see Table 8.3). This might cause a large number of children to permanently drop out of school (323 children out of 401 surveyed households) Another impact of floods on local communities is that after a disastrous flood some external helps may inhibit inbuilt recovery processes. The survey revealed that after the 1999 flood some villages delayed their construction efforts when they learnt about the massive external relief efforts and aid undertaken in nearby communities, or even worst, that in some cases social cohesion had been degraded due to the jealousy over relief distribution. 8.4.4

Treating Risk: Flood Risk Perception and Flood Coping Mechanism

Risk perception plays an important role in shaping the flood coping mechanism and flood management. As previously mentioned, risk perception can influence both the design and operational aspects of flood risk management. If flood disasters were perceived as hazard-led events, then the coping and management mainly focused on the physical aspects, structure measures, and external relief. In contrast, if flood disasters were considered as a product of hazard and vulnerability, then

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the mitigation measures recognized human behavior as important aspects and the copying and management focused on nonstructural measures. Thus, understanding how people perceive the flood risk is important to formulate a flood mitigation policy and plan (Marincioni, 2001). The results of this study showed no significant statistical difference (with a level of confidence of 95%) in flood risk perception among respondents with level of education below high school, whom, as shown in Table 8.4, tended to perceive floods as caused only by natural phenomenon (hazard-led events). Conversely, respondents with a higher level of education believed that flood disasters are the combination of natural hazards and social vulnerability. Only 19.4% of respondents with higher-level degrees perceived floods as hazard-led event with no relation to human vulnerability. On the whole, 40% of all respondents claimed that they could do a little or nothing to avoid destruction from severe floods. As a result, the common flood coping strategy was to “live together with the flood”. Houses were often constructed in elevated areas or high foundations to avoid normal floods. Production activities have been adjusted to avoid the adverse impacts of the flood as much as possible, and people have been aware the flood risk by moving livestock or property in a higher places before the flood season. Beyond the household and village level, at the commune, district or province level, the disaster risk management planning process (mainly flood and storm control) takes place every year, but it is mainly prepared by technical experts without the community’s participation. Once the plan is approved, the commune

Table 8.4

Relationship between flood risk perception and level of education. %Within the highest level of schooling

Flood risk perception

%Among all Respondents

No schooling

Primary school

Secondary school

High school

Flood disaster is an act of God Flood disaster is the result of hazard and vulnerability No comment Total

47.3%

45.3%

50.6%

51.6%

19.4%

47.8%

45.3%

45.5%

42.6%

80.6%

5.0% 100%

9.4% 100%

3.9% 100%

5.7% 100%

0% 100%

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authorities disseminate the decision to people before the flood and storm season on loudspeakers or through hamlet leaders during community meetings. This annual plan on flood and storm control is not detailed and mainly focuses on organization, structure, roles and responsibilities of members, rather than a comprehensive preparedness, mitigation and response plan. At the provincial level, a detailed plan for preparedness, mitigation, response and drilling is prepared only for high-risk areas. The disaster preparedness and response plan from commune to provincial level also requests relevant sectors and organizations to reserve material for responding to emergencies. At the national level, the latest national strategy for natural disaster prevention, control and mitigation has pointed out the increasing trend of natural disasters, and tried to integrate disaster risk management into the overall socio-economic development plan as well as the national strategy on poverty reduction plan. Different results were found in regard to the level of involvement of stakeholders during the three different phases of flood disasters: just before the flood when the early warning information is issued, during the flood, and throughout the relief and recovery stage (Figure 8.10). The data shows that the national government (province and district committee of flood and storm control, army, and police); local government (commune and village

4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00

Just before

During

Mass media

NGOs

Neighbors, relatives, friends

Mass organizations

Local Government

0.00 National Government

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Relief stage

Figure 8-10: Average level of involvement Figure 8.10. Average level of involvement. (1. Not responsible; 4. Very responsible) of stakeholders in the different phases of flood disaster)

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committee of flood and storm control, civil defense force, and village leaders); special interests organizations (fatherland front, women union, farmer union, veteran union, and youth union); neighbors; and NGOs organizations, put more emphasis on the relief and recovery stage of disasters. Conversely, mass media are more active before the impact. The social capital available in a local community for dealing with flood risk includes bonds with neighbors, relatives, friends and other mass organizations. This social capital increases the responsiveness of local institutions such as village committees for flood and storm control (VCFSC), commune committees for flood and storm control (CCFSC), or mass organizations (e.g. Youth Union). The crises usually lead to mobilization of organizations at all levels. The village and commune organizations become more active in organizing mutual support to help households. Preexisting mass organizations effectively mobilize people to help each other build or repair housing. Villagers hold numerous public meetings to establish ways of coping with the crisis after the disastrous floods.

8.5 TRADITIONAL COPING MECHANISMS OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES 8.5.1

Preparedness

Being prone to floods and storms, most people in the villages are aware of the hazards that come with seasons. Households and local authorities engage in a whole series of activities at least a month before the storm and flood season, as follows: – Repair and reinforce the house; – Reinforce the banks of paddy fields to avert damage and losses; – Keep harvested paddy on elevated storage; – Move animals to safer place; normally cow and buffalo are moved to the closest upland communes; – Prepare emergency food, firewood, and medicine. Commune PC and agricultural cooperatives in the villages often play a major role in encouraging households to make such preparations. In most of villages, households who own boats

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8.5. Traditional Coping Mechanisms of Local Communities

bring them on to the river, canals nearer to their houses, in case they are needed when it floods. Preparation of drinking water depends on the available sources. In some households, water tanks were used to store rainwater and they were set high enough to protect domestic water supply from flooding. Households that rely on well water may prepare stores of water in advance of the flood season. All communes have a plan for disaster preparedness. Village chiefs, mass organizations, and PC staffs are normally involved in the process of making the plan. 8.5.2

Response, Relief and Rehabilitation

The provincial office of the Hydro Meteorological Service (HMS) of Viet Nam provides warning for an impending cyclone, flood or drought. In Thua Thien Hue, the flood forecasts issued by HMS have 4–6 hours lead-time. Villagers are already on alert mode during the flood season. Communication of early warning is mainly by radio, TV or loudspeaker systems. The survey revealed that more than 80% household has TV. Warning of an approaching hazard is received by the district CFSC, and is then relayed to commune CFSCs by telephone, radio and TV. This triggers a flurry of activities in the communes. A member of the commune CFSC on early warning goes around informing people using a loudspeaker. Members of mass organizations such as YU, WU, VU also assist in the dissemination of early warning. The Red Cross volunteers play important role in evacuation. Evacuation is started when floodwaters start to rise. Two story buildings, public buildings constructed in safe places are usually served as accommodations for refugees. Rescue at the commune level is undertaken by a CFSC, with assistance from the YU, FU, FC and trained RC volunteers. External rescue assistance from province involves the army, police and the coast/border guard. The RC and district health clinics provide emergency health services. Some members of the WU are also trained to assist in emergency deliveries of babies. The commune CFSC undertakes relief activities with assistance from the WU and RC. Member of WU cook food in a safe place. Relief goods are usually equally distributed. A rapid needs and damage assessment is conducted by CFSC, with assistance from VU, WU and Agriculture Cooperatives as well as RC to provide basis for rehabilitation assistance.

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el

n t /M i t i g o pme at

n

Mitigation

Preparedness

Warning

e p a

Disaster Cycle

Threat

R

Emergency

e

s

p

o

ns

P

r

Rehabilitation

r

a

Reconstruction

t

i

o

Prevention

io

n

v De

r y

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Rec o v e

May 20, 2009

Disaster

e I mp a c t s

Figure 8.11. Disaster management cycle in Thua Thien Hue Province.

8.5.3

Role of Local Institutions in Disaster Risk Management

The roles of local institutions in disaster risk management were assessed with reference to each major phase of the disaster management cycle (see Figure 2.1 and Figure 8.11). While local institutional response with regard to disaster preparedness is adequate to manage annual routine floods, there were inadequate in the event of severe floods like the 1999 flood. Based on the experiences of the 1999 flood, the local institutions could articulate the disaster prevention and mitigation strategies, which could reduce the impacts of floods. However, due to paucity of resources, the disaster mitigation and prevention measures are yet to be incorporated into development planning process at local level. This section provides an overview of the role of local institutions in the context of the 1999 flood in each stage of disaster management cycle: preparedness, response, recovery and the development. 8.5.3.1

Preparedness

Although most interviewed households agree that floods are becoming worse both in severity and frequency, they prepare at a level commensurate with the worst disaster they experienced, and not at a level that might exceed their experience. In the 1999 flood,

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people’s preparation for and local institution perception about the flood were all based on their past experience. Some families admit that they did not begin to make any preparations until the floods were virtually upon them. Elderly, young couples with small children, and women-headed households in particular may not have enough labour to undertake thorough preparations. In preparedness phase it is important to pay attention to early warning information, local people with their own grassroots experience of disasters, do not always respond to warnings. Also there is a lack of understanding by local institutions on the interpretation and communication of disaster warnings to potential victims. There is a need to develop a communitybased disaster warning system with appropriate capacity building at local community based institutions, and for provincial and national meteorological forecast information providers. 8.5.3.2

Response

There was a quick and comprehensive action from the Government at all levels, as well as from local organizations, in response to the crisis. Immediate action was taken for rescue operations and food distribution by the local CFSC, mass organizations and the RC. District leaders were in boats during the whole flood, organizing rescue operations and food distribution. As action was urgent, more power was delegated to district PC than normal. The district PC took the main initiative in organizing the immediate emergency response and the longer term efforts for recovery. The budget had to be revised thoroughly and the district PC was active in designing a strategy in organizing resources for recovery. At the commune level, the CFSC involving the People’s Committee and mass organizations provided rescue, evacuation, relief, assessment of damage and rehabilitation measures. At all levels, sub-committees for the Management and Distribution of Support for Flood Relief were established, with representatives of key district sections and organizations. Sub-committees for Flood and Storm Protection were responsible for the planning and coordination of disaster mitigation efforts. The role of the village leader is greater during crisis than under ‘normal’ conditions. The village leader has the overview of all the activities undertaken by the various organizations and support directed to the village. Community decision-making is

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strengthened regarding the distribution of support from outside. Village meetings were frequent in order to decide on the distribution of Red Cross housing support, who was in extra need of food support, and so on. The village-based cooperative organizations played an important role in increasing self-reliance of the village. They built the capacity for producing the seed that the village needed, organized the storage of emergency supplies, and organized credit funds. The Fatherland Front, Farmers Association (FA), Women’s Union (WU), Youth Union (YU), Veterans Association (VA), Agriculture Cooperative (AC), the Viet Nam Red Cross, and the Buddhist community all took part in the organization of activities for repairing houses and infrastructure, cleaning up the environment, burying dead animals and replacing losses. People organized labor teams to help each other to recover the land. There were frequent village meetings on how to handle the crisis, and people in the village looked out for and supported each other.The inter relationship of local institutions with macro level institutions are shown in the Figure 8.12.

Vietnam Red Cross Education Department

YU

Authorities (CFSC) Fatherland Front

VA WU AC

Figure 8.12.

8 The

FA

District Agriculture

Interrelationship of local institutions with macro level institutions.8

size of the circles represents the relative importance of the organizations (to local disaster management). Overlap of circles indicates closeness in relationships.

