Resilience for Salmon and People—Lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011: Summary and Discussion (original) (raw)
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The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Japan Biodiversity Fund and the Convention on Biological Diversity concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN, the Japan Biodiversity Fund and the Convention on Biological Diversity This publication has been produced with funding from the Japan Biodiversity Fund under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
In the wake of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that devastated part of northeastern Japan in March 2011, proposals for reconstruction and rehabilitation are still subjects of debate. The claim by many climate scientists that large-scale extreme events can be expected in the future, with similar catastrophic effects in coastal areas, suggests the need for long-term planning that aims at building resilience, the ability for socio-ecological systems to withstand and recover quickly from natural disasters, and continue to develop. We hypothesize that ecosystems and socio-economic resilience will provide affected communities with flexible barriers against future disasters and greater protection in the long run than will hard/engineering solutions such as high seawalls aimed at ensuring only physical security. Building social/ecological resilience in the Tohoku region will increase general security and is anticipated also to contribute to an enhanced quality of life now and for generations to come. This paper argues that building resilience in the affected area requires a transformation to sustainable agriculture, forestry and fisheries and we describe how the links between satoyama and satoumi, traditional rural territorial and coastal landscapes in Japan, can contribute to this revitalization and to strengthening the relationship between local residents and the landscape in the affected communities. Decision makers at local, regional and national levels need to take a holistic approach based on sustainability science to understand the inter-relationships between these landscapes and ecosystems to develop a robust rebuilding plan for the affected communities. Moreover, this paper suggests that building resilient communities in Japan that demonstrate the strategic benefits of satoyama and satoumi linkages can be a model for building resilient rural and urban communities throughout the world.
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Journal of Environmental Management, 2008
The impact of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only has human dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa, disasters tend to have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest management practices, or agriculture systems can worsen the negative environmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting, and ground/surface water contamination.
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PARKS, 2013
The costs of storms, floods, earthquakes, landslides, ocean surge and desertification are increasing; and with each event natural capital is also lost in terms of healthy ecosystems, species and ecosystem services. Despite increased spending on disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies, well over a million people died as a result of natural hazards in the last decade. We need to rethink how to manage DRR. One strategy poorly recognised and under-exploited to date is the role of natural ecosystems in protecting against and mitigating from disasters and the role of protected areas in maintaining these ecosystem services. This editorial reviews how protected areas can support DDR and draws specifically on responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
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The Indian Ocean tsunami presented an extraordinary humanitarian challenge but, as with almost all sudden onset disasters, the longer term implications for both humans and ecosystems often are forgotten in the rush to meet immediate needs. While attention has rightly been directed to humanitarian needs in the short term, issues of recovery and reconstruction, prevention of future disasters and sustainable development now need to be addressed. This recovery should focus on enhancing human livelihoods while reducing both human and ecosystem vulnerability to future disasters. These two objectives are closely linked, since recovery of ecosystems can ensure that they will provide the services needed to maintain livelihoods and thereby reduce human vulnerability.
Disaster Advances, 2020
The purpose of the study is to analyze the knowledge of natural calamity, its impact and level of preparations of respondents in Central Luzon, Philippines. This study employed a descriptive-correlation design. 125 respondents participated in the survey with the use of convenience sampling technique. We drafted a questionnaire and subjected it to validity and reliability test which yielded an overall Cronbach alpha score of .969. After the survey, We analyzed the data using SPSS 20 and the following statistical tools: frequency, percentage, means, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson-r and Regression Analysis. The study found that the respondents are knowledgeable on natural calamities and its impacts. They are also prepared when a calamity occurs. There are significant differences on the knowledge of natural calamity and impact of natural calamity in terms of community and family members. There is also a significant relationship observed between community, knowledge of natural calamity and impact of natural calamity. The same is observed between knowledge of natural calamity, impact of natural calamity and level of preparations of respondents. The community is a significant determinant of knowledge on natural calamity and impact of natural calamity and age is a significant determinant of knowledge on natural calamity.