Integrating natural resource management into disaster response and mitigation

Abstract

No population on this planet is immune to the threat of disaster. Whether it takes the form of a rapid onset disaster like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which devastated the coastal zone of Aceh Indonesia, or the slow onset drought of 2006 which crept across the Horn of Africa, leaving poor harvests and weakened herds throughout the region, nearly all communities are at risk. The full impact of a disaster depends on the scale of the disaster and the ability of the affected population to both withstand the shock and to recover. When populations cannot recover on their own, national governments and at times, the international humanitarian community in the form of donors and implementing agencies must provide support to the people in need.