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Assistance Programs and Community Development Accommodating Settled Pastoralists Recent years have shown an increased tendency for pastoral nomads to settle down in fixed habitations. This happens because of changing personal goals or attitudes, because of drought disaster, or because of government programs. Nomadic herding is then left to part of the former community, which comes increasingly to resemble more settled pastoral systems. These changes will continue, and assistance should be given to accommodate them. Plight of Pastoralists Over recent years, nomadic pastoralists have been increasingly at a disadvantage relative to adjacent farmers, particularly during periods of above-average rainfall when cropping tends to encroach on pasture lands. Care should be taken to preserve by legislation or taxation policies if necessary, the traditional access of pastoralists to rangelands and watering points. Conclusion Desertification is accelerating with devastating consequences for both humans and the environment. Desertification and the associated problems of bankruptcy, poverty and famine make immediate implementation of mitigation measures imperative. Yet to be effective, these measures can meet human needs only while maintaining the dryland’s fragile ecology. In the simplest terms this means that all dryland residents must incorporate respect for the dryland ecology into the routine of their daily lives. 8 Notes 1 United Nations Conference of Desertification, Secretariat, Desertification: Its Causes and Consequences, Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1977, p. 8. 2 Ibid., p. 10. 3 Abderrechmane Toure, former Director for the Protection of Nature, Government of Mauritania, Rick Gore, “An Age-Old Challenge Grows,” National Geographic, November, 1979, p. 602. 4 Rick Gore, “An Age-Old Challenge Grows,” National Geographic, November 1979, pp. 596-603. 5 J. Y. Marchal, “The Evolution of Agrarian Systems: The Example of Yatenga (Upper Volta), African Environment: Environmental Studies and Regional Planning Bulletin, Vol. II, 4 and III, l, November, 1977, pp. 73-85. 6 S. John Whitton, Disasters: The Anatomy of Environmental Hazards, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1979, p. 284-285. 7 INTERTECT, The Potential Contribution of Peace Corps to Disaster Preparedness in Africa, INTERTECT, Dallas, Texas, 1983, p. 63. 8 This chapter has been based on the book, Desertification: Its Causes and Consequences, Compiled and Edited by the Secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Desertification, Nairobi, Kenya, 29 August to 9 September, 1977, Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1977. References Gore, Rick, “An Age-Old Challenge Grows,” National Geographic, November 1979. INTERTECT, The Potential Contribution of Peace Corps to Disaster Preparedness in Africa, INTERTECT, Dallas, Texas, 1983. Marchal, J. Y., “The Evolution of Agrarian Systems: The Example of Yatenga (Upper Volta), African Environment: Environmental Studies and Regional Planning Bulletin, Vol. II, 4 and III, 1, November 1977. United Nations Conference on Desertification, Secretariat, Desertification: Its Causes and Consequences, Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1977. Whitton, S. John, Disasters: The Anatomy of Environmental Hazards, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1979.
Chapter 9 Deforestation Introduction and Definition Deforestation is the removal or damage of vegetation in a forest to the extent that it no longer supports its natural flora and fauna. It is most frequently caused by humans taking care of immediate needs while not being aware of the long-term effects of their actions. Deforestation is a slow-onset disaster that may contribute to other, cataclysmic disasters. It reaches catastrophic proportions after large areas of vegetation in a forest are damaged or removed. By changing an area’s natural flora and fauna, it removes the land’s protective and regenerative properties. The rapid rate of deforestation in the tropics is a key driving force in the yearly increase of flood disasters. According to a Food and Agriculture Organization and United Nations Environmental Program (FAO/UNEP) study in 1981, tropical forests are disappearing at the rate of 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) per year: • 4.2 million hectares (10.4 million acres) a year in Latin America • 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) a year in Asia • 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) a year in Africa. 1 Historical Examples Deforestation in Africa In Africa, for example, 2.3 million hectares of open woodlands are cleared each year, and the vegetation of other vast areas of woodlands is declining with severe consequences for land and people. Also, the survival of extensive forests in one region provides little comfort to residents of areas experiencing wholesale forest destruction. The dense forests of West Africa and a few other areas in the continent (especially Madagascar, Rwanda, and Burundi) are disappearing fast, while rain forests in parts of Central Africa are little touched as yet. The Ivory Coast has lost 70 percent of the forest with which it began the twentieth century; there and in Nigeria some 10 percent of the accessible forest was cleared each year in the second half of the 1970s. The U.N. assessment of Africa concludes: “In the long run there is a real ecological threat to the whole continent.” Deforestation in Asia The formerly dominant timber exporters of Southeast Asia are fast approaching their days of reckoning for past forestry exploitation. In late 1977, while pressing for the adoption of a new forestry policy, the deputy premier of Malaysia shocked his compatriots by projecting that peninsular Malaysia’s once-lush forests would be severely depleted in just 12 years. He predicted that by 1990 the rate of timber production would not be adequate to meet domestic, let alone foreign, demand. Stringent new logging controls are being imposed in Thailand following the National Forestry Department’s estimate that the country’s forests will be virtually gone in 25 years if present logging and farming practices continue. Thailand has a special problem with poachers of valuable tropical hardwoods; in some recent years 30 or more forest guards have been killed in gun battles.
