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Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282
Towards an integrated approach of disaster and environment
management: A case study of Thua Thien Hue province,
central Viet Nam
Phong Tran
, Rajib Shaw
1
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606 8501, Japan
Abstract
Disasters and environmental degradation create serious problems all around the world. They are inherently linked, but little attention
is paid to their interaction, particularly at local levels. The degree of integration of disaster management and risk analysis with
environmental management programs in relation to human vulnerability has been examined in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Viet
Nam. Unsustainable agricultural practices, and inappropriate development programs have contributed substantially to the increase of
disaster risks. On the other hand, disasters damage natural resources and reduce environmental quality, indirectly contributing to
increasing poverty which in turn, adds to the vulnerability of both natural and human systems, so further increasing disaster losses.
Notwithstanding, in Viet Nam, there is a big gap between disaster and environment management policies and programs. In order to
bridge the gap, an integrated approach in which environment-disaster linkage, rural–urban linkage, and poverty are brought into focus
as core aspects of disaster management.
r2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Disaster; Environment; Vulnerability; Environment-disaster linkage; Poverty; Vietnam
1. Introduction
As a consequence of the huge losses and damage caused
by natural disasters throughout the world, an impressive
amount of attention is currently being given to holistic
approaches to disaster management (McEntire et al.,
2002). The world experiences more and more natural
disaster impacts despite numerous efforts, scientific ad-
vances, and more powerful technologies. Indeed, current
disasters are more complex and climate change poses a
greater potential for adverse impacts (Aalst and Burton,
2002). Doubtless, new theoretical perspectives and policy
guidance are urgently required to reduce the impacts of
disasters. Accordingly, researchers have called for a
broader view of disaster problems and even for a
revolution in approach (Guzman, 2002;McEntire et al.,
2002). One of the most important paradigm shifts and
policy guides, is the integrated disaster risk management
approach in which the link between environment manage-
ment and disaster management is strongly promoted, and
integrated into the development plan (Shaw, 2006;WMO
and GWP, 2006;Guzman, 2002).
In disaster literature, the linkage between disaster and
environment has been recognized, yet it appears that not
enough attention was paid in the design and implementa-
tion of risk reduction strategies, particularly at grassroots
levels. Recently, this gap has received increasing attention
and many scholars and researchers conclude that the
environment and disasters are inherently linked particu-
larly in the areas where the natural and social issues merge
(Shaw, 2006;Dolcemascolo, 2004;ISDR, 2004;Aalst and
Burton, 2002). In fact, the degradation of environmental
quality has been mentioned as both causes and effects of
natural disasters, for instance, disasters cause direct
damage to natural resources and environment, and indirect
damage by increasing poverty, which in itself leads to the
unsustainable practices of natural resources use and
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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1747-/$ - see front matter r2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.envhaz.2007.03.001
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 80 5365 0795; fax: +8175 7535708.
E-mail addresses: giaiphong@z05.mbox.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp
(P. Tran),shaw@global.mbox.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp (R. Shaw).
1
Tel./fax: +81 75 753 5708.
environmental management. These, in turn, add to the
vulnerability of both natural and human systems, which
increases disaster losses.
However, many aspects of the environment and disaster
linkage still require further exploration, and the concrete
policy implication remains unexplored at local community
levels. This paper aims to identify these linkages at a local
context, and to examine how much disaster risk manage-
ment has been integrated into environment management
programs and vise versa. The methodology of this research
is qualitative, since it aims to understand the underlying
reasons for an existing situation, to provide insight into the
setting and circumstances of existing problems, and finally
to generate possible ideas for solutions and recommenda-
tions. The study was based on reviews of project
documents and technical literature on environment and
disaster management, as well as on individual interviews
with government officials and local people in 18 communes
in three different geographical areas: mountainous, low-
land and coastal in the Huong river basin, Thua Thien Hue
Province, Central Viet Nam. The authors also made a
transect walk to study the land use patterns and used GIS
mapping to analyze the spatial linkages along the river.
The paper starts by describing current environmental
and disaster problems of Viet Nam and Thua Thien Hue
Province. Then, the authors present a broad overview of
inter-linkages among environment, human vulnerability,
and disaster through examples across the globe. The detail
inter-linkages are carefully examined in the case of Thua
Thien Hue province, central Viet Nam. The final part of
the paper focuses on the integrated approach as a possible
solution to fill out the gap between disaster and environ-
ment management.
