This website describes case studies of traditional or local Ecosystem-based approaches to disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) related to wetlands in Asia.
Eco-DRR is recognized as one of the examples of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to specific societal challenges. As the number of disasters increases globally and the damage has expanded, Eco-DRR draws attention. Due to the impact of climate change, etc., the number of disasters has increased worldwide. Especially, the Asian region is the most affected area in the world regarding the number of disasters, the number of deaths, and the amount of damage. Under these circumstances, wetlands could be a natural buffer against an increasing number of natural disasters.
The case studies are collected using a common format that was developed experimentally in our project funded by Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund. They have been collected from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and Thailand. One of the objectives of this project is to identify the function of wetlands in regard to Eco-DRR. The other is to contribute to the conservation of wetlands and improvement of disaster prevention capacity of areas.
A format developed for the case studies consists of background, system of disaster prevention, gifts from nature, traditional or local knowledge and practices, challenges, lessons learnt, associated ecosystems, disaster, ecosystem services, involvement and collaboration of relevant stakeholders, and funding resource. As for the cases gathered at this point and their related disasters, flooding was the most common. In addition, there seems to be a large amount of damage in coastal areas. Traditional knowledge is utilized, however, local knowledge seems to be more applicable to disaster prevention and mitigation. This project will continue to collect case studies, which will be shared on the website, so that countries in the Asian region can learn and apply these cases, where applicable.