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Natural Hazards: Causes and Effects
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This publication was prepared by th
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Introduction How to Get Started Thi
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eruption may be the saturation of a
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Course Objectives Lesson 1 Introduc
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Lesson 1 - Introduction to Natural
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_____ 9. The transitional period an
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Lesson 2 - Self-Assessment Test Mul
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Lesson 3 - Tsunamis Study Guide Ove
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Lesson 4 - Volcanoes Study Guide Ov
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a) frequency of tremors b) upward m
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) two secondary responses handled b
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Lesson 7 - Drought Study Guide Over
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) often easier than implementing th
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Lesson 9 - Deforestation Study Guid
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10. One method holding great promis
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Natural Hazards: Causes and Effects
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Contents List of Figures List of Ta
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Chapter 1 Introduction to Natural H
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Type of Event Number of People Kill
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Low-income Economy Afghanistan Bang
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Phases of a Disaster Disaster speci
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Effects of Disasters Each type of d
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take steps to prevent the disaster,
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Chapter 2 Earthquakes Introduction
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Himalayan zone. Most earthquakes ap
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The different rates of travel betwe
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Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale o
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Frequency of Earthquakes More than
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How an earthquake damages a house F
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Rupture Zones and Epicenters in Cen
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of population from rural to urban a
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In all emergency activities it is o
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Notes 1 Rita Funaro-Curtis, Natural
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foundations by the water buoyancy.
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Impact on Natural and Built Environ
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Disaster Mitigation The most system
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- for tsunamis of local origin, pot
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Chapter 4 Volcanoes Introduction Ov
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production of sugar and cattle. Bec
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lava is a thin fluid (not viscous),
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then cool as thin, gently dipping s
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drains, causing flooding during sub
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then recognized, but today an incre
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Volcanic Zoning and Risk Mapping Wi
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1. Environmental Effects Volcano Di
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Altogether the combined disaster of
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force caused by the earth’s rotat
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An atmosphere disturbance forces wa
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The Saffir / Simpson Hurricane Scal
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measures as have to be devised and
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Storm Surge Source: Cuny, Disasters
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a set of activities in anticipation
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and buildings will affect the veloc
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How High Winds Damage Buildings Win
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• developing an effective forecas
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Notes 1 INTERTECT, The Potential Co
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1. Environmental Effects Tropical C
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Page 127 and 128: Magmatic Water ATMOSPHERE The Hydro
Page 129 and 130: Seasonality —Inundation of land d
Page 131 and 132: • Since Landsat images are taken
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Page 135 and 136: 100-year flood, since this frequenc
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Page 139 and 140: • Blankets can be useful, but if
Page 141 and 142: Initial Response By Local Authoriti
Page 143 and 144: Notes 1 INTERTECT, The Potential Co
Page 145 and 146: Chapter 7 Drought Introduction Drou
Page 147 and 148: In addition to the droughts in the
Page 149 and 150: The Drought Cycle Normal Hydrologic
Page 151 and 152: • priority be given to developing
Page 153 and 154: land aware of the issues. Planning
Page 155 and 156: The importance of responding to the
Page 157 and 158: Chapter 8 Desertification Introduct
Page 159 and 160: Region Estimates of Populations and
Page 161 and 162: 1960; 500,000 in 1973. In 1975, in
Page 163 and 164: Adaptation of the Hydrological Cycl
Page 165 and 166: eluctance to cut back on stock numb
Page 167 and 168: effect. Finer materials are lifted
Page 169 and 170: such measures involve the disruptio
Page 171 and 172: Slash-and-Burn Agriculture. This me
Page 173: Issues in Reconstruction Peculiar t
Page 177 and 178: uncontrolled deforestation is a sym
Page 179 and 180: Related Disasters Description of Ph
Page 181 and 182: exploitable timber available per pe
Page 183 and 184: implementation. But essential as th
Page 185 and 186: Analogue modeling — the applicati
Page 187 and 188: Crater — a bowl-shaped depression
Page 189 and 190: organizations (public and private),
Page 191 and 192: Fault — a planar or gently curved
Page 193 and 194: Hurricane — in the Western Hemisp
Page 195 and 196: Malnutrition — the condition of s
Page 197 and 198: Precipitation — in meteorology, w
Page 199 and 200: — S — Sand dune stabilization
Page 201 and 202: Telemetry — the use of communicat
Page 203 and 204: Vulnerability — the extent to whi
Page 205 and 206: International Society on Disaster M
Page 207 and 208: University of Colorado Natural Haza
Page 209: Disaster Management Center Universi
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