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The Flood Green Guide Podcast Series: Episode 1
From the Netherlands to China to California, people around the world are working with nature to manage flood risk. But as multiple risk factors such as sea level rise, urban development and a changing climate continue to alter landscapes, standards for effective flood management are also changing. Including nature-based methods in flood management portfolios will…
Read MoreFrom Flood to Fig: Norfolk’s food forest
You can grow your own food in a garden, but some people take it to the next level. Among them are the people of Norfolk, Virginia, who in December installed the city’s first food forest. The small forest’s pomegranate, elderberry, papaw and chocolate persimmon trees (to name a few) are the first step toward what…
Read MoreFlood Green Guide Training Workshop
Torrential monsoon rains have resulted in the loss of lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure across the Asian continent in recent weeks. Japan, Nepal, India, and Thailand have been among the hardest hit by the monsoon season, as the scale and frequency of regional flooding and landslides have increased in scale and scope. The upsurge of extreme…
Read MoreGrowing Grounds: Rebuilding with Native Trees
In a garden on an unnamed road, off another unnamed road off Highway 1 in San Juan, icaco trees are beginning to bloom. The icaco — Chrysobalanus icaco, which sprouts an edible plum that contains its seeds — is one of the 120 species of trees native to Puerto Rico that are growing here in Para…
Read MoreUsing the Past to Prepare for the Future
Technology evolves faster than we can adopt it, but old methods — very old methods — sometimes are the best solutions. In this case, it’s a centuries-old canal system in the mountains surrounding Lima, and it might help save the Peruvian capital a future of drought and flooding. The rainy season last year brought Peru’s…
Read MoreFlood Green Guide Training for Sri Lanka’s Kelani River Watershed
It’s monsoon season in Sri Lanka, and as the country braces for the coming months, some people are looking much further down the line. Last year brought the country’s worst flooding in more than a decade, and just a few weeks ago authorities warned residents to watch out for floods and landslides after heavy rains prompted…
Read MoreRegrowing Puerto Rico’s Agriculture
It may seem unlikely that after a hurricane leaves you literally without a roof over your head, a tiny tree bearing papaya — not even papaya, actually, just the stem that will eventually sprout papaya — could bring you hope. But that seemed to be the case when Dariana Mattei-Ramos distributed papaya tree seedlings —…
Read MoreRebuilding Responsibly
Environment and Disaster Management team member Jennifer Pepson Elwood explains why it’s important to rebuild after disaster with an eye toward nature. The Green Recovery and Reconstruction: Training Toolkit for Humanitarian Aid, or GRRT, was developed based on WWF and partners’ work following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, to help humanitarians and governments rebuild in…
Read MoreNo Such Thing As A Natural Disaster
“We don’t like the term ‘natural disaster’ because no disasters are natural,” said Dr. Missaka Hettiarachchi of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) during a public forum at Northwestern last week. As Hettiarachchi and his colleague Anita van Breda explained during their seminar entitled “Environment and Disasters: Global Emerging Practices for Reducing Risk,” there is nothing…
Read MoreDebris Management Considerations: Cyclone Gita – Tonga
This note provides a summary of key debris and waste management considerations arising in relation to the passage of Tropical Cyclone Gita over Tonga. The note is based on reports available on ReliefWeb and through desktop-based research.
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