We have heard a lot in recent years a lot about economic migration... the problem of illegal immigration in Europe with boat loads of desperate people risking everything to get into the EU. In the states it largely relates to people from Latin America attempting to get into the perceived promised land of the USA. Just last week tough new immigration laws were passed in the US state of Arizona in attempt to combat an estimated half million illegal residents in a state with a population of 7 million.
One concern however, that is increasingly coming to the fore, is the role of environmental degradation as a driving force behind what is broadly termed economic migration. A poorly managed and degraded environment provides fewer services and supports less life and resources that can in turn support viable incomes for people. Environmental disasters also play their role and certainly can greatly exacerbate the situation in already poor circumstances and even make life untenable in certain areas.
The earthquake in Haiti is requiring the decampment and relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, the same will doubtless be true though on a smaller scale in Quinghai province, China after the recent quake.
Another quite extreme example of this has been the mudslides last month in Uganda. The mudslides on 1st March in the east of Uganda on the slopes of Mount Elgon swept away three villages killed up to 300 hundred people and rendered several thousand homeless. It has further raised concerns about outbreaks of cholera and malaria due to submerged pit latrines and pools of stagnant water.
Uganda has one of the highest population growth rates in Africa which has driven people ever higher up the mountainsides in search of land to eke out a subsistence living. The resulting deforestation and land clearance has left large areas vulnerable to landslides. The recent landslides have been labelled a ”wake-up call” by the Ugandan Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Mr. Musa Ecweru, and prompted him to state that some half-a-million people will need to be moved from their homes in mountainous areas because of the risk of landslides.
For such a statement to be made and only a year before national elections shows how serious the situation is being viewed. It remains to be seen however where provision can be made to re-settle so many people in such a relatively small and poor country.
The terrain of the main populated islands of Seychelles also means that landslides are a risk that needs to be mitigated. The heavy rains of 1997/98 saw several roads being washed out and gradual shifting of soil on some slopes has been and remains a problem in some areas. The most infamous disaster in Seychelles – the 1862 La Valasse - was a landslide. This too was likely coupled with significant environmental degradation of the time with several contemporary writers referring to the extensive deforestation that was prevalent in the 19th century. Today the mountainsides are generally quite heavily forested, though not necessarily by the most desirable species. Nevertheless the Seychelles Disaster Preparedness and Response Project will be, as one of its activities, undertaking a geological risk assessment of the three main islands in order to identify areas where mitigation actions or precautionary measures are required.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Expect the Unexpected
News over the last week has been filled with the eruption and ensuing ash cloud from the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (Yes apparently that’s its name!) in Iceland. The volcano has of course had significant impact on the communities and farmers surrounding it particularly those downwind and images have shown the ground covered in several inches of ash.
Who however would have predicted the broader ramifications of this natural disaster? Major airports across large parts of Europe have been closed for fear of the affect the ash may have upon sensitive jet engines. This has left literally tens of thousands of people stranded around the globe and according to IATA (The International Air Transport Association) has cost the airline industry some US $ 1.7 Billion.
BBC world service radio in the Africa region has been covering other stories that relate to the impact of this closing of European airspace for example the cut flower industry in Kenya that relies on international flights to take its products, primarily fresh roses, to market in saleable condition, apparently the fresh flower industry in Kenya is losing more than a million US$ a day!
Locally the SBC news has cited how imports of fresh produce for hotels has been severely affected and showed the empty shelves of ISPC, a major importer, to highlight the situation. Though I have yet to hear any figures or news on fishery exports there must also presumably have been an impact of the export of fresh fish to the European restaurant market an important high-profit market for local fishers, not to mention of course the affect upon tourism revenue!
Today (21/04/10) the news is of airports slowly opening up again but even if all goes well the back log is expected to take weeks to clear – in the meantime there is concern that the volcano may be increasing its ash output and there are further fears that this activity may trigger eruptions in the second much larger Katla volcano nearby!
All this goes to show how interconnected we all are in this global economy and how disasters even thousands of miles away can have ramifications for Seychelles. It is clearly important for isolated countries like Seychelles to optimise their levels of self-sufficiency and investigate their vulnerability to even less likely occurrences and identify what pragmatic steps can be taken to build resilience into our infrastructure, services and economy.
In 2007 the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) undertook a capacity needs assessment for disaster management and early warning in Seychelles. The worst case scenario used in this exercise was a hurricane hitting the east coast of Mahe. Now whilst Seychelles lies outside of the hurricane belt it can expect every few hundred years to be hit by one – it is believed for example that the 1862 “la Valasse” – a famous historical disaster in Seychelles that caused considerable loss of life (see post of January 11th for further details) - may have been caused by a tropical depression. The east coast of Mahe constitutes the main storage, power generating, communications, travel and services infrastructure of the country as well as the main population concentration; all this along the narrow low-lying coastal plain. The east coast is therefore highly vulnerable to such an event even if the risk is rather low.
The current Seychelles Disaster Preparedness and Response Project will be seeking to address some of these concerns in particular under the development of disaster contingency plan for the Industrial sector. Initial consultations with key stakeholders in this domain have commenced so do check back periodically for updates...
Who however would have predicted the broader ramifications of this natural disaster? Major airports across large parts of Europe have been closed for fear of the affect the ash may have upon sensitive jet engines. This has left literally tens of thousands of people stranded around the globe and according to IATA (The International Air Transport Association) has cost the airline industry some US $ 1.7 Billion.
BBC world service radio in the Africa region has been covering other stories that relate to the impact of this closing of European airspace for example the cut flower industry in Kenya that relies on international flights to take its products, primarily fresh roses, to market in saleable condition, apparently the fresh flower industry in Kenya is losing more than a million US$ a day!
Locally the SBC news has cited how imports of fresh produce for hotels has been severely affected and showed the empty shelves of ISPC, a major importer, to highlight the situation. Though I have yet to hear any figures or news on fishery exports there must also presumably have been an impact of the export of fresh fish to the European restaurant market an important high-profit market for local fishers, not to mention of course the affect upon tourism revenue!
Today (21/04/10) the news is of airports slowly opening up again but even if all goes well the back log is expected to take weeks to clear – in the meantime there is concern that the volcano may be increasing its ash output and there are further fears that this activity may trigger eruptions in the second much larger Katla volcano nearby!
All this goes to show how interconnected we all are in this global economy and how disasters even thousands of miles away can have ramifications for Seychelles. It is clearly important for isolated countries like Seychelles to optimise their levels of self-sufficiency and investigate their vulnerability to even less likely occurrences and identify what pragmatic steps can be taken to build resilience into our infrastructure, services and economy.
In 2007 the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) undertook a capacity needs assessment for disaster management and early warning in Seychelles. The worst case scenario used in this exercise was a hurricane hitting the east coast of Mahe. Now whilst Seychelles lies outside of the hurricane belt it can expect every few hundred years to be hit by one – it is believed for example that the 1862 “la Valasse” – a famous historical disaster in Seychelles that caused considerable loss of life (see post of January 11th for further details) - may have been caused by a tropical depression. The east coast of Mahe constitutes the main storage, power generating, communications, travel and services infrastructure of the country as well as the main population concentration; all this along the narrow low-lying coastal plain. The east coast is therefore highly vulnerable to such an event even if the risk is rather low.
The current Seychelles Disaster Preparedness and Response Project will be seeking to address some of these concerns in particular under the development of disaster contingency plan for the Industrial sector. Initial consultations with key stakeholders in this domain have commenced so do check back periodically for updates...
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