A Study on Local Knowledge in Adaptation to Landslide Disasters in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Natural disasters are unforeseen events which occur at hydrologic, geologic, and atmospheric origins. The Policy-makers still rely on mitigation strategies based on scientific approaches. However, many scholars had emphasized the importance of incorporating local knowledge and related practices for disaster risk management. In that context, this study investigates the local knowledge in adaptation to mitigate the landslides disaster situations by studying a village in Sri Lanka which is located at the central region of Sri Lanka which is vulnerable for landslide disasters. Landslides is one of the severe types of disasters in hilly terrains and which cause to loss of lives and property damages especially in Asia region. This study employed the field surveys, questionnaire surveys and semi structured interviews for data collection. The findings of the research indicate how the local knowledge-based practices in settlement layout & planning, landscaping had enhanced disaster adaptation level of the community. Further the local knowledge-based value systems act as a strong mechanism in identifying early signs of landslide disasters. Finally, the paper discusses the possibilities of upscaling such local practices for mainstream disaster management practices.

The Existence of Indigenous Knowledge and Local Landslide Mitigation: A Case Study of Banyumas People in Gununglurah Village, Central Java, Indonesia

“…The particular order and dimensions of IK can be identified in the Banyumas community, including their landslide mitigation strategies. Similar to previous findings in [22,91], with an agricultural community setting that develops local awareness, modified farming design, and traditional EWS, the Banyumas people have integrated their local values and beliefs into practical solutions [44]. As mentioned in Syahputra [19], the study also noted that less understanding of the knowledge had become one of the significant factors that decreased IK.…”

“…The previous study in Sri Lanka has identified the local knowledge of landslide mitigation practices of remote communities through establishing early warning indicators, promoting warning systems, practicing collective farming, and optimizing the vegetation for fences and stone walls [22,39]. In that last article, focus group discussions, household surveys, and interviews were employed to evaluate local knowledge as a major part of the communities' social capital.…”

“…Several researchers have explored local knowledge of indigenous communities to landslide and applied case studies as the primary focus of the data collection [22,40,54]. The present article focuses on Gununglurah village, not only because it is a disaster-prone region that suffers from landslides but also because of the local traditional culture still practiced among the villagers.…”

“…However, there is still an urgency to examine the existence and implementation of IK, especially in landslide mitigation in rural areas [22]. With at least 272.7 million in 2021 [23], and hundreds of different ethnicities, Indonesia has been enriched by massive amounts of IK with hazard-related responses.…”

Consensus of Local Knowledge on landslide Hazard in Depopulated Mountain Communities in Japan – A Case Study on Matsunoyama Village

“…It becomes the foundation of all environmental solutions for problems related to agriculture, the health care sector, food preparation, natural resource management, education, etc (Berkes 2009;Hiwasaki et al 2014;Islam et al 2018;Lin & Chang 2020). In addition, local knowledge plays an essential role in contributing the basic techniques and strategies by providing early warning systems and weather forecasting management for disaster risk reduction (Dasanayaka & Matsuda 2019;Hiwasaki et al 2014).…”