Indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction in South Asia

This report aims to build awareness for indigenous knowledge as an effective tool for disaster risk reduction on the basis of findings of a study conducted in South Asian countries. It looks forward to incorporating and tailoring indigenous knowledge as key information under the Hyogo Framework for Action Priority 3, to different target audiences, taking into account cultural and social factors.

It uses three pilot projects in order to document, learn, revive and replicate, wherever possible, indigenous knowledge and practices and further synergize these with modern scientific knowledge, especially in the context of promoting community based disaster risk reduction strategies: communities living in the seismic region of the Himalayas in Nepal, coastal hazard regions of Sri Lanka, as well as drought and flood prone areas of India.