permaculture

[Bear K <bear@ursine-design.com>]

Hello  everyone,

The latest news is that the toll from the tsunami in the Indian Ocean 
has climbed above 115,000. Aid is coming, bodies buried. The largest 
natural disaster in memory.

What lessons can be learned from this disaster, and what would our 
permaculture training suggest as to how to move forward from here on 
the coastlines of the countries affected. Could we do a meta-site 
analysis of the regions? Find out where the Type 1 errors occurred? 
Suggest improvements? Are there safe areas/ways for people on the 
coasts to live which aren't already used? What would make for a 
tsunami, typhoon, flood proof community along a shoreline?

The blog WorldChanging has an interesting piece:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001835.html
It appears that most of the coastal areas with intact mangrove forests 
were spared massive effects thanks to the forest's buffering effects.
There are various projects creating silvofisheries, salt water farms, 
etc by using and planting mangrove forests. They provide the nursing 
areas for much of the marine life in the areas. Mangroves can also 
absorb much of the nutrient runoff from shrimp farms, preventing it 
from polluting open waterways.

This one too:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001817.html
"Encouraging communities to be active participants in the rebuilding is 
key to creating sustainable solutions and to reducing the impact of a 
disaster. Representatives from the International Red Cross (IRC) spoke 
at the (last) World Urban Forum on disaster relief and noted the new 
city of Ciudad Espuma in Honduras - built after Hurricane Mitch swept 
through in 1998 - was the best example of a "disaster reduction 
initiative". The 14,000 families who has lost homes had rebuilt their 
own houses with an awareness of the potential of future disaster."

Best wishes,
Bear