Differences in effectiveness of indigenous and modern knowledge to reduce vulnerabilities of rural communities to natural disaster (Case study: Rural communities of Khoresh-Rostam district, Khalkhal Township, Iran)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor, Geography and Rural Planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Candidate in Geography and Rural Planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
The study on natural disaster management literature shows that nowadays a new approach has been brought up as social based management.  This kind of management considers knowledge, capacities and cultures to reduce vulnerabilities to natural disasters. The community has a central role in disaster management. The focus of attention in disaster management must be on local community. Therefore, Risk reduction strategies should work to reduce vulnerability and at the same time capitalize the inherent social and cultural capacities of the communities. Community-based Disaster Management (CBDM) approach attempts to include the knowledge of the local afflicted people in disaster risk reduction strategies to help reduce the vulnerability of disaster-prone communities. Many indigenous communities understand their local environment and care for it, maintain lessons from past disasters, and are invested in the place where they live. The use of indigenous knowledge in the field of disaster risk reduction is an additional tool that can help protect the vulnerable communities. Currently, the approach of application of indigenous methods along with the modern techniques to reduce vulnerability from disasters is concerned. Due to the particular position of Iran geography, the types of natural disasters such as drought, flood, earthquake, glaciers, avalanche, and etc. are likely to occur. Iran rural communities have low safety against the natural disasters, because most of villages are in connection with the natural environment and unsuitable locations. Multiple natural hazards often occur in Khoresh Rostam district (the study area). This is due to geographical position of the region. Rural communities in Iran history have been dealing with the natural and socio-economic hazards and agricultural activities in order to reduce unexpected dangers. They have used different methods. Various innovations in societies, particularly rural societies are being carried out to reduce vulnerability. These could be considered as a compliment to modern knowledge. This present article has analyzed indigenous and modern knowledge in rural communities to test whether they have been effective in reducing the effects of natural disasters.
Methodology
Research purposes:
- The discovery and collection of indigenous and modern methods of reducing the effects of natural hazards in rural areas of Khoresh Rostam district of Khalkhal township, and
- Assessment of the different effectiveness of indigenous and modern knowledge and technology to reduce the effects of natural disasters including earthquakes, glacial, drought and flood in rural areas of Khoresh Rostam district of  Khalkhal township.
In order to achieve the above objectives, the following hypotheses are tested:
The effectiveness of indigenous and modern knowledge for reducing vulnerability to natural hazards of earthquake, glacial, drought and flood is different, and indigenous knowledge has scored more in comparison with modern knowledge in rural areas of Khoresh Rostam district, Khalkhal Township. The research method is descriptive, analytical and surveying techniques. The system of gathering information is librarian and free techniques including observation, interview and questionnaire.
First in relying on documents and question of the sample number, the dominant natural disasters were identified. Then, the damage caused by natural disasters of the region was identified and were used as indicator. Then, indigenous and modern knowledge in rural communities of the study area was covered. Then a developed questionnaire was distributed in the studied villages. The Independent-Sample T test by SPSS software has been used to examine the hypothesis.
 
Results and Discussion
Based on the research on natural hazards, indigenous and modern measures, several strategies have been identified in reduction of risk of natural disasters in rural communities of the study area. But, generally indigenous and modern strategies in the region can be classified in three categories of protecting people, livestock and agricultural products, and protecting agricultural lands, orchards and pastures. These can be categorized also in a few groups including construction technology, technologies of land management, cropping pattern, zoning, land use, water management and etc.
In the structure category, indigenous and modern techniques are zonation, stability and pattern of architecture and design. It is notable that indigenous design and construction techniques have been developed according to resistance against storm, glaciers, earthquakes, climate features and environmental conditions. In zonation category, the included strategies are construction of homes and facilities away from hazardous region. In land use category, the strategies are protection of land and prevention of soil loss, landslide and erosion. For the cropping pattern, most indigenous techniques were considered in the region. These are including cropping and harvesting of production and the type of land for harvesting. They have been developed according to drought, glacier, and storm disaster. The planting and harvesting time has the least damage from a hazard. In the area of water management, the techniques used to water collection and management, soil conservation, and erosion reduction. The results of hypothesis analysis of “difference between indigenous and modern knowledge efficiency on reduction of natural disaster vulnerability of earthquake, glacial, drought and flood in environmental, physical and economic dimensions in rural areas of Khoresh Rostam district shows that there is a significant difference between indigenous and modern knowledge efficiency in the reduction (0.05 alpha level). 
 
Conclusion
The results show that the indigenous knowledge has been more efficient against earthquake, glacial, drought and flood in rural areas of Khoresh Rostam district. We can say that the people of the villages in the study area have good local knowledge in dealing with natural hazards and disaster management. This shows importance of the indigenous knowledge in process of natural disaster management. Generally, the local knowledge of disaster cannot be separated from other knowledge systems in communities, i.e., modern scientific knowledge. It is suggested that those responsible for rural planning and natural disaster management consider indigenous knowledge of rural community. Because this knowledge is obtained from the symbiosis of rural with environments and disaster, not only it is effective in reduction of disaster risk, but it is also in direction with sustainable development.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. شیرزاد، حسین، ازکیا، مصطفی و محمد صادقی، 1384، اصول ایمنی و مقابله با حوادث پیش‌بینی‌نشده در مناطق روستایی، چاپ اول، انتشارات سازمان شهرداری‌ها و دهیاری‌های کشور، تهران.
  2. مرکز آمار ایران، 1385، سرشماری عمومی نفوس و مسکن، فرهنگ آبادی‌های کشور، استان اردبیل، شهرستان خلخال.
