Building resilience to natural hazards in Indonesia: progress and challenges in implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action

Over the last 50?years, the cost of natural disasters has increased globally and in Indonesia (EM-DAT 2012). We therefore need more systematic efforts in trying to reduce disaster risks. In 2005, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction created the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005?C2015: ??Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities??, in order to enable a more systematic planning, implementation and evaluation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities. In this paper, we examine Indonesia??s success in improving DRR by reviewing the country??s progress in implementing the HFA Priorities for Actions. This includes an analysis of the drivers, challenges and emerging issues in building resilience to natural hazards. The study is undertaken through literature reviews and interviews with 26 representatives of key organisations in DRR and climate change adaptation (CCA) in Indonesia. Our findings indicate that the building disaster resilience in Indonesia has been, to a large extent, driven by the existence of the necessary regulatory policies and frameworks and the participation of various non-government stakeholders. Impediments to process include a lack of capacity and capability for DRR at the local government level, a lack of systematic learning and a lack of commitment from government to mainstream DRR into broader development agendas. Emerging pressing issues that are likely to challenge future resilience building activities include the integration of DRR and CCA and urban risk governance.     

Fire danger assessment with remote sensing: a case study in Northern China

Every year several million hectares of forest and grassland in China are affected by wildfires. The majority of wildfires occur in the northern part of China, where grasslands and forests are ubiquitous. A critical step toward the protection of life, property, and natural resources from wildfires is the development of a fire danger rating system. This paper presents a new method to assess fire danger that capitalizes on the abundance of environmental data available via remote sensing and applies this new method to the northern part of China. Using an analytical hierarchy process, a fire danger index was developed based on five environmental factors that are known to affect fire frequency and severity, including land surface temperature, vegetation curing, equivalent water thickness, vegetation continuity degree, and fuel weight. Data for these five factors were derived from satellite imagery, instead of point data, allowing for predictions to be made over a large geographic area. Fire danger ratings were then mapped for the region based on the fire danger index. In addition, the accuracy of the fire danger index was evaluated by statistical analyses. The fire danger index was significantly correlated with air temperature and precipitation, suggesting that changes in these two environmental variables will affect the predictions of the index.     

自然灾害风险初议

自然灾害风险的研究与评价是制定减灾对策、土地利用规划、社会发展与经济建设规划及保险展业的基础工作。自然灾害风险是灾害科学的前沿性研究课题。本文对自然灾害风险的特点、分类、形成原因、构成要素、结构层次、分析方法和研究风险的基本步骤进行了初步的讨论,以期在推动我国自然灾害风险研究中起到抛砖引玉的作用。     

Integrated risk zoning of drought and waterlogging disasters based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation in Anhui Province,China

This study presents a methodology for risk analysis, assessment, combination, and regionalization of integrated drought and waterlogging disasters in Anhui Province, which is supported by geographical information systems (GIS) and technique of natural disaster risk assessment from the viewpoints of climatology, geography, disaster science, environmental science, and so on. Along with the global warming, the occurrences of water-related disasters become more frequent and serious. It is necessary to determine the mode of spatial distribution of water-related disaster risk. Based on the principle of natural disaster risk, natural conditions, and socioeconomic situation, drought and waterlogging disaster risk index, which combined hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and restorability, was developed by using combined weights, entropy, and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Drought and waterlogging disaster risk zoning map was made out by using GIS spatial analysis technique and gridding GIS technique. It was used for comparing the relative risk of economic and life losses in different grids of Anhui Province. It can also be used to compare the situation of different levels of drought and waterlogging disaster combination risk in a similar place. The result shows that the northwestern and central parts of Anhui Province possess higher risk, while the southwestern and northeastern parts possess lower risk. The information obtained from statistical offices and remote sensing data in relation to results compiled were statistically evaluated. The results obtained from this study are specifically intended to support local and national governmental agencies on water-related disaster management.     