2. Research problems
2.1. Context of Vietnam
The rapid urbanization and globalization that are
underway in Viet Nam are bringing new wealth and higher
incomes for many people. However, they are also bringing
new environmental hazards which make the future of living
conditions uncertain (Douglass et al., 2002). In contem-
porary Viet Nam, many traditional natural hazards (e.g.
flood, storm) still threaten not only the villagers but also
urban dwellers. Natural disasters have been a part of
human life for decades. However, the increasing impacts of
climate change and the effects of rapid population growth,
globalization, urbanization, and industrialization, have all
contributed to devastating catastrophes recently. Annual
flooding in central Viet Nam, for example, is a perennial
phenomenon. Local societies evolved ways of coping with
this annual cycle by implementing a method for ‘‘living
together with the flood’’ (Beckman et al., 2002). Houses
were often constructed with high foundations and elevated
living areas to avoid normal floods. Floodwater also
quickly drained away through the network of rivers and
canals that was available in the flood prone area. In recent
years, however, the expansion of the road network has
created barriers to drainage (Douglass et al., 2002;IFRC,
2001). In addition, the degradation of the natural environ-
ment, such as deforestation and the conversion of
agricultural land to residential areas, has made the impact
of floods more serious and longer lasting in the lowland
areas and has created more flash floods in upland regions.
Changes of housing construction materials and techniques
to the ‘‘modern’’ style without appropriate safety measures
have also threatened communities. The flood in November
1999 in central Viet Nam provides strong evidence of the
increasing severity and impacts of natural disasters.
In general, Vietnam’s worsening environmental pro-
blems are the outcome of the interaction of many different
factors including the natural setting, historical legacies,
cultural values, and institutional structures. These factors
provide a backdrop for the more recent rapid environ-
mental change brought about by the expansion of the
market economy, population pressure, urbanization and
industrialization, inappropriate or poorly implemented
policies, and lack of adequate knowledge and under-
standing of the environment.
In short, Viet Nam is entering a critical phase, when
traditional risks remain while new risks are appearing
rapidly and the old ways of managing risks, such as
disposing of wastes in rivers and depending on nature to
renew itself, or traditional disaster coping mechanisms, are
under pressure. With the expected impacts of climate
change and new trends of industrialization and rapid
urbanization that reach from cities to rural areas and the
uplands and mountain regions in their impacts without
scaling up, existing programs and initiating new, more
innovative ones, the future of many cities as well as rural
regions will be subjected to severe environmental deteriora-
tion and vulnerability to disasters.
2.2. Thua Thien Hue province
Thua Thien Hue Province is located in central Viet Nam,
bordered on the east by the South China Sea and on the
west by Laos. The province has an area of 5053 km
2
and is
divided into nine administrative districts. The estimated
population is 1,150,000 in 2006 with about 230,000
households; 300,000 people reside in or around the capital
city, Hue. Much of the province’s infrastructure and
industry lies in the coastal plain and most of the population
lives within 25 km of the coast (TTHPPC, 2002).
The most general topographic form of the province is the
mountain in the west and sea to the east. A narrow delta is
located immediately the east side of the Truong Son
mountain range and has been cut into many small plains.
The central coastal plains were formed by the combined
impact of the rivers and the sea. The soils of these plains
are formed by the mixing of alluvium from the mountains
with sea sand, and are distributed in a chain along the
eastern side of the Truong Son mountain range. Thua
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P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282272
Thien Hue comprises two basins with four main rivers, the
O Lau, Bo, Huong, and Truoi Rivers. From the western
the Truong Son mountain range the topography slopes
downwards to the coast and is divided into three areas
geomorphologically, i.e., higher mountain area (25 km
wide and over 250 m in elevation), low-lying area (19 km
wide) and coastal plain (Fig. 1). Like other provinces of
Viet Nam, Thua Thien Hue is vulnerable to disasters. In
fact, it is considered amongst the most disaster prone areas
of Viet Nam.
The province has a varied geography including, forested
mountains and hills, rivers, streams, paddy fields, coastal
lagoons and marine areas, and is located in the tropical
monsoon climate zone. The main river basins are the areas
where agriculture has been the main economic activity
since ancient time, and these areas are extremely vulnerable
to natural disasters due to both geographical and
meteorological conditions. During the rainy seasons, crops,
infrastructure, natural environment, and the inhabitants of
these river basins suffer huge losses due to disastrous floods
and storms (CCFSC, 2001). Loss and damage to property
and homes coupled with insecurity to human lives caused
by disasters keep many households trapped in a cycle of
poverty. Moreover in the dry season, low rainfall and
saline water intrusion around the river estuary also badly
affect agriculture, lagoon and aquatic resources. Together
this, the cycle of natural disasters inhibit the social and
economic stabilization and growth of Thua Thien Hue
Province (TTHPPC, 2002, 2005).
2.3. Climate change impact at local level
In the past few decades, in Thua Thien Hue Province the
frequency and severity of disasters increased significantly.