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Mass organizations, village and commune leaders spent a lot of time on social visits, supporting people, finding out about what damage people had suffered and how people were coping. It is socially very important that leaders of the village and commune organizations visit as many households as possible to see how they are, and show that they care. During the interviews, people would always specify which leaders of organizations had visited them to enquire about their situation. When there is a decision to be made in the villages, 26% respondents said the leaders decide and then inform the villagers, leaders of commune PC and mass organizations collect the opinions from villagers and then make a decision (57% respondents) only 17% respondents informed that villagers with the help of PC and mass organization hold a discussion and make a decision together. The role of village heads in two communes are highly respected, more than 80% respondents said they were chosen by vote of all members based on the knowledge, devotion to community activities and leadership potential. If commune or village staffs failed in the social commitments, this was considered a serious problem, impacting on their credibility to continue in their positions. There is some diversity as to who took the lead on response among the mass organizations in different localities. In almost all cases, VNRC played a key role; in some cases the members of the Women’s Union; and in other cases, the Farmers Association. In all cases, there was much collaboration between them and with others, including the Fatherland Front, Veterans Association, Youth Union, etc. These organizations divided responsibilities according to their mandates, and led on different aspects of response and recovery. For example, the VNRC led in many localities on safety, rescue and evacuation, and training and information dissemination in this regard; the Women’s Union on food preparation. 8.5.3.3

Recovery and Development

In the communes studied, the credit for flood recovery has not been sufficient for recovery. The credit was largely used to replace lost resources, mainly rice, and did not contribute to the accumulation of new resources. It is therefore difficult for many people to repay. In order to be effective for recovery, the repayment term needs to be longer, with repayments made in installments relative to the harvest seasons. Credit System

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The combination of old debts, which were difficult to pay back after the floods, and new debts, both formal and informal, put some households in a situation of negative debt spiral, which is difficult to get out of. These households would need special attention to help them out of their difficulties. The Government is generally reluctant to cancel debts despite of a ruling to cancel bank debts if the investment loss in the floods exceeded 80% of the loan value. The State has been more liberal in granting prolongation of a loan period, rather than canceling debts. Normally Viet Nam Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development (VBARD) does not give new loans if the old loans are not yet repaid. The Bank also does not allow loans to be used to repay private debt. A special program would thus be required for households caught in this debt spiral, with a combination of credit to service old debts and provide for income generation. They would need special extension support to make sure that the income generation efforts pay off. They would also need support with overall household economic planning over a long time period. This could possibly be a role for the mass organizations at commune level, with support from household economic expertise from the district planning section and finance section. The commune authorities and its mass organizations have experience in managing loan schemes. It is reported that most of families that have had an accident or natural disaster have problems in repayment. Repayment through groups becomes a common method. There are about 20-30 members per group and the group leader collects money from group members. Loan terms vary according to the purposes of using the loan, and can often be from 1 to 3 years or up to 5 years for the cases of raising animals and planting fruit trees. For the interest, there are still many debates in the microfinance program for housing improvement. In one hand, local authorities and mass organizations insist that the favorable interest for the poor families should be as low as possible. In the other hand, development credit specialist and workers believe that the level of interest should cover all management costs and a risk of inflation, etc. According to VBARD, the minimum interest rate to cover all mentioned costs should be 1.18% per month, and this interest villagers considered very high for microfinance program for housing. In fact, most of respondents would actively borrow money to improve their houses if the interest is below 1% a month. Regarding the housing program, there is no official loan scheme

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8.6. Challenges of Flood Risk Management

for housing in two communes. But besides that, in reality almost all officers have confessed that the large number of families who received loans from official credit scheme for economic development, but have changed their using purposes. Many of them have use partly or totally these loans to rebuild or repair their house. Private loans are a common way for poor people to bridge the food gap during the months before the harvest of the winter-spring crop. These loans are paid back directly after harvest, and are normally not a big problem if they do not accumulate. The problem with private loans was decreasing before the 1999 flood because of increased availability of other sources of credit. After the floods, the situation became more difficult, as people have taken out more private loans than usual. Income during the years after the floods has been low and people have had difficulties repaying the loans. The local money-lenders are often local traders or more well-off households in the community or neighboring communes. There is a degree of social pressure on these households not to claim too high interest rates. But there is little open discussion about the problem at commune level. Households who take out loans do not normally talk about it. Loans from traders are more difficult to control, as they are outside community social pressure. Private Loans

Apart from the food relief and production credit, the third large area of emergency support was the provision of subsidized seed. Local government and local organizations expended great efforts in purchasing seed, both for rehabilitation of normal production, and for planting emergency crops of vegetables and tubers. There were large sanitation problems after the floods, causing epidemics of animal husbandry diseases. Many people, who reinvested in pigs and poultry after the floods, were again faced with losses. There were however no human disease epidemics, due to massive disinfecting efforts with chlorine added to all drinking water. Resources for Recovery

8.6

CHALLENGES OF FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT

The study found four main challenges to flood risk management in Thua Thien Hue: (i) changes resulting from moving a planned

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to a market economy; (ii) substantial environmental degradation; (iii) the region may already be experiencing the effects of climate change; and (iv) the traditional methods of flood risk mitigation are less effective than they used to be. First, the move of Viet Nam from central planning to a market economy had three prominent impacts on disaster risk management. Social capital such as cohesion or bonding, which is very important in disaster risk management, has been gradually reduced due to the rapid processes of urbanization and privatization. As mentioned in social impact section, most communities already had wisdom and social institutions to cope with traditional risks, yet with the current shift of government policy, which speeds up the privatization process and gradually moves from central planning to a market economy, these practices have broken down in many areas (e.g. lack of mutual help among people due to out-migration, and privatization). Moreover, although Viet Nam’s transition from state central planning is often heralded as a macroeconomic success story, the policy transition had negative impacts on social vulnerability. For example, whereas each community previously had to donate labor, equipment and material towards the maintenance and emergency repairs of the flood protection infrastructures, it now receives payment for these efforts from the government. Unfortunately, with fewer and fewer voluntary contributions and limited capacity of the government to pay for it, less money will be available for upgrading and maintaining infrastructures. As flood protection work is perceived more and more as a government’s duty, fewer people will become identified with the program of maintaining the flood protection infrastructure. It is already becoming increasingly difficult to mobilize the population for maintenance and emergency preparedness during the dry season, and emergency repairs during the floods, and this indicates that the public support for infrastructure monitoring and repair is gradually reducing. The doi moi moved Viet Nam towards a market economy, and one effect was that for many families their financial situation improved. A visible effect of this was that families progressively began to rebuild their houses with more durable and costly materials. However, changes of housing construction materials and techniques to “modern” styles without appropriate adaptation of the safety measures, have threatened integrity of the built

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8.6. Challenges of Flood Risk Management

environment. Few of these new houses have been built with safety designs to enable them to resist floods or typhoons. The unfortunate result was an increase vulnerability of the built environment. The survey shows that to avoid the damage of normal floods to housing, most of the houses were constructed on a high plinth elevating the ground flood an average of 71 cm from the garden level. This was not enough to prevent damages during the catastrophic flood of 1999, when floodwater reached an average height of 153 cm. For that disaster the average loss to housing was about US$290 per household, whereas the GDP per capita of the province was only US$193. However, high percentage of population still do not prepare for a disastrous flood. The survey show that only 19% of responders think that a flood with the same severity of that of 1999, or higher, is likely to happen in a very near future; 16% of them believe it will happen within next 50 years; 35% say that it might happen but chances are rare; and 30% of all responders think that a flood so destructive will never happen again. Indeed, changing these perceptions is an important challenge to any flood risk mitigation and reduction projects and programs. In addition, along with economic growth substantial investment has been made in developing urban centers without addressing flood vulnerability. The flood mitigation measures to protect these areas are, therefore, sometime undertaken at the expense of rural agricultural sectors. These measures are usually implemented without consultation or public deliberation among affected communities and regions. In Viet Nam, the national priority is to protect urban centers, given that floods are often seen as loss of property and investment, rather than as loss of livelihood and environmental assets. Indeed this puts another challenge in the face of flood management in the lagoon areas. Second, the natural environment in Central Viet Nam has been significantly degraded thus exacerbating the vulnerability to flood disasters. For example, under the cycle of flood impacts, the poor to survive have been forced to intensively exploit natural resources by expanding the agriculture and aquaculture to vulnerable areas, sometimes destroying mangrove and coastal forest for shrimp farming. These practices degraded the natural environment further increasing the vulnerability to flood. This degradation of the natural environment is intensifying the factors and risks of flooding and other natural disasters.

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Third, the study showed that human induced global change has likely impacted not only the climatic variability, but also the frequency and intensity of extreme events that have damaged the development of the region (see Figure 8.4 and Figure 8.5). Nevertheless the perception that disasters are an act of God (hazardled disasters) is still dominant among local people as shown in Table 8.3. Thus identifying adaptation options to long-term human-induced climate change is a real challenge. Fourth, this research revealed that in the studied areas besides the traditional risks, such as flood, storm and drought, new risks are rapidly increasing, for example, environmental, and epidemic problems. However, while floods had been a part of human life for centuries in Viet Nam, and local communities have evolved ways of coping with flood’s annual cycle, they completely lack experience to deal with the new risks. In addition, in the past floodwater quickly drained away through the network of rivers and canals built in the flood prone area. In recent years, the increasing degradation of the natural environment through deforestation and the conversion of agricultural land to urban areas has made the impact of floods more serious and longer lasting in the lowland areas. For example, because of the expansion of the road network and other barriers to drainage, the flood level has increased beyond people’s anticipation. Fatefully, although most interviewed households (65%), agreed that floods are becoming worse both in severity and frequency, they were still preparing for floods at a level commensurate with the worst disaster they experienced, and not for the greater floods that are likely to strike in the future. In the 1999 flood, for example, individual and collective preparation for the flood was all based on previous water levels. Some respondents admitted that they did not begin to make any preparations until the floods were virtually upon them. As a result extreme losses and damage occurred. Furthermore, the flood management methods in villages still follow ‘old customs’ mostly dependent on large-scale infrastructure once implemented by the government, but too costly to maintain nowadays. However, while these old practices are under pressure, the new methods necessary to deal with the modern risks have yet to be materialized. This phenomenon is visible not only in rural villages, but also in the cities where most households and industries are not well prepared to cope with the increasing level of floodwaters.

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8.7. Potentials of Flood Risk Management

Ultimately, the worsening environmental problems of Viet Nam appear to be the outcome of many different interacting factors including the natural setting, traditional practice, and institutional structure. These factors provide a backdrop for the more recent rapid environmental change brought about by the expansion of the market economy, population pressure, urbanization and industrialization, inappropriate or poorly implemented disaster mitigation policies, and lack of adequate knowledge and understanding of the environment. Hence, as Viet Nam is entering this new critical phase, traditional hazards remain high, new risks are rapidly appearing, and traditional disaster coping mechanisms are becoming inadequate. Without scaling up existing programs and initiating new and more innovative ones, the future of many cities and rural regions will be subjected to severe environmental deterioration and increased vulnerability to disasters.

8.7

POTENTIALS OF FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT

Undoubtedly, flood disasters are not simply a product of physical geography, climatic and environmental processes, but a combination of many interrelated factors, including demographic, technical, economic and social factors, which are continuously changing. The findings of this study revealed a few potentials to tackle the above-mentioned challenges. Indeed, the lagoon area is one of the key areas for aquaculture production of the country. With proper planning this sector can boost economic growth and help the poor to get out of poverty and possibly reduce their vulnerability to flood. This is a good opportunity to integrate flood risk reduction programs into poverty alleviation, socio-economic development and capacity building programs. It is important to note that helping the poor to get out of the poverty cycle “is a necessary but not sufficient condition” to reduce vulnerability, which beside economic growth requires good disaster mitigation and planning strategies, as well as a paradigm shift, in disaster perception, namely from hazard-led to hazard vulnerability. Likewise, the overall changing economic structure of Viet Nam holds potentials for an integrated flood risk management. Along with the transition to a market economy, the process of decentralization is underway in Viet Nam. New laws are being introduced to give greater powers to local authorities thus

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enhancing local autonomy to mobilize resources to address the challenges of flood risk mitigation. The role of local communities has been recognized; community based disaster risk management approaches are widely used. This new institutional framework has also facilitated the formation of civil society that could mediate between the individual and state, thus promoting increased government responsiveness and accountability in disaster risk management. Another important potential is that the community still has strong social capital and rich local knowledge to cope with natural disasters. This, coupled with the rise of civil societies and private sectors in the region will likely foster good partnership for flood risk mitigation. With the increasing flood hazards and the limited resources of the government to prepare and respond to disasters, partnerships among private and public sectors carry the potential to mobilize the capacity of all sectors of society, including households, private sector, and civil organizations in order to supplement the decreased collective action for risk management supported by the government.

8.8 MAJOR FINDINGS This study provided further support to the notion that flood disaster is not a pure hazard-led disaster, but has deep roots in social vulnerabilities. It also revealed that floods, although cause losses and damages (that often inhibit economic development), are also essential elements for the subsistence of the coastal populations of the Hue Lagoon. The livelihood of many coastal communities depends on the productive functions of cyclical floods. Thus, over time these communities developed coping mechanisms to reduce the negative impacts of floods, and take advantage of their positive effects. Unfortunately, these coping mechanisms are under pressures due to environmental degradation and improper development of the build environment around the lagoon. These pressures have been increasing since Viet Nam moved from a planned to a market economy. Furthermore, the region may already be experiencing the effects of climate change. Hence, an integrated flood risk management approach that considers all above findings both to maximize the beneficial aspects of annual floods and to reduce the socio-economic loss in the region is needed in central Viet Nam.