中国城市主要自然灾害风险评价研究

本文依据灾害系统理论和中国自然灾害数据库,构建了反映城市承灾体的综合城市化水平（CL）指标,并在此基础上得到城市脆弱性水平指数。考虑对城市具有结构性破坏和易于造成交通灾情的主要灾种,即水灾、地震、滑坡—泥石流、台风、沙尘暴,构建了反映城市主要致灾因子的综合自然灾害强度（QC）指标,并得到城市综合自然灾害强度指数。据此,在定性分析的基础上,通过半定量计算,将中国城市主要自然灾害风险划分为高风险、较高风险、中等风险、较低风险、低风险5个等级,编制了中国城市自然灾害风险评价图,并对灾害链的综合风险评价作了进一步的探讨。     

The regionalization of urban natural disasters in China

An integrated urbanization level (CL) index and an integrated natural disaster intensity (QC) index were developed on the basis of Disaster System Theory and China Natural Disaster Database for integrated urban disaster risk assessment. Integrated quantitative assessments of the urban socio-economic system and the intensity of hazards in China were carried out by the Model-Tupu (map series) and inter-feedback process using digital map technology. On the basis of this assessment, China can be regionalized into three regions, namely, coastal urban disaster region, eastern urban disaster region and western urban disaster region, 15 sub-regions and 22 units. These results can provide a scientific basis for determining a city’s disaster risk management and natural disaster relief regionalization in China.

Volcanic threat in developing countries of the Asia�CPacific region: probabilistic hazard assessment, population risks, and information gaps

The importance of disaster reduction has gained increased awareness within the international development community and thereby highlighted a need for a preliminary assessment of natural hazard risk in developing countries of the Asia?CPacific, including that for volcanic eruption. In this paper, we present a key component of such an assessment, which involved qualifying the frequency and potential consequences of large??Volcanic Explosivity Index of four or more??volcanic eruptions. The frequencies of large eruptions from volcanoes grouped by region were determined from frequency?Cmagnitude plots using data provided by the Smithsonian Institution??s Global Volcanism Program. However, calculated frequencies represent only minimum values due to an incomplete eruption record. Unfortunately, limited data precluded the calculation of eruption frequencies for the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Samoa. A first-order analysis of the populations potentially impacted by large volcanic eruptions suggest that (1) volcanic disasters affecting populations of >100,000 can be expected at least every decade in Indonesia and once every few decades in the Philippines and (2) a volcanic disaster impacting >1% of the population can be expected twice a century in Vanuatu, twice a millennium for Indonesia and the Philippines, and around every millennium in Papua New Guinea and Tonga.     

Integrated risk assessment of multi-hazards in China

Maps of population exposure, vulnerability and risk to natural hazards are useful tools for designing and implementing disaster risk mitigation programs in China. The ranking of provinces by relative risk to natural hazards would provide a metric for prioritizing risk management strategies. Using provinces as our study unit, from the perspectives of hazard exposure, susceptibility, coping capacity and adaptive capacity, this study first constructed China’s disaster risk index for five types of major natural hazards: earthquakes, floods, droughts, low temperatures/snow and gale/hail. Then, the relative risk level at the provincial scale in China was assessed. Finally, the hotspots with the highest hazard exposure, vulnerability and risk were identified. The results showed that high exposure was a significant risk driver in China, whereas high vulnerability, especially social vulnerability, amplified the risk levels. Similar to the population exposure to disasters, the relative risk levels in the southwestern, central and northeastern regions of China were significantly higher than those in the eastern, northern and western regions. The high-risk regions or hotspots of multi-hazards were concentrated in southern China (less-developed regions), while the low-risk regions were mainly distributed in the eastern coastal areas (well-developed regions). Furthermore, a nonlinear relationship existed between the disaster risk level and poverty incidence as well as per capita GDP, demonstrating that disaster losses in middle-income areas are likely to increase if economic policies are not modified to account for the rising disaster risk. These findings further indicated that research on disaster risk should focus not only on hazards and exposure but also on the vulnerability to natural disasters. Thus, reducing vulnerability and population exposure to natural hazards would be an effective measure in mitigating the disaster risk at hotspots in China.     

