Abstract
Building resilience in all forms, including resilience to water-mediated disasters, is imperative for achieving sustainable development. Recognition of role of wetlands in buffering water-mediated risks can diversify disaster risk reduction options as well as contribute to building community as well as ecological resilience. The synergies between international and national policies related to environment, DRR and climate change policy needs to be gainfully utilized to promote higher investment and programming support to initiatives for conservation of wetlands for reducing disaster risk in India. An enabling environment can be created by prioritizing wetlands considering their functions within landscapes, developing and piloting tools linking wetlands functions within hazard-capacity-vulnerability assessments, and creating opportunities of cross-representation within organizations mandated with wetlands and DRR sectors. Oversimplification of the role of wetlands in buffering water-mediated risks will be counter-productive to this agenda. Rather than a polarized policy-making which considers either hard-engineering or nature-based solutions, wetlands should be made a part of portfolios of built and natural capital within a landscape (such as river basin), considering likely outcomes for multiple goals, such as poverty reduction, water-food-energy security, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity conservation and climate resilience, in equitable, efficient and economically and socially viable terms.
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Notes
- 1.
As per EMDAT Database, during 1916–2019 water-mediated disasters accounted for 78% of the total disaster events and 98% of the population affected.
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The paper was contributed as a part of the Partners for Resilience – Strategic Partnership Programme supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Kumar, R., Saluja, R., Mohil, D. (2020). Wetlands as Buffers for Water-Mediated Disaster Risks: Policy and Programming Opportunities in India. In: Dhyani, S., Gupta, A., Karki, M. (eds) Nature-based Solutions for Resilient Ecosystems and Societies. Disaster Resilience and Green Growth. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4712-6_5
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