Application of GIS based mapping for integrated disaster risk management planning at the provincial level

Vietnam is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Its geography and topography make it vulnerable to typhoons, tropical storms, floods, storm surge, landslides and coastal erosion. Annually on average natural disasters result in the loss of over 500 lives and over US$330 million in damages. Trends in the damage statistics indicate that while the impact in terms of human lives lost is steady or decreasing, the economic cost is increasing. It would appear that while improvements in preparedness and disaster response saves lives, continued urban and rural development in disaster prone areas results in greater potential for economic loss. Without improvements in disaster risk management, current trends are likely to continue and will be further exacerbated by the ongoing influences of climate change. In this context, the paper discusses the use of GIS mapping to support the preparation of Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRM) Plans for 12 provinces in central and southern Vietnam. This activity has been undertaken as part of the World Bank and donor funded Natural Disaster Risk Management Project (NDRMP). For each province eight separate thematic maps were compiled to create an atlas highlighting key features for disaster risk management. The eight maps cover: 1) geographical characteristics; 2) climate characteristics; 3) population density; 4) agricultural economic output; 5) density of poor households by commune; 6) areas affected by a range of natural hazards; 7) existing natural disaster management infrastructure and facilities; and 8) proposed or new disaster risk management infrastructure and facilities. In support of an overall IDRM planning process, the intent of the mapping was to bring together as much available information as possible so that decision makers would have easy access to a single composite source of information. Mapinfo software was selected because of its ease of use by inexperienced GIS operators at province level. Training was provided in each province to build capacity in applying the information and periodically updating the maps.