In fact, during the 19th and the first half of 20th century
from 1804 to 1945, there were only 38 floods and typhoons
in the historical record. In contrast, between 1975 and
2000, there were 41 disasters with one storm, 18 floods, and
22 storm-floods (Do, 2000). These severe disasters included
events such as the severe flood of 1983, a destructive storm
in 1985, and the historic flood in 1999. There is also a
tendency that the disaster season to come earlier than
before. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the major disasters from
1975 to 1999 occurred mainly from August to December
while those between 1804 and 1945 happened mostly from
September to January.
Climate change may already have contributed to a rise in
intensity and frequency of these adverse meteorological
phenomena. In reality, climate change is already happen-
ing. The Third Assessment Report of the Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) observes
that the 1990s was the warmest decade, and 1998 the
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Fig. 1. Location of Thua Thien Hue Province.
P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282 273
warmest year of the world, in the instrumental record.
Surface temperatures and the number of extremes in terms
of temperature and precipitation (either droughts or
floods) have already increased. Moreover, the IPCC also
concludes that ‘‘observed changes in regional climate have
affected many physical and biological systems, and there
are preliminary indications that social and economic
systems have been affected’’ (IPCC, 2001). El Nin
˜o events
have been more frequent, persistent and intense during the
last 20–30 years compared to the previous 100 years.
At the local level, according to the observation of Thua
Thien Hue Provincial Committee for Flood and Storm
Control (PCFSC, 2000), the numbers of floods increased
significantly when there were the impacts of ENSO, such as
seven floods in 1996, and six floods in 1998. In the last 10
years, along with increasing precipitation, the daily
maximum and monthly maximum precipitation increased
drastically. Particularly the precipitation on 2nd November
1999 was 978 mm, and the total precipitation in November
1999 was 2451.7 mm, the highest one in the historical
record (IMH, 2006). The observation shows that disasters
in the region tend to last longer and unpredictable than
before.
For the coming decades, the IPCC predicts that larger
changes in global climate are underway. Depending on
emissions scenarios, and given remaining uncertainties in
climate models, global mean temperatures are projected to
rise by 1.4–5.8 1C until 2100 and sea level by 0.09–0.88 m
(IPCC, 2001).
But regardless of whatever changes may occur in the
climate, the risks in Thua Thien Hue Province are also
rising for several other reasons. General economic devel-
opment simply means that more assets are at risk.
Unsustainable use of natural resources, and concurrent
population growth have led to larger settlements in
vulnerable areas. These risks once again highlight that a
holistic disaster risk management program of the region
will require substantial understanding of the issues and
problems specific to the region, which include: the nature of
the region and disaster, the link between disasters, natural
resources and human activities, the roles of stakeholders at
local and national level in disaster and environment
management. In Section 3, the authors will discuss why it
is needed to look at the environment and disaster issues in a
more synergic way, and incorporate these elements in the
environment and disaster risk management.
3. Why environment and disaster linkages?
According to the disaster literature, there is a close
correlation between environment degradation, human
vulnerability and the intensity of the disaster impact.
Environmental degradation increases the intensity of
natural hazards, and is often the factor that transforms
the hazard, or a climatic condition such as heavy down-
pour, into a disaster (ISDR, 2004,Twigg, 2004). There are
many adverse impacts of the environment degradation on
human vulnerability and disaster, among which the
impacts of deforestation, pollution, and the destruction
of mangroves are the most prominent issues.
First, the rapid loss of forestland around the world is
changing the rainfall patterns (deKoninck, 1999). Defor-
estation is not only linked with decreased rates of
evapotranspiration, but also a reduction in moisture flow
and water retaining capacity. These changes, have been
linked with the onset of large-scale deforestation, and have
led either to drought and desertification or soil erosion,
debris flow and floods. In fact, river and lake floods are
aggravated by deforestation, which, in turn, causes erosion
and clogs rivers. Water quality and quantity in the
downstream areas are heavily affected due to the damage
of the vegetation in the catchment areas, which reduce
agricultural productivity in the downstream areas (Le and
Rambo, 1996).
Studies show that river catchment areas that are largely
deforested or wetlands that have been drained create very
different hydrological regimes (Gujja, 2001). When this
factor is added to the climate change, as already discussed,
it appears to be affecting the timing and pattern of the
rainfall. Eventually, the rainfall may become more erratic.
In this regard, the timing and volume of expected flooding
are becoming more unpredictable. Impacts of deforestation
are being felt more severely in the highlands, but they will
eventually affect the lowlands: as rivers silt up, this affects
croplands in the lowlands that depend on these waters.
Flooding of cities will become more pronounced. Accord-
ing to Wang (2004), ‘natural hazards’ due to environmental
degradation have been happening more frequently recently.
Second, the non-sustainable over-use of resources causes
pollution and ultimately leads to environment degradation.