Modeling forest fire risk in the northeast of Iran using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Fire in forested areas can be regarded as an environmental disaster which is triggered by either natural forces or anthropogenic activities. Fires are one of the major hazards in forested and grassland areas in the north of Iran. Control of fire is difficult, but it is feasible to map fire risk by geospatial technologies and thereby minimize the frequency of fire occurrences and damages caused by fire. The fire risk models provide a suitable concept to understand characterization of fire risk. Some models are map based, and they combine effectively different forest fire–causing variables with remote sensing data in a GIS environment for identifying and mapping forest fire risk. In this study, Structural Fire Index, Fire Risk Index, and a new index called Hybrid Fire Index were used to delineate fire risk in northeastern Iran that is subjected to frequent forest fire. Vegetation moisture, slope, aspect, elevation, distance from roads, and vicinity to settlements were used as the factors influencing accidental fire starts. These indices were set up by assigning subjective weight values to the classes of the layers based on their sensitivity ratio to fire. Hot spots data derived from MODIS satellite sensor were used to validate the indices. Assessment of the indices with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves shows that 76.7 % accuracy of the HFI outperformed the other two indices. According to the Hybrid Fire Index, 57.5 % of the study area is located under high-risk zone, 33 % in medium-risk zone, and the remaining 9.5 % area is located in low-risk zone.     

Integrated risk assessment of flood disaster based on improved set pair analysis and the variable fuzzy set theory in central Liaoning Province,China

This study presents the methodology and procedure for risk assessment of flood disasters in central Liaoning Province, which was supported by geographical information systems (GIS) and technology of natural disaster risk assessment. On the basis of the standard formulation of natural disaster risk and flood disaster risk index, of which weights were developed using combined weights of entropy, the relative membership degree functions of variable fuzzy set (VFS) theory were calculated using improved set pair analysis, while level values were calculated using VFSs, including hazard levels, exposure levels, vulnerability levels and restorability levels, and the flood risk level for each assessment unit was obtained using the natural disaster index method. Consequently, integrated flood risk map was carried out by GIS spatial analysis technique. The results show that the southwestern and central parts of the study area possess higher risk, while the northwestern and southeastern parts possess lower risk. The results got by the assessment model fits the area of historical flood data; this study offer new insights and possibility to carry out an efficient way for flood disaster prevention and mitigation. The study also provides scientific reference in flood risk management for local and national governmental agencies.     

Integrated methodology for flood risk assessment and application in urban communities of Pakistan

Flood disasters and its consequent damages are on the rise globally. Pakistan has been experiencing an increase in flood frequency and severity along with resultant damages in the past. In addition to the regular practices of loss and damage estimation, current focus is on risk assessment of hazard-prone communities. Risk measurement is complex as scholars engaged in disaster science and management use different quantitative models with diverse interpretations. This study tries to provide clarity in conceptualizing disaster risk and proposes a risk assessment methodology with constituent components such as hazard, vulnerability (exposure and sensitivity) and coping/adaptive capacity. Three communities from different urban centers in Pakistan have been selected based on high flood frequency and intensity. A primary survey was conducted in selected urban communities to capture data on a number of variables relating to flood hazard, vulnerability and capacity to compute flood risk index. Households were categorized into different risk levels, such as can manage risk, can survive and cope, and cannot cope. It was found that risk levels varied significantly across the households of the three communities. Metropolitan city was found to be highly vulnerable as compared to smaller cities due to weak capacity. Households living in medium town had devised coping mechanisms to manage risk. The proposed methodology is tested and found operational for risk assessment of flood-prone areas and communities irrespective of locations and countries.     

Risk evaluation of China’s natural disaster systems: an approach based on triangular fuzzy numbers and stochastic simulation

To deal effectively with the evaluation problem of natural disaster risk system affected by many uncertain factors, a multivariate connection number expression is presented. This expression is based on the index samples and evaluation grade criterions of natural disaster risk system and is capable of describing the hierarchy property and fuzziness of membership relationship between index samples and evaluation grade criterions. In this proposed method, the fuzzy evaluation grade criterion problem is resolved by combining triangular fuzzy numbers with multivariate connection number theory, and triangular fuzzy numbers are used to express the discrepancy degree coefficients of connection number and evaluation index weights. Accordingly, a connection number-based evaluation method for the natural disaster system of China (named CN-TFN for short) is established using triangular fuzzy numbers and stochastic simulation. The application results show that the spatial distribution of natural disaster risk grades of China has the trend of aggrandizement from west to east of China. The economically developed and densely populated coastal areas are very likely to have a high level of natural disaster risk grade or above; thus, these areas are the key regions of the natural disaster risk management of China. The results also show that the CN-TFN is able to reflect practical conditions of the evaluation problem of natural disaster system and to provide more reliability information as compared to the existing evaluation methods. This is as a result of its comprehensive usage of various information of subjective and objective uncertainties in the evaluation process of natural disaster risk system and its expression by confidence intervals. Due to the simplicity and generalization, the CN-TFM is applicable to comprehensive risk grade evaluation of various natural disaster systems.     