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8.8. Major Findings

Such an approach should consider social vulnerabilities as a core risk component of flood disasters. Indeed, this requires more involvement of state, civil society, private sector as well as local communities. The later should not be passive recipients or victims, but partners with a real voice, and thus with some power. The first step to achieve this result requires increasing disaster education and disaster awareness within flood vulnerable communities. Second, pre-existing local knowledge and concerns should be kept central in the decision-making process and the incentive structures should encourage a larger degree of local ownership and responsibility. At the local level, participatory flood risk assessments should be carried out before formulating any development projects in the region. These assessments need to be considered in the planning processes and implementation stages. This can be done through small scale and community based development projects. For example, a participatory flood risk mapping could be developed for all communes in the region (mapping is one of the effective tools to raise flood disaster awareness among communities). Maps are also very important in spatial planning for land use management and flood evacuation strategies. These participatory processes help local authorities and local people increase their sense of ownership over the process of planning and implementing the flood prevention projects. Third, since the traditional coping mechanisms are becoming less effective, new initiatives of integrated flood risk management are becoming necessary. For example, beyond the traditional practices on raising housing foundations or reducing production activities during the flood season to reduce the flood loss, new risk transferring and financing strategies should be introduced in the region. These financial tools should not be used only for housing but also for the production sectors. For example, in the housing sector, those who apply flood resistant designs when building their homes should be given access to credits and loans with low interest, as well as access to affordable flood insurance programs. In the production sectors, those who follow flood reduction calendar for their agriculture and aquaculture activities as well as applying flood resistant seeds should be made eligible for crop insurance programs. Finally, all those activities that in the past have been known to make good sense from all perspectives of flood risk management, for example wetland conservation and coastal reforestation, should be reintroduced and promoted.

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Chapter Nine

Participatory Flood Risk Mapping

9.1

INTRODUCTION

Natural disasters have the greatest impact at local level, especially on the lives of ordinary people. Current disasters are becoming more complex and climate change poses a greater potential for adverse impacts (Aalst and Burton, 2002). The damage caused by natural disasters at community level in Viet Nam has increased exponentially in the last 20 years, despite the great efforts that the Vietnamese government, international organizations, NGOs and local communities have put into many disaster prevention programs (CCFSC, 2006). Government and other organizations have insufficient human and financial resources to implement comprehensive disaster prevention programs at family level in disaster prone areas, and even if they did, mobilizing local capacities and partnership with communities must be considered as an essential component of any disaster risk management plan (Norton and Chantry, 2002). Communities have shown themselves to be a source of strength, contributing innovative ideas and local knowledge that, when mobilized and used appropriately, can lead to solutions that can make a fundamental contribution to mitigating the negative impacts of natural disasters. Many case studies and research projects have shown that there are no general technical solutions for reducing specific local disaster risks. New insights also reveal that disaster risk programs have failed to induce people to participate because these interventions have lacked both the will and the instruments to allow people to use their own knowledge. It is our conviction that greater efforts should be made to strengthen the capacity of local people for developing their own knowledge base, and to develop

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methodologies that promote activities for reducing risks in a sustainable way. Community based disaster risk management is considered as an important approach and process to reduce disaster risks. A resilient community is found to cope with the natural disasters, especially in the areas prone of frequent disaster events. There are several ways to enhance community’s resilience. One important aspect of community resilience is to provide appropriate information and knowledge to local people. Although people have their traditional wisdom and knowledge developed through ages, dynamic change of nature and built environment creates new risks, which needs to be translated to the people through appropriate information sharing channel. Participatory risk mapping is used as an important tool in the development practices, where local knowledge is extracted through group discussion, and is reflected in the form of maps. In this chapter, the author discuss the need for combining GIS and local knowledge into disaster risk management at local level; and suggest a way to mobilize available human and technical resources in order to strengthen a good partnership between local communities and local and national institutions. The chapter also analyses the current vulnerability of two communes in lowlands, analyses the correlation between hazard risk and loss/damage caused by natural disasters, and assesses the uses of household level risk mapping in planning to alleviate such risk. The disadvantages, advantages, and lessons learned from the GIS flood riskmapping project are presented through the case study of Thua Thien Hue province, Viet Nam.

9.2 INTEGRATION OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, GIS AND MAP INTO DRR It is crucial to integrate local knowledge, GIS and map into the process of disaster risk management. There are three main reasons for this integration: (i) a hazard map plays a key role in disaster risk identification, and it is an effective tool to make local knowledge visible; (ii) local knowledge is essential for disaster risk management; and (iii) GIS maps have advantages over conventional maps.

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9.2. Integration of Local Knowledge, GIS and Map into DRR

First of all, hazard maps are fundamental to the development of a community-based methodology for collecting and displaying the disaster vulnerabilities and risks that comprise the core content of local knowledge (Hatfield, 2006). Hazard mapping is one of the first steps of community vulnerability inventory (Wisner et al., 2004; Noson, 2002). Maps can provide clear, attractive pictures of the geographic distribution of the potential hazards that can be appreciated by local people with no specialist knowledge. These maps frequently provide motivation for risk management actions that would be difficult to obtain without a compelling visual (Pradan, 2004). The hazard mapping and data analysis also contribute to proper planning and resource allocation for disaster preparedness (Morrow, 1999). Second, the information that comprises the knowledge of local people or other groups with longterm ties to the land and its biophysical resources are usually part of the oral tradition and therefore it is seldom formally recorded (Hatfield, 2006). This means that local knowledge is essentially invisible to anyone but the “knowledge holders” themselves. Consequently, the essential goal of the participatory methodology for data collection is to make the invisible visible. The most successful way to do this is to engage in a process that enables local knowledge to be transferred from the mind to the map. The reason underlying the value of maps is that local knowledge information is fundamentally spatial and maps are all about the language of space. Since maps are seldom bound to written language they have proven time and again to bridge the gap between language and culture in terms of communicating ideas and information (Hatfield, 2006). In fact, the community knowledge of the social and physical environment is essential for natural disaster risk management. People know a great deal about their surroundings and are able to indicate which areas are prone to floods and exposed to typhoon damage, where uncollected debris blocks culverts, where standing water breeds disease, where currents flow faster when floods occur, which houses are built on platforms high off the ground whilst others are built with no plinth at all, which families are poor and vulnerable to flooding. It is this local knowledge that will allow planners to rapidly survey needs and opportunities for mitigation (Twigg, 2004). A cross section of inhabitants in the community including the elders and village leaders, women and children, a variety of professions, together contribute different

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Secondary data collection GIS preparation

- Satellite image - Hydrology map - Topographic map - Transportation system map - Land cover map - Land use map

- Computer - Software - Hardware - Human resources

Passed Incorporation in planning

Integrated Flood Risk Map

Field verification

GIS Analysis

Failed

Adjust weights

Hazard, vulnerability and exposure factors indentification (through PRA) - Major hazards - Factors contribute flood vulnerabilities - Factors ranking and weighting - Physical capacity

GPS field data collection - Flood levels - Private house conditions - Public facility conditions - Loss and damage caused by floods - Vulnerable areas - High and safe places

Figure 9.1. Flood risk mapping process.

Lowland housing

Lowland agriculture

Rural infrastruture

Flood measurement column

Figure 9.2. Landscape of lowland areas.

view points and concerns that help to map local hazardous conditions, for example where further settlement expansion should be limited because of risk. Moreover, hitherto mapping required a very cumbersome and time consuming process for transforming field maps into a wide

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9.2. Integration of Local Knowledge, GIS and Map into DRR

range of finished cartographic products. And once these maps products were produced, they were difficult to correct or expand. For example, flood risk information was presented on flood maps based on the existing conditions of the flood plain and watershed data and the level of previous floods. Those maps were generally the work of national and international organizations. Budgetary constraints and ‘remoteness’ from community level realities often prevented action to update these flood maps with sufficient frequency to reflect the changing flood hazards caused by natural disaster, and by man made changes such as newly constructed roads and urbanization and by geological changes such as land subsidence or erosion (Noson, 2002). This meant that once published, flood risk information could quickly become obsolete. In addition, another shortcoming of earlier hazard maps was that most of them did not include other essential micro community level data dealing with housing and house quality, with local capacity and demography factors, with the existence of safe multi story buildings or raised roadways, all of which are example of the data necessary to determine the local vulnerability to a flood hazard. The situation began to change rapidly in the mid 1980s when early versions of GIS came into use. Since then its importance as a tool to link non-geographic attributes or geographically referenced data with graphic map features and to assist with the management, storage, display and query of socio-economic data has become well established (Dash, 1997; Kaiser et al., 2003; Chen et al., 2003). The database of the GIS maps provides villagers, related agencies and organizations a better view of the real situation in rural communes. It serves as a guide map for stakeholders working in the study areas to implement disaster risk reduction projects and programs. Furthermore, by distinguishing between areas that are safe and that are vulnerable to natural disasters, it makes easier to ensure that emergency plans for evacuation or preparedness will be developed properly. More recently, advances in computer and GIS technology have increased the accessibility and mobility of GIS tools, such that communities can use GIS to manage their local knowledge and community data collections using mobile GIS and Global Position System (GPS) technologies. As a consequence GIS has now become a fundamental component of community-based methodologies (Hatfield, 2006). In addition, integration of remotely sensed data with traditional maps, mapping and GIS, is beginning

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to emerge as the next important stage in the development of local knowledge methodologies and applications. At present, the methodologies most frequently associated with local knowledge are primarily focused on the village or cultural context within which local knowledge studies are to be carried out. They deal with the nature of the data collection process in response to the earlier disaster risk issues and not on the potential of local knowledge data now required to help monitor and manage new disaster problems. As the range of potential applications for local knowledge expands, it becomes necessary to expand the methodology that is required for shaping the collection and processing of local knowledge data so that it will be able to provide insights and information needed to deal with the major environmental and disaster issues facing both small and large scale societies throughout the world. Thus, integrating GIS and local knowledge in the disaster identification stage, to map and assess the hazard prone areas is an excellent tool for disaster risk management. 9.3 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY Central Viet Nam experienced several hazards including flood, tropical typhoon, drought, saline intrusion, and whirlwind affecting both rural and urban areas. However, this study mainly focused on flood mapping in two rural communes. This was necessitated by the available resources and time frame within which the research had to be completed. Some of the spatial data was not sufficiently accurate, and better results would have been obtained by using a GPS device with accuracy greater than ±5 m. However, the study does effectively demonstrate the potential of combining GIS and community knowledge as an additional tool in regional and community based disaster reduction planning. In addition, may lessons learned from the process of integrating local knowledge into maps has been drawn from the study since the process of mobilizing community participation in disaster risk management is also important as the resulted maps. 9.4 DATA The principle information collected for this flood risk mapping and vulnerability assessment included hydrological information

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9.5. Methodologies

and flood records, geographical information including topography and land use; river morphology (in terms of return flood periods, duration and water levels and levels of danger), meteorological information relating to flood seasons, information about existing infrastructure (housing conditions, public facilities), demographic and socio-economic condition (poverty; education, etc.), and information on the damage and loss caused by previous flood disasters. In addition, data included spatially referenced variables dealing with topography, land cover, and demographic information. In this study the author used data at commune level, which was the most detailed level data of the latest Viet Nam census. A lot of this data needed considerable processing and further transformation in order to generate the variables used in the spatial analysis. To collect household and local vulnerability data, participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques were used to ensure community participation and to incorporate local knowledge in the whole process of map making (see Figure 9.1). In this study, most of the process of flood risk mapping was placed in the village and was carried out by local people and local authorities. At village meetings the community members first share their ideas and opinions on the purpose of developing the flood risk maps and what important factors they would like to put into the map. The next step is to draft the household flood risk maps based on the data collected from the field, and to discuss what actions should be taken to reduce such risks. This too takes place in a participatory way, ensuring that local experiences are incorporated.

9.5

METHODOLOGIES

In Thua Thien Hue, the flooding in residential areas is one of the most frequent causes of losses to housing and lives. Thus, the main concerns of flood mapping in this research focus on identifying high-flood-risk residential areas. According to the focus group discussions, there are many factors that contribute to the vulnerabilities to floods. However, in the low-lying area (see Figure 9.2), the low level of the plinth on which a house stands, proximity to the main rivers, distance from main roads, and specific house types are the most important issues. Specifically, most of the poor often settle in temporary houses in low-lying land areas far from

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Figure 9-3: Temporary house located in the riverbank Figure 9.3. Temporary house located in the riverbank.

the main roads and far from safe, two story houses or public facilities, and often very close to the riverbanks (see Figure 9.3). Based on the inputs from the discussion with villagers, 30% of households in each commune, equivalent to 600 households per commune, were visited to record the location of the house, to check the level of house’s plinth (floor level above the ground level), to identify the house type, and to interview the occupants about data on loss and damage caused by the historical flood in 1999 and more recent big flood in 2004 (see Figure 9.4). The project also surveyed all public buildings that can potentially be used as safe shelters in case of severe floods (see Table 9.1). Data from GPS were imported to computers. Each household or public facility was presented as one point following the attributes in Table 9.1. The base map is the overlay of transportation system, river and stream network, commune boundary, and land cover. The boundaries of residential areas of each village were also mapped from the field using GPS device. All data were projected into UTM 48N, WGS84. According to the result from focus group discussion among villagers, there were six main physical factors that can contribute to the household flood risk: house types; 1999 flood level; 2004 flood level; household proximity to river;

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9.5. Methodologies

Figure 9-4: Survey with family (level of flooding) Figure 9.4. Survey with family (level of flooding).

household proximity to safe shelter; and household proximity to main roads. The values of the first three factors for each household were obtained from the field survey (see Table 9.1), and the values for the remaining factors for each surveyed household were determined by using spatial analysis tools of the ArcView/Info Software Package. In order to develop the flood risk map, the severities of each flood risk factor were classified into five categories from low risk to very high risk based on the local characteristics and experiences of local people from the focus group discussions (see Table 9.2). The risks coming from floods arise not simply from geographical conditions and its environmental effects, but from a host of interrelated factors, including other demographic, technical, economic and social factors. In this research, therefore, the household flood risk was considered as probability of expected loss (of lives, injury, property or environmental damage, livelihoods and economic activity disrupted) per household resulting from interactions between natural hazards, exposures and vulnerable conditions. The household flood risk was calculated by the below equation:

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Table 9.1 The primary data collected for the flood risk mapping.