In particular, there is an increasing likelihood of human-
induced climate change which according to the latest
projection of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, will result in more water-related disasters espe-
cially for countries in tropical and sub-tropical latitudes
(WMO and GWP, 2006). These changes in temperature
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Dec
Number of major disasters from 1804 to 1945
Number of major disasters from 1975 to 1999
Nov
Fig. 2. Disaster frequency by month in Thua Thien Hue Province (Source:
Do (2002)).
P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282274
and related local rainfall variations affect the environment
through accelerated desertification, land degradation, the
availability of water resources as well as reducing the
overall agricultural output. In addition, climate change is
expected to affect sea levels and cause climate extremes. All
these factors have a compound effect on the occurrence
and impact of disasters.
Third, many mangrove swamps are under severe threat
from various river basin development activities and flood
management projects. Flood prevention projects distort the
flow variability and can cause severe deteriorations of the
coastal ecosystems. The degradation of mangrove forests
significantly reduces their valuable functions such as
shoreline stabilization and storm protection. The coastal
forests become too degraded to absorb the energy of
coastal storms, thereby increasing the flood and storm risks
in the coastal zone.
In contrast, natural disasters are the factor directly
causing impediments to the economic development, sus-
tainable development, environmental degradation, and
intensifying poverty. In Viet Nam, natural disasters happen
and take away many achievements of the national socio-
economic development process. Only in the last 5 years of
the 1990s (1996–2000), natural disasters caused damages
and losses of 2.3 billion USD, and killed on the average
2117 people and caused losses of 459 million USD every
year (CCFSC, 2006). Moreover, disasters have dislocated
families who become refugees as they are forced to migrate
elsewhere.
Natural disasters intensify the poverty gap in the
population and rapidly increase the poverty rate, especially
in disaster-prone areas. In fact, poverty and vulnerability
to disasters are integrally linked and mutually reinforcing
(Wisner et al., 2004). The poor are forced to exploit
environmental resources for survival, thereby increasing
both the risk and exposure to disasters, in particular those
triggered by floods, drought and landslides. Deforestation
and agriculture on marginal land, or destruction of forests
for firewood collection, are often induced, or at least
exacerbated, by poverty. These practices directly affect the
natural environment, and may hurt the very resource base
that these poor people are depending on. Indeed, the rural
communities, which depend on resource-based activities,
are the worst sufferers of the disaster impacts (Shaw, 2006).
Natural disasters cause the natural systems less resilience
to the disaster impacts and the poor lose their little assets
they had. As a consequence, both human and natural
systems are left poorer. Such cycles again demonstrate that
sustainable development requires a holistic view, of which
natural hazards concerns are essential part.
In order to incorporate these dimensions into general
disaster reduction, one needs a good understanding of the
role of the local environment in natural hazards, and the
way human activities are affecting it (Aalst and Burton,
2002). In the case of inland flood risk for instance, one can
look at the upper watershed area, examine the meteorol-
ogy, topology, geology and natural vegetation, land use
and agricultural practices, as well as the socio-economic
realities behind them.
Incorporating natural hazard concerns can, in fact,
boost some projects that would be beneficial for other
reasons, but did not get appropriate attention. Protecting
the forest in an upper watershed area that feeds a
hydropower plant and an irrigation system may become
more feasible when the protective effect of the forests on
downstream sedimentation, landslides and floods are taken
into account (Aalst and Burton, 2002).
Sustainable and integrated management of natural
resources, including reforestation schemes, proper land
use and good management of rivers and coastal areas will
increase the resilience of communities to disasters by
reversing current trends of environmental degradation. The
International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction
(IDNDR) concluded that ‘‘environmental protection, as a
component of sustainable development and consistent with
poverty alleviation, is imperative in the prevention and
mitigation of natural disasters’’ (ISDR, 2002).
4. Evidence of environment disaster linkages
In this research, the authors find strong evidences that
land degradation, unsustainable agricultural practices,
inappropriate infrastructure development, backward waste
management system, and poor coastal zone management
that have contributed substantially to the natural hazard
risks.
Firstly, there is a significant impact of land degradation
on disaster situation in Thua Thien Hue province. In the
upland areas, slash and burn practice is still commonly
used among the ethnic minorities to grow upland rice (see
Fig. 3). This erosive farming practice is often one of the
main causes of soil erosion, landslide in upland areas
(CBRM, 1997). For example, after clearing and burning
shrubs, due to the absence of vegetative cover, the plots will
be exposed to severe erosion if there is heavy rain. Another
evidence of the increasing disaster risks due to environment
degradation is that after 1975, with the support of local
government authorities for the New Economic Zone
(NEZ) program, people from the Hue city, lowland
villages, and the boat people came to settle at the upstream
areas of the Huong River. To survive in the new
environment, they cleared the forest and grew upland
crops in the hills and wet rice in the small valleys and
alluvial areas alongside springs. Due to the absence of a
master plan for proper use of the abundant land, the new
settlers used the land at their disposal for short-term
benefits. Without experience in sloping upland farming,
they used the land in a very destructive manner. Conse-
quently, the stability of the soil and the ability of the soil
and the vegetation to retain water are substantially
reduced, and thus the risk of flashfloods, landslides, and
droughts increased.