An assessment of multidimensional flood vulnerability at the provincial scale in China based on the DEA method

China suffers frequent and severe floods. A lot of studies have been done in the field of flood disaster, including flood vulnerability assessment. This paper develops assessment models of multidimensional flood vulnerability based on the data envelopment analysis method and identifies multidimensional flood vulnerability??population, death, agriculture and economy??at the provincial scale in China using flood damage data and socioeconomic statistical data from 2001 to 2010. Based on the characteristics of multidimensional flood vulnerability of each province, some suggestions for flood prevention and mitigation are suggested. The assessment models of multidimensional flood vulnerability are simple and can be used for vulnerability analysis of natural disaster at regional or national levels. The assessment of multidimensional flood vulnerability can provide multifaceted information that contributes to a deeper understanding of the flood vulnerability and provides a scientific base for the policy making and implementation of flood prevention and mitigation designs.     

从区域安全建设到风险管理体系的形成--从第一届世界风险大会看灾害与风险研究的现状与发展趋向

综述了第一届世界风险大会关于灾害与风险科学研究的进展,分析了其发展趋势,并对我国加强这一领域的研究提出了对策。灾害与风险研究的目标正在趋向一致,都集中在为可持续发展模式提供科学依据;基于灾害研究的区域安全建设正在向基于风险研究的区域风险管理体系转变,由此认为可持续发展模式就是接受一定风险水平条件下的区域发展模式,一定风险水平依赖于由区域经济水平与社会文化体系相关联的区域安全建设水平;加强我国灾害与风险科学研究的学科建设、国家实验室建设、重大项目的组织与实施已势在必行;重点开展灾害脆弱性评价体系与评价模型、风险评价体系与风险评价模型、典型区域灾害与风险管理范式、灾害与风险应急控制预案（情景分析）、灾害与风险区划等方面的研究。为此把灾害科学和风险科学,与全球变化科学和可持续发展科学统一纳入到地球系统科学体系之中,以加强与完善我国在这些领域的综合多学科交叉研究能力。     

Evaluating the anthropogenic impacts on groundwaters; a methodology based on the determination of natural background levels and threshold values

The present work investigates the long-term effects of human intervention on groundwaters based on the determination of natural background levels (NBLs) and threshold values (TVs) for groundwater electrical conductivity, chloride, ammonium, sulphates and nitrates. The methodology adopted is the one proposed in the 6th Framework European Project ??BRIDGE??, which was applied with some adjustments in Rhodope area (Northern Greece). The study area was especially selected because it incorporates two distinct subareas: the northern one which can be safely considered as a pristine area, where NBLs for groundwaters were assessed from; the southern part which forms a typical Mediterranean region, intensively cultivated for the last 40?years. Groundwater TVs were determined considering two types of groundwater receptors: (a) groundwater ??itself?? and (b) groundwater dependent lagoons in the coastal part of the study area. Results showed that groundwater quality is altered seriously from its natural background composition indicating how human activities have affected groundwater quality and showed that chemical status of groundwater has been seriously aggravated. The number and the spatial distribution of monitoring locations exceeding TVs revealed that chloride and nitrates are the most serious threats for groundwater in the study area.     

中国北方风沙活动的驱动力分析

本文综合分析中国北方风沙活动发展的趋势,从气候变化、地表植被覆盖变化和土地利用变化等方面阐述了中国北方风沙灾害加剧的原因,指出气候变化和土地利用-覆盖变化是中国北方风沙活动的主要驱动力因素.     