  3. همتی، رسول، 1386، طرح بررسی نقش تغییرات اقلیمی در تشدید یا کاهش بلایای جوی و اقلیمی استان اردبیل: http://www.ardebilmet.ir/to/in/ahtml/8-3-eqlim.html
    1. Agrawal, A., 1995, Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge: Some Critical Comments, Indigenous Knowledge & Development Monitor, Vol. 2, No. 3, PP.3-6.
    2. Agrawal, A., 1996, Dismantling the Divide between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge, Development and Change, Vol. 26, No. 3, PP.413-439.
    3. Alca´ntara, A. I., 2002, Geomorphology, Natural Hazards, Vulnerability and Prevention of Natural Disasters in Developing Countries, Geomorphology, Vol. 47, No. 2-4, PP. 107–124.
    4. Alexander, D., 1993, Natural Disasters, UCL Press, London.
    5. Allen, Katrina M., 2006, Community-based Preparedness and Climate Adaptation: Local Capacity-building in the Philippines, Disasters, Vol. 30, No. 1, PP. 81-101.
    6. Bankoff, G., 2004, In the Eye of the Storm: The Social Construction of the Forces of Nature and the Climatic and Seismic Construction of God in the Philippines, Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1, PP. 91-111.
    7. Baumwoll, J., 2008, The value of indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: A Unique Assessment Tool for Reducing Community Vulnerability to Natural Disasters; Master of Arts in International Relations, St. Louis, Missouri, Webster University.
    8. Coppola, D. P., 2007, Introduction to International Disaster Management, Burlington, USA.
    9. Dekens, J., 2007, The Snake and the River Don't Run Straight: Local Knowledge on Disaster Preparedness in the Eastern Terai of Nepal, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
    10. Drabek, T. E. and Hoetmer, G. J., 2005, Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government, Tranlated by: Pourkheradmand, R., Urban Studies and Planning Center, Tehran. (In Persian)
    11. Ellen, R., 2007, Modern Crises & Traditional Strategies: Local Ecological Knowledge in Island Southeast Asia, Berghahn Books, New York.
    12. Gülhan, D. and Güney, İ. Ö., 2000, The Behavior of Traditional Building Systems against Earthquake and Its Comparison to Reinforced Concrete Frame Systems; Experiences of Marmara Earthquake Damage Assessment Studies in Kocaeli and Sakarya, Conference on the Seismic Performance of Traditional Buildings, Istanbul, Turkey, November 16-18.
    13. Hemmati, R., 2008, Project of Role of Climate Change in Increasing or Decreasing Atmospheric and Climatic Disasters of Ardebil Province, It’s online at: http://www.ardebilmet.ir/to/in/ahtml/8-3-eqlim.htm. (In Persian)
    14. Jigyasu, R., 2002, Reducing Disaster Vulnerability through Local Knowledge and Capacity the Case of Earthquake Prone Rural Communities in India and Nepal, PhD Thesis, Hans C. Bjønness, Department of Town and Regional Planning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway.
    15. Kamara, J., 2003, Indigenous Knowledge in Natural Disaster Reduction in Africa, It’s online at: http://www.environmenttimes.net/index-cfm
    16.  Langenbach, R., 2006, From ‘Opus Craticium’ to the ‘Chicago Frame’, Earthquake Resistant Traditional Construction, Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions, New Delhi.
    17.  Maskrey, A., 1999, Disaster Mitigation: A Community Based Approach, http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/meerp/profile.htm
    18.  McGregor, D., 2004, Coming Full Circle: Indigenous Knowledge, Environment and Our Future, American Indian Quarterly, Vo. 28, No. 3-4, PP. 385-410.
    19.  Perez, E. and Thompson, P., 1994, Natural Hazards: Causes and Effects, Prehosp Disast Med, Vol. 9, No. 1, PP. 80–88.
    20.  Porfiriev, B. N., 1998, Issues in the Definition and Delineation of Disasters and Disaster Areas; What is a Disaster? Perspectives on the Question, Routledge, London and New York.
    21. Quarantelli, E., 1992, The Case for a Generic rather than Agent Specific Agent Approach to Disasters, Disaster Management, Vol. 2, No. 1, PP.191–196.
    22. Rautela, P., 2005, Indigenous Technical Knowledge Inputs for Effective Disaster Management in the Fragile Himalayan Ecosystem, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, PP. 233-241.
    23.  Shirzad, H., Azkia, M. and Sadeghi, M., 2006, Principals of Safety and Confronting Unexpected Events in Rural Areas, Municipalities and Rural Municipalities Organization of Iran, Tehran. (In Persian)
    24.  Statistical Center of Iran., 2007, General Census of Population and Housing, Ardebil Province, Statistical Center of Iran, Tehran. (In Persian)
    25.  United Nations. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), 2004, Living with Risk: A Global Review of Disaster Reduction Measures, Preliminary Version, Geneva.
    26.  Van Aalst, M. and Burton, I., 2002, The Last Straw:Integrating Natural Disaster Mitigation and Environmental Management, Disaster Risk Management Working Paper Series No. 5, World Bank, Washington D.C.
    27.  Verlinden, A. and Dayot, B., 2005, A comparison between Indigenous Environmental Knowledge and a Conventional Vegetation Analysis in North Central Namibia, Arid Environments, Vol. 62, No. 1, PP. 143-175.
    28.  Weichselgartner, j., 2001, Disaster Mitigation: The Concept of Vulnerability Revisited, Disaster Prevention & management, Vol. 10, No. 2, PP. 85-94.
    29.  Winser, B. Piers, B. Terry, C. and Lan, D., 2004, At Risk Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters, Routledge, London and New York.
    30.  Yodmani, S., 2001, Disaster Risk Management and Vulnerability Reduction: Protecting the Poor,Protecting Communities- Social Funds and Disaster Management, Asia and Pacific Forum on Poverty, Organized by the Asian Development Bank, Manila, 5-9 February.