As mentioned earlier, annual flooding in lowland
communes is a perennial phenomenon. The Huong River
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P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282 275
and lagoon system play an important role in local people’s
livelihoods, such as providing food, water, and transport.
The flood-borne sediment provides the nutrients that
maintain one of the Southeast Asia’s largest lagoons, and
also serves as a natural irrigation system for the region. For
centuries, farmers, fishermen, and others have made the
river, delta and its vast lagoon their home.
Huong River functions have been hindered by extensive
deforestation in the region. Deforestation increases the
severity of flooding, as rainfall on deforested areas flows
into stream channels quickly instead of being partially
absorbed by forests. These ‘quick-rising’ big floods pose
risks to farmers who plant rice and vegetables on the banks
of rivers in anticipation of beneficial silt-laden ‘slow rising’
floods. The fear is that, in the context of the low capacity in
the past to prevent serious deforestation, an acceleration of
unfettered market-driven economic development will wor-
sen such disasters.
The most recent flooding in November 1999 had caused
a great deal of suffering for the inhabitants of the province,
particularly in lowland and coastal areas. It inundated 90%
of the lowlands. The province became isolated. The flood
that lasted for 1 week broke five new floodgates and
created a new river mouth near the lagoon. The heavy
rainfall in the uplands caused numerous landslides. Strong
winds caused fierce waves, which made mobility even more
difficult. The flood caused 352 deaths and 1700 billion
VND (USD 120 million) in damage. This flooding is
regarded to be the worst disaster in history of Viet Nam.
Secondly, the construction of dams has been proposed as
a method to control devastating flooding. Dams are
designed to mitigate floods, provide adequate supplies of
water during droughts, and provide potential source of
hydropower. There are two dams that have been con-
structed in the upstream of Huong River: Ta Trach multi-
purpose dam (with 56 m in height, about 1112 m in crest
length, active storage volume of 538million m
3
, and with
the catchment area of 717 km
2
at the dam site) and Binh
Dien Dam. In the Huong River mouth, Thao Long barrage
has been constructed with the purpose to keep fresh water
and avoid salinity intrusion in dry season (Fig. 4). The
dams and the barrage are designed to reduce the
occurrence of the flood and salinity intrusion. However,
they will also bring environmental consequences to down-
stream areas such as negative effects of sediment changes,
salinity changes, and impacts on fauna flora in the
upstream and downstream areas (see Tables 1 and 2).
The downstream communities, particularly the boat
people whose livelihoods are heavily based upon fishery
capture and sand/gravel exploitation are the most vulner-
able ‘victims’ of these changes, as fisheries and agricultural
yields in these communes are largely dependent on the
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Fig. 3. Cause and effect of environment degradation and disasters.
P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282276
normal water flow cycle of the Huong River, and the
quantity of sand/gravel sedimentation (see Fig. 4). At the
same time, intensive logging has been implemented to clear
the area that will be submerged in the dam reservoir. Ta
Trach reservoir will affect 714 households with a population
of 3460; most of them are resettlers under NEZ policy.
Thirdly, the traditional waste management system is under
pressure and contributes to intensify the disaster risks.
Indeed, in lowland communes in Thua Thien Hue, most of
villagers have historically reliedonatraditionallanduse
systems that consist mainly of a garden and livestock areas.
They continue to follow traditional practices they learned
from earlier generation in dealing with their wastes. In
general, villagers lack the ability and experience to deal with
the ‘new wastes’ such as industrial wastes, emissions, mineral
exploitations, and pesticide uses in agricultural production.
For example, they dump waste collected in settlement areas
into ponds or along the banks of rivers within or around the
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 4. Vulnerable communities, and dam and barrage locations.
Table 1
Impacts of Ta Trach reservoir on fauna (Source:JBIC (2003))
Ecological Impact Items Activities caused impact
Construction period Operation period
Road construction Resettlement Logging Dam construction Road Reservoir New resettlement
Vegetation change surrounding reservoir /C /C /C /C /C * /C
Impact on terrestrial flora /C /C /C /C /C ¼/C /C
Impact on terrestrial fauna /C /C /C /C /C ¼/B /C
Micro climate change /C * /C * /C ++/C *
Overall assessment /C /C
++: positive effect, : negative effect, ¼: neutral.
