Integrating ecosystems in resilience practice
Criteria for Ecosystem-Smart Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.
The integration of ecosystems and natural resource management in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been largely overlooked to date. This document introduces a set of criteria, which can be used by policy makers and practitioners to better integrate the management of ecosystems and natural resources in their DRR work.
Description:
The criteria describe the required steps to develop an ‘ecosystem-smart’ approach in the design, implementation and evaluation of risk reduction programmes. They provide guidance on the required capacities, partnerships, institutional set-up and planning needs.
The criteria were developed in the context of the Partners for Resilience alliance, which aims to reduce the impact of natural hazards on the livelihoods of around 400,000 vulnerable people worldwide. This alliance is one of the first large-scale efforts to bring together expertise from the humanitarian, development and environment sectors into a holistic risk reduction and climate change adaptation (CCA) programme. Following the criteria will help to integrate these disciplines, which will substantially increase the sustainability and effectiveness of risk reduction interventions. While this document focuses on disaster risk reduction, the criteria are equally applicable to guide the integration of environmental considerations into climate change adaptation planning processes.