Public Buildings

Variable

Measure

Safer Shelter

Kindergarten, School, Clinic, etc. Solid, Reinforced, Semi-solid, Temporary House 1 story, 2 stories, Cm

House Type Private House Characteristics

Storey of House Level of plinth above ground

Livelihood loss and Damage Caused by 1999 Flood

Level of 1999 Flood Buffalo Pigs Duck, Chicken Rice Vegetable Others

Cm Unit Unit Unit Ton Ton VND (1,000,000)

Livelihood loss and Damage Caused by 2004 Flood

Level of 2004 Flood Buffalo Pigs Duck, Chicken Rice Vegetable Others

Cm Unit Unit Unit Ton Ton VND (1,000,000)

Household Flood Risk Index =

m

∑ a i Hi × l × ∑ ck Vk i=1

n

∑ bj Ej

j=1

!

k=1

Where ai , b j , and ck are the weights of Hazard i (Hi ), Exposure j (E j ), and Vulnerability k (Vk ) respectively. And m, n, and l are the total numbers of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability factors respectively. First, the hazard index (Hi ) can refer to the intensity of the natural events, such as the water level for flood and the wind speed for typhoon. The level of 1999 flood (99FL) and 2004 flood (04FL) were, therefore, used as a proxy for hazard in this model. It is important to note that there is no linear relationship between the intensity of hazards and disaster in term of economic and human losses. In fact, there is a difference between well-anticipated events and unanticipated events with the same intensity. For example, a flood always occurs at the same time in

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Table 9.2 Relative Weightings for Major Factors in term of Flood Risk Potential. Very Low Risk

Low Risk

Medium Risk

High Risk

Very High Risk

Risk Index

1

2

3

4

5

House Type of household (HT)

Two storey solid house

One storey solid house*

Reinforced House**

Semi Solid House***

Temporary House****

1999 Flood Level (99FL)

< 40 cm

40–60 cm

60–100 cm

100–140

>140 cm

2004 Flood Level (04FL)

140 cm

Household proximity to rivers (PR)

Long distance to Rivers (100–14 m)

Moderate distance to Rivers (60–100 m) Moderate distance to Safe Areas (100–150 m)

Close to Rivers (20–60 m)

Very Close to Rivers (140 m) Very Close to Safe Areas (200 m)

Household proximity to main road (PMR)

Very Close to Main Road (120 m)

Close to Safe Areas (50–100 m)

9.5. Methodologies

* Reinforced concrete house with thick brick or block cement walls, secure doors and windows. ** House built with reinforced concrete materials and the insecure parts due to improper construction techniques had been repaired. *** House built with reinforced concrete materials but some parts are insecure due to improper construction techniques. **** Bamboo or mixed material frame house, roof covered by thatch or corrugated metal or tiles.


Risk Severity

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a year or annually predictable flood has very different effects to a flood that occurs at different times each year or only in certain years. The former may be quite beneficial, while an unexpected flood may be disastrous. In this study, the 1999 flood was an unpredictable flood and the 2004 flood was an annual flood. Thus, the weights of 1999 flood and 2004 flood were assigned as two and one respectively or a(1999 f lood)= 2 and a(2004 f lood)=1. Second, the exposure to the hazard (E j ) refers to the degree, duration and/or extension of the system’s contact with the hazard. The system’s exposure to the disturbance is, however, an attribute of the relationship between the system and the disturbance. As such, it is not an attribute of the system. In the case of human systems, these are the households or the people that are likely to be affected by the hazard within a certain land area or geographic boundary. In this model, households living close to river (PR) were considered as an exposure factor as they are the most likely to be affected by flood hazards. Finally, vulnerability index (Vk ) is the degree to which a system is likely to experience harm due to exposure to a hazard. Thus, house types (HT), the distance from house to safer shelters (PSS), and the distance to main roads (PMR), which are crucial in case of emergency evacuation, were considered as vulnerability factors. The study found that for most families their house is one of the largest investments that require enormous effort and saving of the families. However, many families tell of the repeated destruction of their house by floods. Moreover, a good flood resistant house can provide security to the family, for family health and family possession during the flood season. Thus, among the vulnerability factors the house type factor was put more weight than PSS and PMR factors, or c(HT) = 2. The flood risk map is the ultimate product of the flood mapping processes that integrate the effect of six categories mentioned in Table 9.2. The final flood risk index for each household is calculated as formulation below: Household Flood Risk Index = [2∗ (99FL) + (04FL)]∗ [(PR)]∗ [2∗ (HT) + (PSS) + (PMR)] Cumulative attribute values associated with the flood map are reclassified into five different ranges using quintile method, each range contains one fifth of the total sample (see Table 9.3). The results are shown in Figure 9.3 for Quang Tho commune.

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9.6. Result and Discussion

Table 9.3

Criterion for Flood Risk to Each Household.

Flood Risk Index

24–160

160–280

280–420

420–585

585–1200

Risk Severity

Very Low Risk

Low Risk

Medium Risk

High Risk

Very High Risk

9.6 9.6.1

RESULT AND DISCUSSION What the Hazard Mapping Process Highlighted

As described above, the local experiences of coping and mitigating disaster originated in the community itself. Local people have always understood their surrounding vulnerabilities and risks, and they have therefore always had disaster coping mechanisms at village level. However, this local knowledge has been rarely recorded. Some of these are still in practiced, and others have become outdated, as they could not be adapted to the present environment. This flood risk mapping had successfully transferred unrecorded local knowledge into maps. The process of developing risk maps had also mobilized the participation of the local population and succeeded in establishing trust, respect and an exchange of information among local communities and local authorities as well as local planners. This involvement assisted very much in the development of the safer community plan. This research showed that when mobilized local people are actively involved in the decision-making process and recommending solutions for risk reduction. As a result, the risk maps and recommended actions are suited to the local situation. Standard disaster risk management plans are no longer issued in a topdown way; instead each village develops its own specific plans. The study provided a potential alternative for local governments to consider in the process of developing disaster risk management plan, as currently in central Viet Nam most of the disaster risk reduction plans are mainly prepared by the leaders without community’s participation which may not take community needs and interests into account, and are infeasible to implement (Tran and Shaw, 2007). The integrated approach in this research ensures the commitment of the local community because it fits the community’s interests. Furthermore, the relationship between local communities and commune staffs as well as other stakeholders

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Figure 9.5. Household Flood Risk Index Map of Quang Tho Commune.

has considerably improved. A dialogue in which opinions are exchanged and needs and wishes clarified in order to achieve a common understanding of the situation and the obstacle involved is essential to overcoming the communication gap among stakeholders. The village meetings at which the potential risks are discussed and mapped provide local communities with the skills they need to identify and analyse their surrounding risks and to come up with new ideas regarding disaster risk management.

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Another experience from the mapping process showed that villagers have become more aware of their risks. Incorporating existing and traditional disaster coping mechanisms of the community into the disaster risk management plan increased their acceptance among villagers and ensured an independent commitment. Once plans have been implemented, farmers feel responsible for their involvement, since they drafted them themselves. This reduces the costs of external monitoring and ensures the long-term sustainability of the approach. However, a good disaster risk reduction plan can only be effective if villagers are themselves motivated to keep the issue alive during village meetings and on other occasions. Such independent initiative strongly depends on community spirit and/or on the effectiveness of commune disaster risk management board and other mass organizations. Only if the whole village supports the plans can a sense of ownership develop that is strong enough to guarantee their independent continuation in the long term. 9.6.2

Relationship Between Socio-Physical Indicators and Economic Loss/Damage

This study noted that there was remarkable development with the road network, public buildings and private housings in the communes after 1986 when Viet Nam started its doi moi policy, which moved Viet Nam from central planning to market economy. However, there were still many households living in weak houses and semi-solid houses located far from the main roads and public facilities. It is important to note that before the introduction of the Viet Nam doi moi (renewal) policy in 1986, most people in rural areas of Thua Thien Hue lived in temporary houses built with bamboo, thatch or mixed materials. Capital investment in the house was very low and materials were obtained locally and could often be gathered. Only a very few could afford houses with strong timber frames and tiled roofs that were able to resist floods and storms. When a flood or typhoon occurred houses were easily destroyed, but conversely could be equally easily rebuilt at very low cost with help from neighbours in a few days. Whilst shortterm hardship might be high, the economic consequences of losing a home were therefore low. One effect of doi moi policy was that for many families their financial situation improved. A visible effect of this was that

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progressively, families began to put their savings into getting stronger house, rebuilding incrementally with more durable materials, but literally at a price. Where before materials were gathered, now the construction materials have to be paid for. Worse, few of these newer houses have been built in a manner that will enable them to resist a flood or typhoon, and in effect, the result is that the investment in time and money that families have made is highly vulnerable to damage by floods and typhoons (Norton and Chantry, 2002). Despite the large amount of investment in housing, in 2005, 65% of housing stock is still classified as semi-solid houses, 18% of the housing is temporary or weak houses, and 17% of housing is classified as solid houses. The survey also spatially showed the houses by category — temporary, semi solid, etc., and thus by a profile of income group related to other vulnerability issues. Firstly, families living in temporary houses, thus the very poor, are living more than 200 meters from multi storey or safe public buildings, and compared to families living in better quality houses, they are living further away from evacuation roads. This makes these families more vulnerable in the event of floods, and highlights to local authorities where additional safe public infrastructure and routes could be added. The proximity to main rivers is one of the important factors related to flood risk, since the houses close to rivers are often subject to flash floods, riverbank erosion and inundation. The survey showed that 8% of houses are located very close to riverbanks (houses located in 20 m river buffer zones). The families living in these houses particularly need to get as much advance warning about flood events and they need to have a plan for moving to safer places and if possible to protect their belongings. 33% of households live close to riverbank (within 60 m river buffer zone). This defines areas where preventive measures should be implemented to reduce the impact of flooding inside the houses and improve access to safe shelter, storage and escape routes. The experience of the 1999 flood was the most traumatic to the villagers, particularly for those who live in temporary or weak houses, as they did not have anywhere to refuge when the water level rose up to the roof of the house. In addition, the strong wind caused fierce waves, which made mobility difficult. The results show that poverty and vulnerability to floods are integrally linked and mutually reinforcing. For example, Table 9.4 shows that although most of surveyed houses are built with elevated

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Table 9.4 gory.