A: relatively severe impact; B: relatively medium impact; C: relatively slight impact;
*: no impact or not correspondent.
P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282 277
village (Fig. 5). As a result, open drains that carry storm
water and domestic wastewater into neighboring rice fields
are likely also carry grease and oil from equipment, acids and
heavy metals from plating liquors, organic wastes from food
processing, as well as pig manure and household wastewater.
Ponds that were used to raise fish and retain storm water
have been filled in for the construction of houses and shops.
Thus, villages that have been able to deal with the ‘new
generation’ of pollution within their settlement areas have
increased pollution in the adjacent areas that provide sources
of water for irrigation, vegetable farming, and aquaculture.
Environment is, therefore, getting more seriously polluted.
This situation is intensifying the factors and risks of natural
disasters.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 2
Impacts of Ta Trach reservoir on Flora (Source:JBIC (2003))
Ecological impact items Activities caused impact
Construction period Operation period
Road construction Dam construction Flood control Reservoir Maintenance flow
Change of biodiversity of fish in the river (upstream) /C * * /C *
Change of biodiversity of fish in the river (downstream) /B /B ++/C /C ++/C
Impact on the fishery in the river /B /B ¼/C ++/C ++/C
Change of biodiversity of fish in the lagoon * * ¼/C * /C
Impact on the fishery in the lagoon * * ¼/C * ¼/C
Change of aquatic ecosystem in the lagoon * * ¼/C * /C
Impact on the aquaculture in the lagoon * * ++/C * ¼/C
Overall assessment /C /C
++: positive effect, : negative effect, ¼: neutral.
A: relatively severe impact; B: relatively medium impact; C: relatively slight impact;*: no impact or not correspondent.
Fig. 5. Waste dumping in upstream areas and its effects in downstream communes.
P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282278
In both rural and urban areas, the authors reveal that
traditional risks remain serious or even worse (i.e. flood,
storm and drought), but new risks are rapidly increasing.
Before, most of communities already had wisdom and
social institutions to cope with traditional risks (e.g. house
constructed in high areas, and mutual help among people).
But with the shift of risks, these customary practices have
broken down in many cases. For example, social cohesion
has been gradually reduced due to the rapid processes of
urbanization and privatization, and wastewater manage-
ment methods in villages still follow ‘old customs’ and
discharge waste directly into canals. This waste exceeds the
water carrying capacity to proceed with the natural
degradation process. Hence, customary practices do not
currently work and at the same time, new methods to deal
with the ‘more modern’ problems have yet to be
materialized. This phenomenon not only happens in rural
villages, but also in the cities where most households and
industries are not equipped with sufficient waste treatment
technologies.
Finally, the conversion of mangrove forest to shrimp
ponds and other aquaculture cultivation has serious
impacts on the lagoon ecosystem and surrounding natural
environment. The consequences of these impacts are the
increasing of natural disasters. In addition, the pressures of
economic and population growth are creating acute threats
of pollution from oil and domestic waste, over exploita-
tion, and habitat damage. Other sources of environmental
concern include: the frequent displacement and closure of
lagoon inlets as a result of large-scale climatic and
hydrological disturbance (due to flood water and sand
movement along the seashore); and changes in water
distribution and water balance in the river basin due to
human activities in both the watershed (deforestation,
excess water use) and activities in and around the lagoons
(over harvesting of water grasses for fertilizer and livestock
feed, high density of fishing, excessive use of land and
waters for shrimp culture without properly waste water
management).
As a result of all those factors, communities in the basin
face the risk of severe flooding. The increases in the
unpredictability, frequency, and magnitude of floods have
been responsible for high human and material costs in
province. As part of the many risk transitions underway in
the province, natural disaster has been added to the lists of
unresolved environmental and health problems accompa-
nying economic development.
5. Disaster and environment management in Thua Thien
Hue: a big gap in reality
The environment and disaster linkages have been
recognized in the national strategy for natural disaster
prevention, control and mitigation as well as in the
provincial socio-economic development plan. However,
there is a big gap between policies and actions, and between
different levels due to lack of coordination among
stakeholders. In most cases, decisions and actions on
environment and disaster are taken separately, and roles
and responsibilities are distributed among different and
separate institutions.
The latest national strategy for natural disaster preven-
tion, control and mitigation has integrated disaster risk
management into the overall development process. It was
observed that in the 5-year-socio-economic-development
plan (2006–2010), the provincial authority’s role in disaster
management has been considered as part of the develop-
ment plan. In this plan, there are well documented linkages
between environment and disaster management, for
instance, protect and reforest upstream areas to reduce
flood risk, protect environment and implement structure
and non-structural measures to reduce hazards in coastal
and wetland areas (TTHPPC, 2005).
