Integration of Indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction: A case study from Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

R A Walshe; Patrick Nunn

doi:10.1007/s13753-012-0019-x

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Integration of Indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction: A case study from Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Integration of Indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction: A case study from Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

R A Walshe and Patrick Nunn

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Vol.3(4), pp.185-194

2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-012-0019-x

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Abstract

Policy and Administration

Environmental Science and Management

disaster risk reduction

Indigenous knowledge

Pacific Islands

tsunami

Vanuatu

Despite reaching heights of >6 m and destroying a sizeable coastal settlement at the head of Baie Martelli (Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, South Pacific), the 26 November 1999 tsunamis caused only five fatalities from a threatened population of about 300 persons, most of whom fled inland and upslope before the waves struck. This remarkable survival rate is attributed to both indigenous knowledge, largely in the form of kastom knowledge, and information obtained from a video about tsunamis that was shown in the area three weeks earlier. Interviews with 55 persons who experienced this tsunami suggest that indigenous knowledge about tsunami risk and response in Baie Martelli was well known among key members of the community and was probably largely responsible for the appropriate response. Future strategies for disaster risk reduction should involve maintaining such indigenous knowledge in such communities and supplementing this where needed with scientific knowledge filtered through indigenous culture and language.

Details

Title: Integration of Indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction: A case study from Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu
Authors: R A Walshe (Author) - Coventry University, United Kingdom
Patrick Nunn (Author) - University of New England
Publication details: International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Vol.3(4), pp.185-194
Publisher: SpringerOpen
Date published: 2012
DOI: 10.1007/s13753-012-0019-x
ISSN: 2095-0055
Copyright note: Copyright © The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Organisation Unit: Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99448980502621
Output Type: Journal article

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