Average of 1999 flood level and current level of plinth by household cate-

Household Height reached by category water during the 1999 flood (cm from ground floor)

Elevation of current ground floor from garden level (cm)

Total economic loss caused by 1999 flood (million VND)

Poor Medium Better off

37.5 55.3 67.0

4.8 6.4 5.9

123.2 106.3 90.0

Note: Statistical significant at 95% of level of confidence.

ground floor (higher than the garden level) most of the poor and the medium households living in the temporary or semi solid houses have the ground floor at a lower height above ground level compared to that of better-off households. Hence, the poor are more exposed to flood water. There is a statistically significant difference between the levels reached by floodwater during the 1999 event in better-off households, poor and medium households. It can be said that in absolute terms the flood caused more economic impact and damages to the better-off, and medium households (see Table 9.4), while the poor suffered more from the event. Another important result is that there is a statistically significant relationship between the total loss per household caused by 1999 flood and the household flood risk index. As shown in the regression analysis: (Total economic loss) = 4.6 + 0.004 (Household flood risk index). The positive sign of the coefficient on household flood risk index implies that if policies and programs can reduce the flood risk index, the total economic loss can be reduced. However, this model only explains a total 14% of the variance in the total loss (R2=0.14) due to the household flood risk index. Put in other words, 14% of the statistical variation in total economic loss is accounted for by the flood risk index. This can be explained that although the physical vulnerability and exposure factors are important to determine the loss and damage caused by a disaster, other factors such as socio-economic vulnerability have greater impact on economic loss and damage. It is clear that a mix of actions are needed to reduce the flood risk problems, that combine structural spatial measures (access/reduced proximity to river, havens) with structural measures (building or retrofitting houses for safety), and social measures (reducing poverty in particular

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as a root contributor to vulnerability). Bearing in mind that relocation of families is not often a viable option for multiple — reasons proximity to the place of work being a prime one — the hazard mapping provides useful data pointing to action that should be taken to reduce vulnerability in specific locations. Hazard mapping and planning for disaster prevention must therefore help to highlight how to address flood risk in a comprehensive manner with strategies dealing with social, economic spatial and structural issues at the same time. Finally, the flood risk maps quickly show the areas that are flooded and the height of flooding relative to local ground level. With the GIS technology, the thematic map can show selective information such as which houses are built on raised platforms, and which are built close to ground level. This gives an indication of flooding risk inside the house in different locations — some neighbourhoods have the same outside flood risk, but less indoor flood risk. It also highlights what house criteria should be used and where, for example, by the Vietnamese government in its ‘temporary house replacement program’ which aims to help poor families acquire decent durable shelter. 9.6.3

Partnership to Overcome GIS Operational Problems

GIS mapping requires sophisticated and expensive software and hardware, as well as extensive workload to input, retrieve, and analyse data. This can lead to incomplete databases if the workload is underestimated. Collecting data from the field by using GPS and entering data to computer are time and money consuming. These technical problems can be solved by partnership with local university for data collection and technical support since the human resources as well as software and hardware are available in the universities. In fact, the Geography Department of Hue University helped to reduce significantly the cost of this project. This partnership also creates opportunity for students and faculties to enhance their practice skills and to gradually increase disaster awareness in the university. Another issue is that of access to reliable data. Since GIS is a relatively new technique in Viet Nam, the spatial data is scarce and inconsistent. Significant time is required to collect data from the field as well as to process, and geo-reference the secondary data.

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9.7. Key Findings

To overcome this problem there should be a great support from national and provincial projects on GIS to use the same coordination system, to provide access the GIS database for the disaster risk management purposes. It is also essential to have a clear understanding of what data needs to be collected before implementing data collection since this stage takes up the most time and money. The stakeholders must, therefore, first clarify the community risk management goals and objectives and then determine what data is needed in order to accomplish them. Finally, databases for GIS mapping need to be updated regularly. Thus, the data collection should be the responsibility of local communities. The staffs from communes should be trained to collect and input data. Data processing and analysing should be done at district level, where they can retrieve databases from communes. This can be possible since Viet Nam is working on developing e-governance system. Soon, almost all communes in Thua Thien Hue will be connected to the internet, and the Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control has the human and technical resource to analyse the data. Both studied communes have staff with degrees in computer sciences and in cartographic management. They can manage the database with basic training on GIS. Thus applying GIS in disaster risk management is a realistic option in Thua Thien Hue province. The role of provincial government is, therefore, to support the network that retrieves this data and delivers it to the Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control so that a disaster risk management plan can be developed in a timely and proper manner.

9.7

KEY FINDINGS

The findings from this research confirm that the integration of local knowledge into the process of mapping had provided important factual data and concepts about the social and physical environment, while identifying community vulnerabilities to disasters and disaster risk management strategies. This research proved that these contributions can be incorporated into other, often science-based, activities and methodologies associated with present-day programs and policies for disaster risk management. As part of this integration, new technology and capacities derived from GIS and remote sensing must quickly become an

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essential element in the community-based disaster risk management projects and in the application of the findings from these projects. Using local knowledge in disaster risk management also enables local communities to actively participate in the decisionmaking process. Local knowledge is a powerful resource of rural peoples and therefore a key element in the disaster risk reduction. Integrating local knowledge into the disaster risk management can improve the quality of disaster risk management plan by providing policy-makers and practitioners with deeper insight into the many different aspects of disaster vulnerabilities and the interrelated role of local peoples and their cultures. Finally, this study could be replicated in other areas or contexts provided several conditions are met. The first important condition is that the local authorities accept the approach, and they must recognize the map-making process as important as the resulted maps. Second, the must be the availability of technical and human resources since this model required some technical skills to use GIS software. With the current pace of IT and e-governance development in Viet Nam, the replication of GIS mapping model is not a far future for many communes.

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Chapter Ten

Discussion and Conclusion

In Thua Thien Hue particular and in Viet Nam in general disasters cause major setbacks to economic and social development, and cause the diversion of funds from development to emergency relief and recovery. Rural areas are particularly vulnerable to disruptions from extreme events where the combination of poverty, natural-resource-based livelihood, and high population densities magnify the problem. This book tackled the issue of how people at community level deal with severely increased disaster impacts, and how the larger macro political economy encounters this dilemma phenomenon, and the options for amelioration within the context of Viet Nam. There are three main topics discussed here: (i) examine the disaster and environment linkages at local context, (ii) analyze the common perceptions and scientific evidences of those linkages; and (iii) assess the impact of the disaster on environment and socioeconomy and recommend the solutions to sustainably reduce the adverse disaster impacts. First, disaster and environmental are inherently linked, but very little attention is paid to them, particularly at local levels. This study identified the disaster-environment linkages at local context in the Huong river basin, Thua Thien Hue province, Central Viet Nam. The study also and examined how much disaster risk management and risk analysis have been integrated into environment management programs and vice versa. The detailed

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inter-linkages among disaster, environment, and human vulnerability were examined at the entire basin scale. Second, the study analyzed the disparity between public perceptions and scientific evidences relating the causes of catastrophic floods. The former was drawn on the results of the questionnaire and focus group discussions surveys with key informants in case studied mountainous areas, and the latter was based on GIS and remote sensing analysis of land cover change and the statistical analysis of hydro-meteorological data of the Huong river basin. Third, the study explored the impacts of floods on the economy, environment, and society and tries to clarify the rural community’s coping mechanism to flood disasters. It focused on the social aspects of flood risk perception that shapes the responses to floods. And finally, this research focused on the integration of local knowledge into disaster risk management by using a participatory Geographic Information System (GIS) risk mapping tool. In this study, we analyzed the advantages and challenges of using GIS technology at local levels; the need for combining modern technology and local knowledge into disaster risk management; and suggest a way to mobilize available human and technical resources in order to strengthen a good partnership between local communities and local and national institutions. The study also analyzed the vulnerability of local communes by correlating hazard risk and loss/damage caused by disasters and the contribution that domestic risk maps in the community can make to reduce this risk. 10.1 KEY FINDINGS 10.1.1 Policy and Practice Gaps In the entire river basin scale, this study found strong evidences that unsustainable agricultural practices, and inappropriate development programs have contributed substantially to the increase of disaster risks. On the other hand, it is shown that disasters cause damage to natural resources and environmental quality, indirectly contributes to increasing poverty which in turn, add to the vulnerability of both natural and human systems further increasing disaster losses. Notwithstanding, in Viet Nam in general and in Thua Thien Hue province particular, there is a big

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10.1. Key Findings

gap between disaster and environment management policies and programs. In fact, the environment and disaster linkages have been recognized in the national strategy for natural disaster prevention, control and mitigation as well as in the provincial socio-economic development plan. However, there is a big gap between policies and actions, and between different levels due to lack of coordination among stakeholders. In most cases, decisions and actions on environment and disaster are taken separately, and roles and responsibilities are distributed among different and separate institutions. However, experience has shown that risk reduction policies are more likely to be successful if the linkage among disaster, environment, development, and societal need are recognized. Disaster risk reduction and its relationship to sustainable development are to a great extent determined by the existence or lack of government regulations for land use and urban planning, construction standards, civil protection and public safety. Unfortunately, pressure from special interest groups, lack of competency and bureaucratic hurdles often hinder the effectiveness of public policy in protecting the environment and reducing vulnerability. Often, these issues are not in line with the objectives of government that may have short-term goals and often react rather than plan ahead. Currently, in Thua Thien Hue province advocacy is turned towards risk reduction, yet most public policy is aimed at improving disaster response capabilities and examining prevention alternatives. Therefore, other more dynamic mechanisms to impact disaster reduction policy are needed. These include grassroots advocacy groups, stakeholder partnerships, and knowledge and risk dissemination. Several actors in society have a role in the promotion of disaster mitigation policy. In particular, elements of civil society that are active in development, environment, social action and humanitarian work operate under defined policies. At the same time, they influence government attitudes and impact policy. Thus, the disaster risk management community should reach out to other civil society organizations to gain more influence on policy. The roles of the scientific community and the media are particularly important. Policy making for disaster risk reduction requires a clear understanding of issues, scientific consensus and packaging of scientific knowledge in a way that can be translated

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into policy. Political feasibility must be part of the knowledge development and dissemination process to facilitate implementation. The scientific community has the ability to play a leadership role in being an agent for change and influencing policy makers, practitioners, and the public. But the impact of the scientific community is only efficient when action is linked and coordinated with other civil society actors. In Viet Nam, donor and inter-governmental development agencies have influenced government policies and institutional arrangements for disaster risk management. By introducing new processes and technologies, integrating local communities into the decision making process and requiring the inclusion of comprehensive disaster risk reduction action in development processes, these agencies can impact government policies. However, while there is a growing concern among development agencies about disaster risk reduction, integrating disaster risk reduction into development is not yet standard practice. Collaboration between government, civil society and external agents provides opportunities to create policies and processes that integrate disaster risk management and development. In the face of complex and competing demands, success is strongly correlated with two factors. First, the ability of government to put in place legislation and administrative arrangements that reduce hazard risk and secondly, the ability of government and civil society to work together around a common agenda aimed at avoiding catastrophic losses from natural and technological hazards. 10.1.2 The Gaps of Common Beliefs and Scientific Facts In the upland areas, despite the doubts that many scientists have expressed on the catastrophic and catastrophic flood nexus, the common perception of forest-flood relationship if on the one side prompted positive forest protection/reforestation programs, on the other produced often-unwarranted blame of upland communities for their forest management practices. The results indicated that there is a gap in the common beliefs and the actual relationship between forest cover change and catastrophic flood. Indeed in the uplands of Thua Thien Hue province there was a significant change in land cover during the period of 1989 to 2008, yet, this change appears not to have carried significant role on the

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10.1. Key Findings

catastrophic flood levels. In case of catastrophic floods, 71% of the variance of flood level in the downstream areas was accounted for by the variance in rainfall. Evidences from this study showed that the significant increasing trend of catastrophic flood impacts in the Huong river basin was mainly due to climate change/variability and to the development of main roads and dyke infrastructures in the lowlands. Hence, forest management policies and programs shaped on the common assumption that forest degradation is the main cause of catastrophic flood in the downstream areas, should be reassessed to avoid unnecessary vulnerabilities on upland people. 10.1.3

Traditional Flood Coping Mechanisms Under Pressure Due to Environmental Degradation

The study found four main challenges to flood risk management in Thua Thien Hue: (i) changes resulting from moving a planned to a market economy; (ii) substantial environmental degradation; (iii) the region may already be experiencing the effects of climate change; and (iv) the traditional methods of flood risk mitigation are less effective than they used to be. First, the move of Viet Nam from central planning to a market economy had three prominent impacts on disaster risk management. Social capital such as cohesion or bonding, which is very important in disaster risk management, has been gradually reduced due to the rapid processes of urbanization and privatization. Most communities already had wisdom and social institutions to cope with traditional risks, yet with the current shift of government policy, which speeds up the privatization process and gradually moves from central planning to a market economy, these practices have broken down in many areas (e.g. lack of mutual help among people due to out-migration, and privatization). Moreover, although Viet Nam’s transition from state central planning is often heralded as a macroeconomic success story, the policy transition had negative impacts on social vulnerability. For example, whereas each community previously had to donate labor, equipment and material towards the maintenance and emergency repairs of the flood protection infrastructures, it now receives payment for these efforts from the government. Unfortunately, with fewer and fewer voluntary contributions and

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limited capacity of the government to pay for it, less money will be available for upgrading and maintaining infrastructures. As flood protection work is perceived more and more as a government’s duty, fewer people will become identified with the program of maintaining the flood protection infrastructure. It is already becoming increasingly difficult to mobilize the population for maintenance and emergency preparedness during the dry season, and emergency repairs during the floods, and this indicates that the public support for infrastructure monitoring and repair is gradually reducing. The doi moi moved Viet Nam towards a market economy, and one effect was that for many families their financial situation improved. A visible effect of this was that families progressively began to rebuild their houses with more durable and costly materials. However, changes of housing construction materials and techniques to “modern” styles without appropriate adaptation of the safety measures, have threatened integrity of the built environment. Few of these new houses have been built with safety designs to enable them to resist floods or typhoons. The unfortunate result was an increase vulnerability of the built environment. The survey shows that to avoid the damage of normal floods to housing, most of the houses were constructed on a high plinth elevating the ground flood an average of 71 cm from the garden level. This was not enough to prevent damages during the catastrophic flood of 1999, when floodwater reached an average height of 153 cm. For that disaster the average loss to housing was about US$290 per household, whereas the GDP per capita of the province was only US$193. However, high percentage of population still do not prepare for a disastrous flood. The survey show that only 19% of responders think that a flood with the same severity of that of 1999, or higher, is likely to happen in a very near future; 16% of them believe it will happen within next 50 years; 35% say that it might happen but chances are rare; and 30%of all responders think that a flood so destructive will never happen again. Indeed, changing these perceptions is an important challenge to any flood risk mitigation and reduction projects and programs. In addition, along with economic growth substantial investment has been made in developing urban centers without addressing flood vulnerability. The flood mitigation measures to protect these areas are, therefore, sometime undertaken at the

