Disasters and ecosystems: Resilience in a changing climate

Disasters kill people, destroy infrastructure, damage ecosystems and undermine development, and could increase in frequency due to climate change. There is a need for increased awareness on the latest advances in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). A significant advancement is a better understanding of ecosystem-based approaches for reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change. This book explains the importance of ecosystems and their management for DRR and CCA and provides guidance to plan and implement ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (Eco-DRR/EbA).

Ecosystems provide important services that can address all risk factors. They reduce exposure to hazards by buffering their impacts, such as mangroves attenuating waves or forests protecting against avalanches. Well managed, they reduce hazards; indeed degraded ecosystems are more prone to creating hazards such as landslides or desertification. Finally, they can reduce vulnerability by providing food, water and livelihoods to communities.

Eco-DRR is the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems to reduce disaster risk, with the aim to achieve sustainable and resilient development. EbA is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. While these two approaches have some differences due to being developed in silos, separately in the DRR and CCA communities, there is much overlap in practice.