Ecosystem Management

Five reasons why ecosystems are central to disaster risk reduction

Children senegal

 

1. Human well-being depends on ecosystems that provide multiple livelihood benefits. They also increase the resilience of vulnerable people to withstand, cope with and recover from disasters resulting from hazard events such as droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes and others.

2.Ecosystems such as wetlands, forests, and coastal systems can provide cost-effective natural buffers against natural events and the impacts of climate change.

3. Healthy and diverse ecosystems are more resilient to extreme weather events.

4. Ecosystem degradation, especially when related to forests and peatlands, reduces the ability of natural ecosystems to sequester carbon, increasing the incidence and impact of climate change and climate related disasters.

5. Human conflicts can cause devastation to communities similar to the effects of natural hazards and are often caused by competition over scarce natural resources. These conflicts cause further environmental degradation. Environmental management is therefore essential to both decrease risk of conflict and allow post-conflict recovery.

 

 

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