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10.1. Key Findings

expense of rural agricultural sectors. These measures are usually implemented without consultation or public deliberation among affected communities and regions. In Viet Nam, the national priority is to protect urban centers, given that floods are often seen as loss of property and investment, rather than as loss of livelihood and environmental assets. Indeed this puts another challenge in the face of flood management in the lagoon areas. Second, the natural environment in Central Viet Nam has been significantly degraded thus exacerbating the vulnerability to flood disasters. For example, under the cycle of flood impacts, the poor to survive have been forced to intensively exploit natural resources by expanding the agriculture and aquaculture to vulnerable areas, sometimes destroying mangrove and coastal forest for shrimp farming. These practices degraded the natural environment further increasing the vulnerability to flood. This degradation of the natural environment is intensifying the factors and risks of flooding and other natural disasters. Third, the study showed that human induced global change has likely impacted not only the climatic variability, but also the frequency and intensity of extreme events that have damaged the development of the region. Nevertheless the perception that disasters are an act of God (hazard-led disasters) is still dominant among local people. Thus identifying adaptation options to longterm human-induced climate change is a real challenge. Fourth, this study revealed that in the studied areas besides the traditional risks, such as flood, storm and drought, new risks are rapidly increasing, for example, environmental, and epidemic problems. However, while floods had been a part of human life for centuries in Viet Nam, and local communities have evolved ways of coping with flood’s annual cycle, they completely lack experience to deal with the new risks. In addition, in the past floodwater quickly drained away through the network of rivers and canals built in the flood prone area. In recent years, the increasing degradation of the natural environment through deforestation and the conversion of agricultural land to urban areas has made the impact of floods more serious and longer lasting in the lowland areas. For example, because of the expansion of the road network and other barriers to drainage, the flood level has increased beyond people’s anticipation. Fatefully, although most interviewed households (65%), agreed that floods are becoming worse both in severity and frequency, they

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were still preparing for floods at a level commensurate with the worst disaster they experienced, and not for the greater floods that are likely to strike in the future. In the 1999 flood, for example, individual and collective preparation for the flood was all based on previous water levels. Some respondents admitted that they did not begin to make any preparations until the floods were virtually upon them. As a result extreme losses and damage occurred. Furthermore, the flood management methods in villages still follow ‘old customs’ mostly dependent on large-scale infrastructure once implemented by the government, but too costly to maintain nowadays. However, while these old practices are under pressure, the new methods necessary to deal with the modern risks have yet to be materialized. This phenomenon is visible not only in rural villages, but also in the cities where most households and industries are not well prepared to cope with the increasing level of floodwaters. Ultimately, the worsening environmental problems of Viet Nam appear to be the outcome of many different interacting factors including the natural setting, traditional practice, and institutional structure. These factors provide a backdrop for the more recent rapid environmental change brought about by the expansion of the market economy, population pressure, urbanization and industrialization, inappropriate or poorly implemented disaster mitigation policies, and lack of adequate knowledge and understanding of the environment. Hence, as Viet Nam is entering this new critical phase, traditional hazards remain high, new risks are rapidly appearing, and traditional disaster coping mechanisms are becoming inadequate. Without scaling up existing programs and initiating new and more innovative ones, the future of many cities and rural regions will be subjected to severe environmental deterioration and increased vulnerability to disasters. 10.1.4 Role of Local Knowledge and Community Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction The findings from the application of participatory GIS risk mapping confirmed that the integration of local knowledge into the process of mapping had provided important factual data and concepts about the social and physical environment, while identifying community vulnerabilities to disasters and disaster

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10.1. Key Findings

risk management strategies. This research proves that these contributions can be incorporated into other, often science-based, activities and methodologies associated with present-day programs and policies for disaster risk management. As part of this integration, new technology and capacities derived from GIS and remote sensing must quickly become an essential element in the community-based disaster risk management projects and in the application of the findings from these projects. Using local knowledge in disaster risk management also enables local communities to actively participate in the decision-making process. Local knowledge is a powerful resource of rural peoples and therefore a key element in the disaster risk reduction. Integrating local knowledge into the disaster risk management can improve the quality of disaster risk management plan by providing policymakers and practitioners with deeper insight into the many different aspects of disaster vulnerabilities and the interrelated role of local peoples and their cultures. The evaluation of a community based disaster risk reduction implemented by CACC project and the lessons learned from participatory flood risk mapping have shown that the successful risk reduction initiatives should have closely involved communities in understanding risks and designing appropriate response plans. Community-based disaster risk management transforms vulnerable groups into disaster-resilient communities. Communities understand the socio-environmental constraints that define vulnerability and the parameters that determine the success of risk reduction policies and actions. Communities also have perceptions that may or may not be based on reality, but nonetheless are important to consider and incorporate in the development of risk reduction initiatives. Communities also represent different interests and thus, their involvement is essential in the process of reaching consensus and achieving acceptability. Community involvement ensures transparency and disclosure and favors responsibility sharing, important mechanisms for disaster risk reduction and sustainable resource use. The top-down approach, still in practice, fails to involve people in development planning, vulnerability identification and disaster reduction. Community participation, on the other hand, builds capacity and trust at the local level and reduces political manipulation by special interest groups. Community involvement helps not only in identifying vulnerability, but also

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the trade-offs involved in achieving sustainability. Furthermore, disaster risk reduction is a dynamic process that should adapt to new conditions. In this respect, community participation provides an inherent mechanism for adaptation and control. Various techniques have been used to engage communities in disaster mitigation. By its nature, community participation creates partnerships around a common agenda. Hence, it relies on developing participatory mechanisms among stakeholders by identifying leaders, understanding interests, gaining trust and attaining commitment. However, to be successful, communities should be construed as “being part of” rather than “taking part in” an activity. Disaster risk reduction issues must be framed within a community’s social, cultural, environmental and economic context. Garnering community participation often requires a catalyst for change (e.g. experts who can provide knowledge and facilitate discussions), as well as self-motivated participation. Community participation involves a process that first identifies linkages between formal government structures and a community’s social structures and then creates mechanisms to integrate them into a common agenda. 10.2 TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT FOR EFFECTIVE FRM 10.2.1 Integrated River Basin Management for the Huong River Evidences from this study showed that forest plays negligible role in decreasing catastrophic large-scale flood. In the Huong river basin, most catastrophic floods were caused by climate variability, and by the development of main roads and dyke infrastructures in the lowlands rather than by land-use changes in the uplands. In addition, floods in the the Huong river basin although cause losses and damages that often inhibit economic development, are also essential elements for the agricultural subsistence of the lowland populations. Flooding in coastal areas is a vital element of the culture and economy of the people whose livelihoods are based on local natural resources. Over time these lowland communities developed coping mechanisms to reduce the negative impacts of floods, and take advantage of their positive effects. At present, these coping mechanisms are under pressures due to the increasing water level of catastrophic floods induced mostly by climate

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10.2. Towards an Integrated River Basin Management for Effective FRM

change/variability and improper development of the build environment. It is important to note that although forest cannot stop catastrophic flood, native forests do reduce the frequency and severity of normal floods in developing nations (Bradshaw et al., 2007, Calder et al., 2007, Laurance 2007). Moreover, large expanses of native forest can have major benefits not only for reducing floods, but also for limiting wild fires, conserving biodiversity, and slowing regional and global climate change (Clark 1987). Tropical forests, in particular, are crucial for combating global warming, because of their high capacity to store carbon and their ability to promote sunlight-reflecting clouds via large-scale evapotranspiration (Bala et al., 2007). Hence, an integrated river basin management approach that considers various measures in the uplands with those in the lowlands and look beyond the simplistic forestflood relationship at the whole basin scale is greatly needed. Within the setting of the Huong river basin, it is important to develop a wide range of integrated river basin management for effective flood risk reduction, whereby a balance should be found among socio-economic development, environment protection and disaster risk reduction. Furthermore, a clear distinction should be made between measures that can best be developed at a local level through a community based approach, and measures that need a more over-arching intervention from higher level authorities and other actors. Such a management policy should comprise all the activities required to organize sustainable use of the land and the other resources available within the Huong basin, while at the same time maintaining and supporting the livelihoods of the inhabitants. This approach should integrate land-use management in the uplands with land-use planning, engineering measures, flood preparedness and emergency management in the lowlands. It should also consider the social and economic needs of communities living in both the uplands and lowlands. Integrated management has to be based on the best available scientific knowledge of the causes of floods and their environmental, social and economic impacts. Essentially, this approach should prepare people to live with, and adapt to, floods. A rational river basin integrated approach should consider social vulnerabilities as a core risk component of flood disasters, and thus should demand more local and community stakeholder involvement. Local communities should not be passive recipients

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or victims, but active partners with a real voice, and some power. Management plans should be formulated for the entire basin in close consultation with all stakeholders. An integrated approach should promote the activities that have been already implemented and that have been known to make good sense from all perspectives (poverty alleviation, economic development, natural hazard risk, sustainable natural resources management, biodiversity conservation, urban-rural development etc.). Trade-offs of different decisions must be evaluated; for example, foregoing short-term benefits for long-term sustainability. All aspects, including information based on the scientific facts, must be taken into account when such decisions are being made, and ensure that all those involved are able to contribute to, and benefit from, the changes. Incentives should be offered to encourage desired land uses and land-management practices, and to align private interests with the public good. Compensation should also be provided to land users negatively affected by the plans. To ensure that the objectives are being achieved and that costs and benefits are equitably shared, the results of the implementation of certain strategies should be monitored and the impacts of various policies assessed. Furthermore, because management objectives change over time as priorities and land-use practices evolve, the entire process should be evaluated on a regular basis and, if necessary, objectives or activities could be adjusted to meet new requirements or expectations. This is a dynamic process that ensures, through the various feedback mechanisms, that objectives remain realistic and reachable without causing unacceptable and unmanageable environmental and socio-economic consequences. In the Huong river basin agriculture and fishing remain very important sectors and the loss of beneficial effects from the normal flooding could potentially lead to unacceptable economic and social disruption. Unfortunately, what is beneficial to agriculture and aquaculture may inflict heavy economic costs upon other economic sectors and vice versa. Hence, the challenge is to balance costs and benefits within the entire river basin. Finally, past experience with floods have shown that the most cost-effective means of reducing the impact of flood disasters is the nonstructural approach of providing people with sufficient advance warning to escape. Hence, because the catastrophic floods in the Huong river basin appear to be caused by climate variability, priority should be given to the development of early

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warning system and dissemination networks within the entire basin.

10.2.2

Integrated River Basin Management Strategy and Action Plans

From the key findings, it is crucial to develop an IRBM (IRBM) strategy in which the socio-economic livelihood, environmental consideration and disaster risk reduction management have to be balanced, weighed against each other, and coordinated in an integrated fashion (Figure 10.1). The objective of IRBM strategy is to optimize the use of resources in a sustainable way, protect and improve the environmental quality, minimize and mitigate negative impacts of natural disasters, impulse socio-economic development in order to improve and enhance living conditions of local communities. Therefore, the IRBM strategy needs to provide a framework for co-ordination of a wide array of interests, and a direction to the province in order to tackle complex issues caused by conflicts in multiple uses of natural resources. The strategy directs stakeholders to rationally use the natural resources, and has a clear relation with existing departmental annual development plans. The strategy aims to contribute to the economic growth rate targets proposed through the socio-economic development plans, but also to fulfill that growth with full consideration of the limitations and challenges imposed by the provinces’ vulnerable areas with respect to natural disasters and the sustainable use of the natural resources for the maintenance of a healthy environment.

Security (Disaster Risk Management)

Integrated River Basin Management Development (Sustainable use of natural resources)

Environment (Sustainable Environment Management)

Figure 10.1. Integrated River Basin Management.

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10.2.2.1

From IRBM Strategy to IRBM Action Plan (AP)

Drawn upon the context of the Huong river basin, Thua Thien Hue province, and the major findings of the research, the IRBM Strategy comprises four main strategic components: – – – –

IRBM capacity building; Protection of resources and environment; Integration of DRM with natural resource management Sustainable use of natural resources.

