WWF Nepal and the Hario Ban Program recently released its Nepal specific guide on construction materials called Building Material Selection and Use: An Environmental Guide that is now available for download.
WWF initially developed the guide in response to the devastating earthquakes that struck Nepal on April 25 and May 12, 2015.
Housing and shelter was one sector that was acutely impacted, approximately half a million homes collapsed or were damaged beyond repair and another 256,697 were partly damaged. Sudden, large-scale increases in building material demand can cause significant social and environmental risks, for example, erosion, deforestation, landslide and floods. The guide was developed to provide information on environmentally responsible selection and use of materials to reduce these risks and create a more resilient built environment.
The international version of Building Material Selection and Use: An Environmental Guide, published in September, has received interest from a range of humanitarian actors from the Emergency Shelter Cluster to peacekeeping forces in Darfur. The guide will be presented on December 19, 2016 at the 7th International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment in Sri Lanka. WWF plans to monitor and evaluate the use of the guide so future iterations can be expanded and improved based on lessons learned.
Additional country-specific versions are under development. For more information contact [email protected].