Update

Economic development and forest loss and degradation do not have to go hand in hand, according to IUCN. Properly managed forest landscapes can provide a wide range of ecosystem services that support sustainable livelihoods, conserve biodiversity and enhance resilience to climate change...

Disaster management experts have long urged governments to focus on disaster preparedness - to reduce the level of crisis. Radio Australia interviews Jordan Ryan, Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention & Recovery, UNDP, on disaster preparedness in the Asia Pacific region...

The World Bank has announced the launch of the MultiCat Program, a catastrophe bond issuance platform that gives governments and other public entities access to international capital markets to insure themselves against the risk of 'natural' disasters...

After the devastating earthquake in Padang, Indonesia last month that killed thousands, disaster-management experts are recommending ways to reduce the casualties and damage caused by 'natural' disasters...

Speaking during a disaster preparedness and risk reduction meeting for south-west Indian Ocean region, Malawi Commissioner for Disaster Preparedness Lilian Ng’oma said 'These initiatives are helpful because countries may have different experiences and capacities for disaster risk reduction'...

Experts are expected to discuss action plans on climate change adaptation and mitigation response during the first SAARC workshop, scheduled to be held in Delhi, India early next year...

'A long-term plan with detailed and comprehensive measures is urgently required as the climate is becoming more complicated and abnormal' said Le Huy Ba, director of the Institute for Environmental Science Engineering and Management...

A housing design by architects working with the actor Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation for post-Katrina New Orleans may suit flood prone areas in the Philippines says architect Jason Buensalido of Buensalido Architects...

As part of the new regional strategy focusing on disaster risk reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID/OFDA recently awarded funding to support projects in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, and Peru, as well as a series of workshops on DRR and protection and gender issues...

As countries across East Africa and the Horn of Africa begin to receive El Niño-related enhanced rainfall, disaster risk reduction experts from 10 countries in the region are meeting in Nairobi to develop strategies for reducing the negative impact of the evolving El Niño phenomenon...