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A GDRC Special Feature on
Environmental Management
and Disaster Risk Reduction
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GDRC
Special
Feature
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  he impacts of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only have human dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa, disasters have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest management practices, agriculture systems etc. can exacerbate the negative environmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting and ground/surface water contamination.
This special feature of GDRC's programme on Urban Environmental Management explores the cyclical and intrinsic linkages between good (or bad) environmental management on one hand, and disaster prevention and mitigation.
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Communities will always face natural hazards, but today’s disasters are often
generated by, or at least exacerbated by, human activities. At the most
dramatic level, human activities are changing the natural balance of the earth,
interfering as never before with the atmosphere, the oceans, the polar ice caps,
the forest cover and the natural pillars that make our world a livable home.
But we are also putting ourselves in harm’s way in less visible ways. At no
time in human history have so many people lived in cities clustered around
seismically active areas. Destitution and demographic pressure have led more
people than ever before to live in flood plains or in areas prone to landslides.
Poor land-use planning; environmental mismanagement; and a lack of
regulatory mechanisms both increase the risk and exacerbate the effects of
disasters.
Kofi Annan
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Millennium Goal:
"To intensify our collective efforts to reduce the number
and effects of natural and man-made disasters."
Placed under section IV. Protecting our common environment
Road map towards the implementation
of the United Nations Millennium Declaration - GA A/56/326. |
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| | Do you have any suggestions or additions to make on the above information? Please send an email to Hari Srinivas at hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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