Transboundary hazard risk: the Gobi desert paradigm

Transboundary hazard risk reflects how different societies interact with disaster in a shared landscape. In the Gobi desert of northern China and southern Mongolia recurring drought, extreme cold, wind and dust storms are the dominant hazards yet disasters vary significantly in the two countries. Research examined national approaches to environmental engagement and livelihoods in the desert through an assessment of disaster risk in two Gobi communities; farmers in Gansu Province, China, and herders in Dundgov and Omnogov Provinces, Mongolia. Exposure and resilience was evaluated and work examined how risk factors are shaped by policy, economics, culture and social memory. Comparison between two state systems reveals how disaster risk and vulnerability are shaped as much by human action as by the physical climatic event. China stressed government-led disaster management whilst Mongolia emphasised adaptation to hazards. Integrating multiple divisions within a hazard zone is essential to address risk reduction; without this disaster mitigation remains state-specific and lacks applicability to a wider area or global context.     

Increasing the resilience of financial intermediaries through portfolio-level insurance against natural disasters

Financial intermediaries [FIs] in developing and emerging economies are poorly equipped to manage natural disasters. These events create losses for FIs, eroding capital reserves and compromising their ability to lend. Portfolio-level insurance against disasters can improve FI management of these events. We model microfinance intermediaries [MFIs] exposed to severe El Ni?o in Peru that can now insure against this disaster risk. Our analyses suggest that insurance allows these lenders to manage this risk more efficiently and effectively. These risk management improvements can translate into better financial performance, expansion of banking service outreach, lower interest rates, and reduced volatility in access to credit. Based on these analyses, a large MFI in Peru with which we collaborated is now managing its disaster risk using El Ni?o insurance.     

Characterizing the spatial distribution of typical natural disaster vulnerability in China from 2010 to 2017

Natural disaster vulnerability can intuitively reflect the susceptibility of an area to environmental changes. Better understanding the spatial distribution of natural disaster vulnerability is a critical process for taking effective adaptation and management. Although significant achievements have been made in disaster vulnerability, few studies are known about natural disaster vulnerability at the national scale, especially from the typical natural disaster events in China. In this study, with normalizing selected indicators and calculating vulnerability index, we analyzed the spatial distribution of natural disasters vulnerability during 2010–2017 using the geospatial techniques. The results showed that natural disaster vulnerability has certain spatial differences, but different natural disaster can occur in the same area during the study period. Drought disaster can occur in all regions of China, especially in Inner Mongolia. Flood disaster is mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River Basin. The wind and storm disaster is chiefly in the northern regions in China. The freezing disaster is widely distributed in China. Furthermore, the regions with low vulnerability were primarily distributed in the eastern coastal region, indicating that the rapid development of economy and technology can resist or mitigate natural disaster to a certain extent. This study offers a solution to study natural disasters and provides scientific basis for disaster prevention and mitigation actions.

     

Geochemical characteristics and metallogenesis of Carlin-type gold deposits in the Sandu-Danzhai metallogenic zone, Guizhou Province, China

Geochemical studies of the Paiting and Miaolong Carlin-type gold deposits in the Sandu-Danzhai metal-logenic zone,Guizhou Province,have shown that the mineralized-altered rocks show LREE-enrichment patterns,generally displaying negative Eu anomalies(δEu=0.51?0.97) and unobvious negative Ce anomalies(δCe=0.86?0.99).Calcite and fluorite in relation with metallogenesis show MREE-enrichment patterns,generally displaying rather weak negative Eu anomalies(δEu=0.74?0.93) and weak negative Ce(δCe=0.70?0.98) anomalies.The δ13CPDB values of carbon in calcite are-1.61‰?-5.82‰,the δ18OSMOW values of oxygen are 13.97‰?19.24‰,and the δ34SCDT values of sulfur in stibnite are 17.72‰?21.68‰.In regard to δD and δ18O,ore-forming fluids pos-sess the characteristics of metamorphic water.The process of metallogenesis of the Carlin-type gold deposits is con-trolled by the Yanshanian tectonic activities.The Yanshanian movement promoted the migration and mobilization of metamorphic fluids in the extensively developed medium-to high-grade metamorphic rocks in this region,carrying primarily enriched gold and associated elements such as Hg,As,and Sb in the Sinian metamorphosed black shales and Lower Cambrian black shales.The ore-forming fluids found their way into a suitable metallogenic environment along the fault zone,followed by gold precipitation to form gold deposits.