Book Review: <i>The Role of Ecosystems in Disaster Risk Reduction</i>

Abstract

THE ROLE OF ECOSYSTEMS IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION, BY: FABRICE G. RENAUD, KAREN SUDMEIER-RIEUX AND MARISOL ESTRELLA, UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY PRESS, SHIBUYAKU, TOKYO, 2013, 486 PAGES, ISBN 978-92-808-1221-3, PRICE: US $40.00. This is a very interesting book that every student, scholar, policymaker, and economist should have in their library as a basis to better understand how ecosystems (and not only man-made structural measures) play a useful role in the disaster risk reduction. The book is perfectly in line with the challenges that our society is facing in this century: increasing of coastal hazards (e.g., sea level rise, tropical cyclones), water resources management, land use planning (e.g., deforestation), and population growth in highly vulnerable regions. A foreword given by Margareta Wahlstrom, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, is proposed at the beginning of the chapters. The book contains 18 chapters, grouped in the following five main sections: (i) why do ecosystems matter in the disaster risk reduction?; (ii) ecosystems and coastal disaster risk reduction; (iii) water resource management for disaster risk reduction; (iv) sustainable land management for disaster risk reduction; (v) policy, planning and future perspectives. In order to give a quick guide to the contents of these five parts, I provide here a brief explanation of the case studies presented.