Each of the four strategic components has been sub-divided into ten action plans, which all contribute to fulfilling the specific objectives of the respective strategic components. A summarized key actors for the IRBM Strategy, Action Plans are presented in Table 10.1, each of AP time frame, respective key actors and the level of their responsibility are given Table 10.2, Table 10.3, and Table 10.4. Table 10.1

Key agencies, authorities and organizations for IRMB in TTH.

Central Government Agencies MONRE (Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MONRE) Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment (IMHEN)

Provincial Government / Administrative system The Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control (PCFSC) Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fishery (DARDF) Department of Finance (DOF) Branch of Forestry Protection (BFP)

Organizations/Institutions TTH Radio and Television Mass organizations: Red Cross, Women, Farmer and Youth Unions (MO) Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) International Organizations (IO)

Hydro-Meteorological Observatory Center (HMOC) Department of Natural Resources and Hue University (HU) Environment (DONRE) Department of Post and Telecommunication (DOPT) Department of Physical Trainings and Sports (DOPTT) Department of Industry (DOI) Department Of Trade (DOT) Department of Tourism (DT) Department of Education and Training (DOET) Department of Judiciary (DOJ) Department of Transportation and Public Communication (DOTPC) Department of Culture and Information (DOCI) Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) Department of Construction (DOC) Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Department of Health (DOH) Department of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs (DOLISA) Department of Inspection (DOI) Department of Foreign Affairs (DOFA) Department of Interior Affairs (DOIA) Committee of Population, Families and Children (CPFC) Board of manager Chan May - Lang Co economic zone Huong River Projects Management Board (HRPMB)

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Table 10.2 No

Strategic components, action plans and time frame of IRBM.

Strategic Components and Action Plans

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Strategy component 1 - IRBM capacity building IRBM steering committee establishment IRBM administrative procedures and legal developments IRBM Awareness raising IRBM Training for government staff Training programs on sustainable development, DRM and environment management Strength community participation Apply results of scientific researches in IRBM Survey programs on status of natural resources Integrated environmental and physical monitoring program Develop information management system from central to local level Strategy component 2 - Protection of Resources and Environment Upstream forest management Mangrove belts, wetland management Rearrange crop timing and crop pattern Develop and maintain the waste collection and treatment systems Intensify EIA for all investment projects with respect to disaster risk management Relocate the illegal residence in the lagoon area and highly flood risk areas Strengthen enforcement of destructive forestry and coastal fishery Strictly implement Decision No. 64/2003/QD-TTg Mitigate environmental pollution Identify and establish conservation areas Strategy component 3 -Integration of DRM into natural resource management Establish mechanism and policy (law on DRM, policy for finace and investment…) Establish funds for DRM Integrated management and operation plans, national programs that affect natural and construction environment Develop zoning plan & policy for entire basin to mitigate the impacts of disasters Improve the disaster forecast and warning Strengthen the adaptive capacity of the provincial governace and local residences Promote the use of flood resistant designs in rural housing in flood prone areas Enhance the capacity of organizations working in rescue and emergency response Upgrade/reinforce structural at risk (reservoirs, public facility, hospitals…) Enhance community awareness on disaster risk and climate change Strategy component 4 - Effective and sustainable use of resources Assess carrying capacity of eco-system, give advice on wide use Zoning plan for the use of the river basin Develop incentive policies for sustainable use of resources to assist with the disaster risk mitigation Develop and implement clean agriculture methods Agriculture methods in flood risk prone areas Coordinated planning/development urban area and infrastructure Adjust and amend forestry, agriculture and fishery activities Sustainable tourism Sustainable aquaculture Processing and marketing local product

10.2.2.2

Short

Time frame Medium

Long

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

Integrate IRBM Action Plan into the Socio Economic Development Plan

The IRBM Action Plan will be a crucial input for the development of the annual socio economic development plans (SEDP) of the province. At the same time, the IRBM strategy and the Action Plan will give guidance to the provincial people’s committee (PPC) and provincial departments and agencies on sustainable decision-making processes. Together with the socio-economic development plan, the IRBM strategy will provide a strategy for the regulation of socio economic activities in the river basin. The framework for integrating IRBM activities into the annual/five year social-economic planning work is depicted in the Figure 10.2. In terms of the planning process in time, the IRBM Strategy and Action Planning work precedes the socio-economic development

243

MONRE MARD MPI CCFSC IMHEN PPC PCFSC DARDF DOF BFP DONRE DOPT DOPTT DOI DOT DT DOET DOJ DOTPC DOCI DPI DOC DOST DOH DOLISA DOI DOFA DOIA CPFC BMEZ HRPMB TTHRT MO NGO IO HMOC HU

Strategy component 1 - IRBM capacity building R D D R

I

I

D

I

I

D D D R I

D D D

D

D D

D R

I

D D I I I D I

I I

D I R

I

I

R

I

D

I

D

D I I

I

D

I

D

R

R D I I

I D D

D

R D D D

D

D I I I D

R I

D

R

D

R

D

D D

R D R

I D

I R

D

I

D

D D

I D D R D R

D I

D

D

I I D

I I

D D

D R

I

I

I

I

I


1 IRBM steering committee establishment IRBM administrative procedures and legal 2 developments 3 IRBM Awareness raising 4 IRBM Training for government staff Training programs on sustainable development, 5 DRM and environment management 6 Strength community participation 7 Apply results of scientific researches in IRBM 8 Survey programs on status of natural resources Integrated environmental and physical monitoring 9 program Develop information management system from 10 I central to local level Strategy component 2 - Protection of Resources and Environment 1 Upstream forest management 2 Mangrove belts, wetland management 3 Rearrange crop timing and crop pattern Develop and maintain the waste collection and 4 treatment systems Intensify EIA for all investment projects with respect 5 to disaster risk management Relocate the illegal residence in the lagoon area and 6 highly flood risk areas Strengthen enforcement of destructive forestry and 7 coastal fishery 8 Strictly implement Decision No. 64/2003/QD-TTg 9 Mitigate environmental pollution 10 Identify and establish conservation areas

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244

Table 10.3 Proposed responsibility for implementation. (Note: R: Responsible; D: Directly Involved; I: Indirectly Involved)

I

D I

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No


D I

I

R

D D

R I

I

D

R

D D

D

I

D

D I

D

I

D

D R R

I

D

D I

D

R

D D

R

D

Develop incentive policies for sustainable use of 3 resources to assist with the disaster risk mitigation

D R

D

D

R R R

D

D

D

R

D D

D R D

D D

I

I

D

R I R R

D

D

D D


I

2 Zoning plan for the use of the river basin

4 Develop and implement clean agriculture methods 5 Agriculture methods in flood risk prone areas Coordinated planning/development urban area and 6 infrastructure Adjust and amend forestry, agriculture and fishery 7 activities 8 Sustainable tourism 9 Sustainable aquaculture 10 Processing and marketing local product

I

R D

R D

D

I


Strategy component 3 -Integration of DRM into natural resource management Establish mechanism and policy (law on DRM, policy 1 D R D I I for finace and investment…) 2 Establish funds for DRM Integrated management and operation plans, 3 national programs that affect natural and R D D D I construction environment Develop zoning plan & policy for entire basin to 4 mitigate the impacts of disasters 5 Improve the disaster forecast and warning Strengthen the adaptive capacity of the provincial 6 governace and local residences Promote the use of flood resistant designs in rural 7 housing in flood prone areas Enhance the capacity of organizations working in 8 rescue and emergency response Upgrade/reinforce structural at risk (reservoirs, 9 public facility, hospitals…) Enhance community awareness on disaster risk and 10 climate change Strategy component 4 - Effective and sustainable use of resources Assess carrying capacity of eco-system, give advice 1 on wide use

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MONRE MARD MPI CCFSC IMHEN PPC PCFSC DARDF DOF BFP DONRE DOPT DOPTT DOI DOT DT DOET DOJ DOTPC DOCI DPI DOC DOST DOH DOLISA DOI DOFA DOIA CPFC BMEZ HRPMB TTHRT MO NGO IO HMOC HU

Table 10.4 Proposed responsibility for implementation. (Note: R: Responsible; D: Directly Involved; I: Indirectly Involved)

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PPC

Synthesize, balance & combine with IRBM Strategy, refer to IRBM check, submit to PPC for approval

Submit

General review and approval

Feed back

Guidelines from Government, Ministry and Departments

Fe

b Su

ed

ck ba

IRBM SC Check & give technical proposals based on the IRBM Strategy & Action Plans at provincial level

t mi

DPI

Su

bm it

Submit F ee

Feed back

Department Department Department Department

db

ac k

District District District City

All levels, departments based on their specific situation & development demands in combination with guidelines from ministries, governing agencies & relevant departments, involve the IRBM Strategy & develop the annual and 5 year plans for their own department

Figure 10.2. Actors in socio-economic development planning and relation with IRBM.

planning process, and forms an important input for integrated socio-economic development planning to be done by department of planning and investment. At project level, each development project needs to take disaster risk consideration into account. The framework for this integration is shown in Figure 10.3. 10.2.2.3

Organization and Implementation Procedures

As one of the key findings revealed that the impact of climate change very likely happens in Thua Thien Hue province and the disaster risk coping mechanisms are under pressure due to the climate change impacts. It is, therefore, important for the provincial disaster risk managers and other stakeholders to understand what national and regional climate change assessments mean for the scales at which they operate. Because most of the persons working in DRM and other stakeholders lack the perspective of climate and long-term implications of climate change as analyzed in chapter 5, it is essential that an IRBM steering committee be established. The IRBM steering committee should consist of personnel from disaster risk management, climate and atmospheric, environment, economic and policy making

Key activities

Programming Þ

Þ Þ Identification

Þ

Þ

Identify the need for natural disaster information Outline approach to obtaining it

Þ

Approach to collecting and using natural disasters information

Carry out stakeholder analysis Identify and screen ideas for projects/programs Decide which options should be developed further

Þ

Identify target areas and their environmental characteristics Collect basic information of natural disasters, vulnerabilities and capacity to deal with disasters Determine general significance of disasters in project areas

Þ

Awareness of significant natural disasters in project area Understanding of information gaps and needs Provision made for obtaining such information

Risk assessment based on information of hazard, vulnerability and capacity Analyze the linkages between disaster, environment and development Production of disaster risk and land use maps Reviews of technical, social and economic viability

Þ

Þ

Þ

DRM process

EM and development planning process

Þ

Þ Þ Þ Þ Þ

Risk assessment

Appraisal/preparation Formulation

Study all significant aspects of the planned projects/programs Develop logical or results based planning frameworks Draw up activity and implementation schedules Calculate required inputs Decide to take the project forward, or not

Þ

Þ Þ Þ

Þ Þ

Þ

Þ Þ

Þ Þ

Þ DRM implementation

Implementation of planned development project activities

Þ

Ongoing monitoring of natural hazards’ impact on project and its beneficiaries

Þ

Implementation Þ

Þ Evaluation

Assessment of achievements and impact

Þ

Review planning assumptions relating to likely impact of natural hazards on project

Evaluation

Figure 10.3. Framework for integrating DRR into development project.