While it is encouraging that the linkages are being
recognized, the document appears to have had little
influence on actual efforts in disaster management. Indeed,
the annual disaster management plan is not detailed and
mainly focuses on flood and storm control in which the
organization, structure, roles and responsibilities of mem-
bers are mostly mentioned rather than on a comprehensive
preparedness, mitigation and response plan. A detailed
plan for preparedness, mitigation, response and drill is
prepared only for high-risk area.
There is a lack of public participation in the process of
disaster management plan formulation. In fact, most of
disaster management plans that have been formulated in
the commune, district or province are mainly prepared by
the leaders without community’s participation. Once the
plan is approved, the commune authorities disseminate
decisions to people before the flood and storm season on
loudspeakers or through hamlet leader during community
meeting. Indeed, at the community-level exercise promo-
tion of disaster risk management in the planning process
has been limited. It is only in some of the projects
supported by international organizations where disaster
risk management has been included as part of the
community development plan.
There is a weak coordination among development,
environment and disaster management programs between
different sectors and levels. For example, after a terrifying
storm in 1985, the provincial People’s Committee and
other functioning agencies made greater efforts to imple-
ment settlement for boat people. However, several years
later, most of these people returned to living on boats due
to the consequences of missing links between disaster,
environment and economic development.
The authors examine the level of disaster and environ-
ment linkages that are reflected in disaster management
projects supported by international NGOs. Unfortunately,
we found that little attention is paid to it; only in a few
cases the linkages are mentioned. In fact, most of disaster
management efforts in Thua Thien Hue were started in the
wake of disasters, particularly after the 1999 flood, and
focus mostly on relief and rehabilitation, such as the Thua
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P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282 279
Thien Hue reconstruction project implemented by CECI
(CECI, 2000), Disaster Resistant House Rehabilitation
Program implemented by International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and post-
disaster housing program implemented by Catholic Relief
Services (IFRC, 2001).
More recent projects often contain some elements aimed
at disaster mitigation. However, while they may sometimes
recognize the effect of environmental degradation on
natural hazard risk, they usually take other angles to
address the hazard risks, such as building codes, infra-
structure design, and attention to the location of human
settlements. For instance, Development Workshop France
projects aim to reinforce houses and community buildings
against typhoon winds, to raise the awareness among local
community and local authorities in the impact of disasters
(Norton and Chantry, 2002), or the Spanish Red Cross
project aims to enhance disaster preparedness capacity with
training and small-scale infrastructure improvements in
particularly vulnerable communities (Bufala, 2005).
There are only two projects: ‘‘Capacity building for
adaptation to climate change in Central Vietnam’’ funded
by the Canadian International Development Agency
(2002–2005), and currently ‘‘Enhancing Human Security
for Environment and Disaster Management’’ funded by
the Asian Development Bank (2005–2006) that have
strongly addressed the linkages between disaster, livelihood
and environments, and have promoted activities linked to
environmental degradation, particularly pay attention to
community-based disaster mitigation and institutional
strengthening (CECI, 2004;Uitto and Shaw, 2006).
However, with the time constrain coupled with limited
resources, implementation has faced challenges. Thus, the
projects’ main focus remains on more traditional risk
factors (including some trainings for livelihood climate
change adaptation regarding animal husbandry, agricul-
ture, aquaculture activities, or physical protection works
and attention for the institutional capacity to address issues
like the location of settlements, infrastructure vulnerability,
building codes, and disaster preparedness).
The authors also examine the extent to which natural
hazard risk concerns have been taken into account in the
area of natural resources and environmental management.
At the national levels, there are some programs that have
addressed only environmental improvements but they also
bring positive effect to disaster management. For instance,
the program efforts encourage community involvement in
the protection of trees and agricultural land by, in essence,
contracting out parcels of land to highland dwellers. People
are then to act as stewards of the land, caring for the forests
and engaging in sustainable agricultural practices (Dou-
glass et al., 2002). There are some initiatives, which try to
incorporate multiple sectors such as agriculture, aquacul-
ture, environment, disaster management, tourism and
health into natural resource management. Integrated
approaches have been gradually accepted through the
development of new planning paradigms, Integrated
Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and currently Inte-
grated Management of Lagoon Activities (IMOLA) in
Thua Thien Hue.
