v3n1

1. Cover
2. Contents
3. Introduction: Islands of Risk, Islands of Hope
   Ilan Kelman & J-C Gaillard (Issue Editors)
   
4. An Island Characteristic: Derivative vulnerabilities to indigenous and exogenous hazards
   James Lewis
   [Abstract] [Keywords]
   Keywords: Vulnerability, indigenous and exogenous hazards
   Abstract: Island development policies need to take account of recurrently high proportional impacts of natural hazards that are set to increase. Assistance could best be considered as expiatory measures against perpetrations of former world powers; the occupation and exploitation of islands in history having played a part in present-day vulnerabilities of communities to an impressive variety of indigenous hazards. Exogenous hazards of invasion and appropriation cannot be regarded only as past events because, for some islands, they are continuing, and because aspects of past exploitations continue for today’s occupiers as derivative vulnerabilities. One islander describes the heightened significance of events in places of geographic smallness: For the people in a small place, every event is a domestic event... eventually they absorb the event and it becomes a part of them, a part of who and what they really are, and they are complete in that way until another event comes along and the process begins again...To the people in a small place, the division of Time into the Past, the Present and the Future does not exist. An event that occurred one hundred years ago might be as vivid to them as if it were happening at this very moment. (Kincaid, 1988: 52-54).
5. Shaken, but not stirred: The 2004 Eruption of the Tristan volcano
   Vicky Hards
   [Abstract] [Keywords]
   Keywords: Tristan da Cunha, volcanic eruption, earthquake, vulnerability, natural hazards
   Abstract: Overnight on 29—30 July 2004, Tristan da Cunha, a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, was shaken by an intense earthquake swarm. The tremors felt by many of the island’s population evoked memories of events leading up to the 1961 volcanic eruption and the subsequent evacuation of the whole island. Shortly after this, fresh pumice was found floating near the island. Concern was immediate, and the population watched the site of the 1961 eruption, known locally as “the volcano”. Administrator Mike Hently sought advice from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office — Tristan is a dependency of the UK Overseas Territory of St. Helena — requesting a scientific assessment of the situation. It was in direct response to this request that the author visited the island in September 2004. Events were reconstructed from the islanders’ accounts and, following requests from the local community, reassurance and advice were given. Both direct observations and subsequent analysis of seismic data are consistent with a small parasitic eruption having occurred on the lower (submarine) flanks of the Tristan volcano, whilst the sub-aerial portion of the volcano had not stirred. This event reiterates the responsibility of the scientific community to provide meaningful advice on potential hazards and hazard mitigation to those living with active volcanoes. It also illustrates the disproportionate vulnerability of small, remote island communities to natural hazards.
6. Institutional and Social Responses to Hazards related to Karthala Volcano, Comoros
   Part 1: Analysis of the May 2006 Eruptive Crisis
   Julie Morin, Franck Lavigne, Patrick Bachelery, Anthony Finizola & Nicholas Villeneuve
   [Abstract] [Keywords]
   Keywords: Crisis management, Karthala volcano, Grande Comore Island
   Abstract: This paper aims at understanding the failure of the crisis management system during the 2006 eruption of Karthala volcano on Grande Comore Island. Since 2005, the eruptive activity of Karthala volcano had increased, with higher intensity and frequency. These changes should have led Grande Comore to be better prepared for confronting a volcanic threat. But the following analysis demonstrates that the country remained unprepared to face even a minor eruptive event. The weaknesses that led to poor crisis management are detailed and analysed and suggestions for improvement are made.
7. Institutional and Social Responses to Hazards related to Karthala Volcano, Comoros
   Part 2: The deep-seated root causes of Comorian vulnerabilities
   Julie Morin & Franck Lavigne
   [Abstract] [Keywords]
   Keywords: Volcanic hazards, vulnerability, risk perception, Karthala volcano, Grande Comore Island, Comoros
   Abstract: Although Karthala volcano in Grande Comore Island has erupted four times since 2005, the government and the local population still remain unprepared for a major eruptive crisis. The reasons for this lack of preparation lie in a deep tangle of political, socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors. Consequently, the population accepts the volcanic threat in different ways and to different levels. The ways in which Comorians deal with this threat lead to important changes in their society (eg social links evolving, exposure to volcanic hazards in exchange for some improvements in daily life, and easier access to resources). On a national scale, deep structural adjustments are required in order to reduce vulnerability sustainably.
8. Experimental use of participatory 3-dimensional models in island community-based disaster risk management
   Emmanuel Maceda, Jean-Christophe Gaillard, Elodie Stasiak, Virginie Le Masson & Iwan Le Berre
   [Abstract] [Keywords]
   Keywords: Participatory 3-Dimensional Model, Mapping, Community-Based Disaster Risk Management, Philippines, Divinubo
   Abstract: This article documents an attempt to integrate Participatory 3-Dimensional Models (P3DM) into Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM). It particularly focuses on the islet of Divinubo, located off the island of Samar on the Pacific edge of the Philippine archipelago. The P3DM methodology proved to be useful for many reasons — it facilitates the participation of the population; raises people's awareness of their territory; allows the 3-dimensional mapping of natural and other hazards, threatened assets, vulnerabilities and capacities; better enables CBDRM to be integrated into the larger development framework; proves very useful in marginalised areas like small islands; is cheap to set up and easy to reproduce; and may provide valuable data for scientists interested in disaster research. There are several issues that turned out to be instrumental in the successful implementation of such a methodology, since neither the scientists nor the sole NGO sector were able to achieve the best results with the community on their own but had to work together. The article also emphasises that it is critical to complete a long-term confidence-building stage before attempting to implement the project.
9. Islandness: Vulnerability and Resilience in Oceania
   John Campbell
   [Abstract] [Keywords]
   Keywords: Pacific islands, vulnerability, traditional disaster reduction
   Abstract: Pacific and other islands have long been represented as sites of vulnerability. Despite this, communities on many Pacific islands survived for millennia prior to the intrusion of people from Europe into their realm. An examination of traditional disaster reduction measures indicates that traditional Pacific island communities coped with many of the effects of extreme events that today give rise to relief and rehabilitation programmes. Key elements of traditional disaster reduction were built around food security (production of surpluses, storage and preservation, agro-ecological biodiversity, famine foods and land fragmentation), settlement security (elevated sites and resilient structures) and inter- and intra-community cooperation (inter-island exchange, ceremony and consumption control). Many of these practices have been lost or are no longer employed, while other changes in the social and economic life of Pacific island communities are increasing the level of exposure to natural extremes. Pacific islands, and their inhabitants, are not essentially or inherently vulnerable. They were traditionally sites of resilience. Colonialism, development and globalisation have set in place processes by which the resilience has been reduced and exposure increased.
10. About The Authors