Globally, disasters due to natural hazards such as storms, flooding, drought, earthquakes and ocean surge extract an enormous toll in terms of human lives, destruction to crops and livelihoods, and economic losses. The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) estimates that between 2000 and 2012, some 1.2 million people died as a result of disasters; 2.9 billion people were affected and disaster-related damage cost around US$1.7 trillion. Even in a world where wars seem to affect almost every continent, more people are affected by disasters than by conflict. The complicated and hard to predict implications of climate
change are adding a further layer of problems facing those attempting to protect human communities against the impacts of natural hazards.
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has therefore become a critical part of sustainable development strategies.The following handbook provides practical guidance on the effective use of protected areas as tools to reduce
the likelihood and impacts of disasters.
The handbook will be one of a series detailing how protected areas can maximize the ecosystem services that they provide, without undermining their fundamental nature conservation function.