However, the authors can conclude that, although the
situation may currently be improving, the linkages have,
again, not received much attention. In some communes,
land use appears somewhat irregular; forest trees are grown
on low slope plots and crops are grown on steep slope plots
due to lack of disaster management concerns in this
programs (Bui, 2001). For instance, reforestation activities
began quite extensively in the early 1990s when the United
Nations’ World Food Program had implemented its
initiative. Through this program, capital and other
material incentives were given to villagers to enable them
to establish forest plantations. The more trees people grew,
the more incentives they got. So, to gain more from the
program, villagers grew forest trees in gently sloping areas
that should have been used for crop production. In fact,
the program had notice that erosion and flood in down-
stream due to deforestation and unsustainable agricultural
practices in the watershed area were becoming crucial
problems, but did not explicitly link that to natural hazard
risk management, and did not even attempt to address the
underlying problems (Bui, 2001). In addition, there also
have been a number of environmental or agricultural
projects that do not explicitly aim to reduce natural hazard
risk (CBRM, 1997).
In conclusion, there are many important linkages
between natural resources and environmental management
and hazard risks as mentioned earlier, however only limited
efforts have been made to identify and address these
linkages. While the linkages may have been neglected, it is
clear that both disaster mitigation and environmental
degradation have been recognized as serious issues in Thua
Thien Hue. Nevertheless, despite all the attention and
efforts, hazard risks keep rising, and environmental
degradation continues.
6. Towards an integrated approach: a possible way
to fill the gap
By analyzing the linkages between disaster and environ-
ment with a spatial perspective: upstream, downstream,
and rural–urban relation, the authors reveal important
dimensions regarding environment and disaster issues. The
more obvious insight is that the specifics of these issues
vary greatly over space, and thus call for localized
capacities to respond to them. Beyond this observation,
there are many insights from understanding how the
impacts regarding disaster and environment occurring in
one region are resulting from many aspects from natural to
social environment, and the connection of localities into
the process of urbanization and globalization. Deforesta-
tion in the highlands is not taking place in an isolation
from urban demands for timber, relocation of people from
one region to another, and the push for export crop
production. The difficulties in sustaining traditional
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P. Tran, R. Shaw / Environmental Hazards 7 (2007) 271–282280
systems of environmental management in lowland areas or
cities are not simply a problem of too many people in these
locations or lack of knowledge, but are instead an outcome
of gross increases in degree and type of environmental
problem linking to broader processes over space.
Another concern is that the spatial linkages are not
reflected in current environment and disaster management
policies of the province. In addition, the low level of
community participation in the process of formulating
disaster and environment management plan makes the
connection of provincial levels and local communities very
weak. As a result the policies and programs designed for
disaster management are impractical. Therefore, to miti-
gate impacts of disasters we should recognize that natural
disasters are an integral component of the challenges of
development and environment, not just a matter of
emergency aid and humanitarian assistance. Nor is the
currently popular focus on building and infrastructure
design and land use planning by itself is sufficient.
This perspective brings rural–urban linkage, poverty,
empowerment, and the allocation of public and private
functions and responsibilities into focus as core aspects of
disaster management. This integrated approach requires
more local and community stakeholder involvement. Local
communities should not be passive recipients or victims, but
partners with a real voice, and thus some power. Local
knowledge and concerns should be a key aspect of efforts to
address these issues, and the decision-making and incentive
structures should reflect a large degree of local ownership
and responsibility. An integrated approach should promote
the activities that have been already implemented and that
have been known to make good sense from all perspectives
(poverty alleviation, economic development, natural hazard
risk, sustainable natural resources management, biodiversity
conservation, urban–rural development, etc.). Second, this
approach should find out where trade-offs may come into
play (e.g. foregoing short-term benefits for long-term
sustainability in the case of investments in forestry in
high—instead of low-risk areas or decisions not to develop
certain forested or coastal areas). In the latter case, one must
make sure that all aspects, including information about
natural hazard risks (e.g. hazard maps), are taken into
account when such decisions are being made, and ensure
that all those involved are able to contribute to and benefit
from the changes.
Further studies on integrated disaster management
approach will be carried out, focusing on six communes
in three different geographical areas along the Huong
River to examine the actual importance of the linkages
between environment and disaster management. The
purpose is to identify parameters to enhance the awareness
of and knowledge about these linkages in the local
communities including individuals as well as the public
and the private sector from which the ways to address some
of these issues as integral aspects of development, disaster,
and environment concerns, and to promote strong
involvement from the local community.
Acknowledgements
The first author highly acknowledges the scholarship of
Government of Japan, Ministry of Education Sport
Culture Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Project
Fund of the Gradate School of Global Environmental
Studies, Kyoto University for this study. The research
would not have been possible without the cooperation of
local communities and governments from commune to
provincial levels of Thua Thien Hue. The authors would
like to convey the sincere thanks to Mr. Phan Thanh Hung,
Director of the Committee for Flood and Storm Control of
Thua Thien Hue Province, for sharing valuable data.
Another special thank should go to Dr. Fausto Marincioni
for his valuable comments on this paper and Dr. Le Van
An for his great support during the field research.
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