Degradation of Vegetation and Agricultural Productivity due to Natural Disasters and Land Use Strategies to Mitigate Their Impacts on Agriculture, Rangelands and Forestry

Abstract

Natural disasters are known to cause severe economic losses and in many developing countries in the form of decline in agricultural production, destruction of food reserves, damage to water supplies, etc. This report focuses on land use strategies to mitigate natural disasters including tropical storms, floods, droughts, dust storms and sand storms, frosts, volcanoes, landslides, bush, and forest fires. It is important that disaster preparedness and prevention projects are built into a wider development strategy. Mitigation efforts need an integrated and concerted action by all the agencies concerned. Long term disaster reduction efforts should aim at promoting appropriate land-use in the disaster-prone areas, by harmonizing land suitability with agricultural development strategies.