Þ Þ

Knowledge of location, severity, probability of occurrence and other key features of natural disasters within specific time frame in project area Identification of vulnerable locations: human settlements; production facilities; critical facilities Identification of critical disasters related issues and constraints likely to affect project Determination of expected damage to people, property/facilities, economic activities and disruption to implementation plans Selection of best project options Development of mitigation strategies

Adoption of risk mitigation and vulnerability reduction measures (including emergency preparedness and response plans) Modifications to design and implementation arrangements where appropriate

Decision to continue, change or stop project Conclusions taken into account when planning and implementing similar projects


Establish general guidelines and principles; Agree sectoral and thematic focus


Hazard/Vulnerability/ Capacity Assessment

Outcomes and decisions

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Þ Strategic planning

Incorporate disaster risk information

May 20, 2009

Integrate DRR into EM and Developemnt

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domains. Such a group is necessary as the disaster management or environment management personnel alone cannot obtain and infer the often-challenging climate information available from global and regional climate change studies and reports. In addition to their role in disaster risk reduction planning and environment management, the IRBM steering committee needs to play a vital role in integrating disaster and climate risk reduction aspects in developmental planning as well. For example, the representative of IRBM steering committee could be a member in local level development committees, academicians from Hue universities, members from center for hydrometeorology, PCFSC, etc. In order to ensure proper coordination and timely implementation of the Action Plans, the following general implementation procedures have been defined. 1. The Action Plans (AP) will be approved by the PPC 2. PPC will formally establish an IRBM steering committee, which will oversee that the Action Plans are implemented in an integrated fashion with full recognition of the interests of the stakeholders represented in the IRBM steering committee. 3. In consultation with the IRBM steering committee, the PPC will appoint a Secretariat, which will provide daily assistance and advice to the IRBM steering committee for the implementation of the Action Plans 4. The Secretariat will assist IRBM steering committee & PPC to formally appoint a Governing Agency (GA) for each AP 5. Each GA will organize, with the help of the Secretariat, a workshop to discuss with relevant stakeholders an Overall Implementation Plan (OIP) for their specific AP, in which Executing Agencies (EA) for the various AP Activities are identified 6. The GA will submit the OIP (in which the EA’s are nominated) to IRBM steering committee & PPC for formal approval 7. The EA’s will submit a Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) for their specific Activities to IRBM steering committee for review and then to GA for approval 8. The EA will implement their Activities 9. After completion of implementation, GA will evaluate the results of the implementation, organize a workshop to discuss and promulgate the results of the AP, and make recommendations for future implementation of the IRBM Strategy and

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10.3. Conclusion

Action Plans. This evaluation report will be submitted to steering committee & PPC for their approval. The general implementation procedures described above will be further specified for each AP, in particular for items 5 to 9. The responsibility for implementation of each AP will be delegated to a specific Governing Agency (GA), who will engage Executing Agencies (EA) for the actual execution of the Activities. Thus, numerous agencies and Departments will be involved in the implementation process of the IRBM Action Plan. 10.2.2.4

Monitoring and Reporting

The EAs will coordinate closely with GA and Secretariat to perform their specific activities to implement the AP. The EA will report periodically to the GA about progress on activity implementation. The frequency of this reporting will depend on the nature of the activities, and is further specified in each AP. For each activity, the GA has the responsibility to inspect, supervise and monitor the implementation process of activities carried out by the EA. The GA should review the results being achieved by monitoring the indicators defined in the AP and checking progress against the timeline defined in the DIPs. The GA will check progress of implementation of all Activities against the OIP, and report on progress of implementation to IRBM steering committee & PPC on a quarterly basis. The general monitoring and reporting requirements described above will be further specified for each AP. During the process of implementing the IRBM Action Plans, it is important that the GA’s and EA’s realize that the tasks assigned to them through these Action Plans will form an integral part of their regular governmental responsibilities. The execution of these tasks should therefore not be considered as extra-ordinary work, but more so as an important part of the execution of existing duties. 10.3

CONCLUSION

This study provided further support to the notion that flood disaster is not a pure hazard-led disaster, but has deep roots in social vulnerabilities. It also revealed that floods, although cause losses and damages (that often inhibit economic development), are also essential elements for the subsistence of the coastal populations.

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References

The livelihood of many communities depends on the productive functions of cyclical floods. Thus, over time these communities developed coping mechanisms to reduce the negative impacts of floods, and take advantage of their positive effects. Unfortunately, these coping mechanisms are under pressures due to environmental degradation and improper development of the build environment. These pressures have been increasing since Viet Nam moved from a planned to a market economy. Furthermore, the region may already be experiencing the effects of climate change. Hence, an integrated flood risk management approach that considers all above findings both to maximize the beneficial aspects of annual floods and to reduce the socioeconomic loss in the region is needed in central Viet Nam.

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Index Coastal Areas 175 coastal houses 188 Coastal Zone Management 76 coastal zones 7 Common Beliefs 232 Commune 122 Community Based Disaster Risk Management 37 community cohesion 190 community empowerment 35 community-based disaster risk management 40 Conceptual Framework 41 construction activities 133 construction 110 Context of Viet Nam 79 conventional wisdom 147 coping mechanisms 38, 191, 206 Country Programming Framework 68 Credit System 199 Crunch Model 25 Cultural villages 190

1999 flood 188, 224 4-on-spot policy 127 Action Plans 241, 242 Adaptation to Climate Change 130 ADPC 103 agriculture systems 49 Agriculture 69 analysis 166 Anderson and Woodrow’s Framework 27 annual flood 52 annual plan 193 aquaculture production 205 ArcInfo 157 Assess risk 180 AusAid 101 Bangladesh 67, 68 boat people 111 Cambodia 67 case studies 49 catastrophic floods 145, 173, 165, 175 CBDRM 96 CECI 100 Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control 81, 87 Central Committee for Forest Fire Control 91 Central Committee for Search and Rescue 90 central planning 202 Central Viet Nam 7 centralized approach 31 Challenges of Participatory 35 City dweller norms 162 civil society 35 Classifying Land Cover 155 Climate Change Adaptation Strategies 74 Climate Change Impact 116 climate change 1, 3, 202, 168 climatic variability 204

Dams 110 Data processing 227 DATA 214 Debris 52 decentralization 35, 205 deforestation 49, 149 Department of Dike Management and Flood and Storm Contro 81 developing countries 5 Developmental Perspective 14 Developmental 39 devolution 35 Digital Elevation Model 155 Disaster and Development Linkages 49, 54 Disaster Impacts 4 Disaster Perspectives 11 disaster risk assessment 29 Disaster Risk Management Approaches 1

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Index

Disaster Risk Management Models 19 Disaster Risk Management Planning 123 disaster risk management plans 2 Disaster Risk Management 11, 96, 126, 143 Disaster-Hazard-VulnerabilityCapacity Formula 25 discharges 149, 154 District 122 doi moi policy 6, 186 downstream communities 111 downstream 50 Early Warning 71, 94 Ecological Perspective 14 Economic impacts 185 education 69, 192 Emergency Preparedness, Forecasting 124 Emerging Perspectives 47 Empirical Results 163 Empirical Survey 181 Empowering 39 engineering structures 168 ENSO 117 Environment and Vulnerability 57 environment degradation 1 Environment Disaster Linkages 107 Environment Impacts 189 environment management tools 48 Environmental Assessments 62 environmental changes 49 environmental degradation 49, 202, 233 Environmental Impact Assessments 62 environmental quality 9 Environmental Risk Assessment 63 environmental services 174 epidemics 190

erosion control 171 ethnic minority 171 Evacuation 195 Expand and Contrast Model 21 Exposure 218 Facts 166 Five Million Hectares Reforestation Program 160 fixed settlement’ policies 159 flood inundation map 123 flood management strategy 176 Flood prevention projects 50 flood risk information 213 Flood Risk Management Perspectives 16 flood risk management 178 Flood Trends 183 flooding in November 1999 110 flood plain management 174 Forecast 94 forest cover change 151 Forest Cover 145 Forest degradation 162, 164 Forest-Flood Relationship 158 forestry programs 171 Gap 139 GDP 108 GIS 210 Global Position System 213 Government 84 Grassroots Democracy 96 hardware 226 hazard assessments 3 Hazard Mapping Process 221 hazard maps 211 hazard-led disaster 206 hazard-led perspective 16 Hazard 218 Health 69 hotspots 55 Household Flood Risk Index 218 housing program 200 Housing 69 human health 189

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index

Index

human induced climate change 50 Human Resources 95, 137 Huong river basin 150 Huong river 110 Hydro Meteorological Service 195 hydrological data 154 Hyogo Framework for Action 48 Identify risk 180 IFRC 98 IMOLA 142 Impacts of Disasters 51 Implementation Procedures 246 Indian Ocean tsunami 52 indigenous practices 171 Information Systems 71 Infrastructure Planning 130 Institutional Assessment 92 Institutional 80, 137 Integrated Coastal Zone management 142 integrated disaster risk management approach 8 Integrated DRM Models 22 Integrated river basin approaches 173, 238 Integrated 39 Integration 56, 73 Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change 50, 183 International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction 47 International Initiatives 72 IPCC 117 Japan

51

Kimberly’s Model 21 lagoon 176 Land Cover Change 155, 166 land degradation 109 Land Use Planning 74, 133 Land Use Policies 171 land use regulations 160 Land use 148

Lao PDR 67 Legal Framework 85 Legal 80, 137 Livelihood Management 75 Local Institutions 196 local knowledge 206, 210, 211, 227, 236 Logical DRM Models 20 loss to housing 203 Lowland farmer norms 161 lowland farmers 162 Mainstreaming 72 Maintenance 127 major floods 7 mangrove 115 Manila Bay 56 Manitoba’s Model 23 Mapping 94 MAP 210 market economy 202 Mass organizations 199 MDG 48 Mekong Delta 31 Methodologies 215 microfinance program 200 migration 55, 191 Millennium Development Goals 54 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 89 Ministry of Defense 89 Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources 89 Ministry of Fisheries 89 misperceptions 146, 174 Mitigation 93, 125 mock drills 128 model for industrial crisis 28 monitoring 223, 249 monthly precipitation 184 mountainous areas 7 multi-disciplinary 39 Multi-sectoral 39 multiple linear regression model 167 National Adaptation Programs of Action 61, 70

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Index

National Assembly 86 National Level 73 negative impacts 186 New Economic Zone 109, 159 new risks 204 NGOs 140 Nonstructural measures 18 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index 156 Operation Assessment 119 Operational Capacity 95 Oxfam 101 participatory approaches 32, 34 Participatory Disaster Risk Management 31 participatory flood risk mapping 207, 209 Participatory Planning 129 Participatory process 38 participatory rural appraisal 215 Participatory 96 People’s Committee 85 People’s participation 38 perception 147, 163, 191 Physical Conditions 182 Policy and Practice Gaps 230 Policy Forums 72 population pressure 189 Post Disaster Sanitation 75 Potentials 205 Poverty impacts 188 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers 66 poverty reduction 55 poverty 6, 54 precipitation data 183 Preparedness 194, 196 Prevention 93, 125 Private Loans 201 Proactive 39 probabilistic prediction 27 Project Appraisal Guidelines 71 Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control 119 Provincial Defense Department 121

Public Awareness 129 public participation 140 qualitative 179 quantitative 179 questionnaires 179 Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment 64 Rapid urban growth 55 Reconstruction 95, 126 Recovery 95, 126, 201 Red Cross 89, 95 Regional Level 73 regression analysis 225 regression model 167 Rehabilitation 195 Release Model 26 Relief 94, 126, 195 remarkable development 223 Remote sensing 155 renovation 6 Reporting 249 Rescue 195 Research Methodology 178 reservoir 114 residential clusters 31 Resources 201 Response 94, 126, 195, 197 Responsive 38 revolution in approach 8 risk assessments 3, 184 Risk Insurance 94 Risk Management Framework 178 Risk reduction measures 38 Risk Tansferring 76 Risk Transfer Mechanisms 72 Risk, Hazard 123 river catchment 50 riverbanks 224 road embankment 55 runoff coefficient 168 runoff 148 Safe Areas 127 Safe Water 75 Safer Housing Planning Safer Village Plan 129

135

May 20, 2009

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index

Index

safety designs 203 Sanitation 134 Save the Children 98 Scientific Facts 232 scientific observations 148 Sectoral Integration 68 Sectoral Level 73 semi-solid houses 182 sequence of events 28 severe disasters 116 shifting cultivation 171 social capital 206 social cohesion 115, 191 Social Economic Development 106 Social Impacts 190 social norms 160 Social Perspective 13 social vulnerabilities 206 Socio Economic Development Plan 243 software 226 solid houses 182 solid waste 189 special interests organizations 194 State Forest Enterprise 159 State Government 86 Statistical analysis 154 Stockpiles 127 Strategic Environmental Assessment 62 Strategy 241, 242 substantial investment 203 Sustainable Development 4 Techno-Centric Perspective 11 technological disaster pre-condition stages 28 temporary houses 224 The Cause-Effect Models 25 the hazard-vulnerability 18 The Netherlands Red Cross 99 the poor 54, 188, 203 The Second Strategy and Action Plan 83 The World Conference on Disaster Reduction 37

theoretical two-dimensional 28 Third Assessment Report 116 Thua Thien Hue Provincem 6 Thua Thien Hue Province 105 top-down governmental disaster planning approach 2 Traditional Coping Mechanisms 194, 207 Traditional Disaster Risk Management 28 Traditional Flood Coping Mechanisms 233 traditional methods 202 Traditional Model 20 traditional risks 115, 204 Treat risk 180 typhoons 7 UN Development Assistance Frameworks 70 Understand the context 180 United Nations World Food Program 160 unplanned industrialization 56 Unsupervised classification 156 upland farmers 159 Upland People 163, 166, 171 UPLANDS 150 urban infrastructure issues 55 Urban Planning and Infrastructure 69 Urban Planning 76 urbanization 55 Viet Nam 6, 54, 79 Vietnamese culture 175 Viet Nam Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development 200 village meetings 223 Vulnerability 123, 218 Vulnerable communities 45 vulnerable groups 38 vulnerable populations 7 Warning level 146 Warning 124 waste management system watersheds 149 Water 134

114

267

May 20, 2009

268

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Index

weak houses 182 weather stations 153 Weichselgartner’s Model 24 World Bank 66

World Summit on Sustainable Development 47 worsening environmental problems 205

index