- Enduring Geohazards in the Caribbean: Moving from the Reactive to the Proactive ed. by Serwan M.J. Baban
The book Enduring Geohazards in the Caribbean: Moving from the Reactive to the Proactive is a very useful work for academics, geohazards specialists, and policy and decision makers. The book is an excellent source for those seeking to understand the nature and extent of geohazards-associated problems and the range of possible solutions to manage floods and landslides in a sustainable fashion. The book is a compilation of contributions made by scholars brought together to the regional workshop Enduring Geohazards (landslides and floods) in the Caribbean region. The book is a review of current management practices for floods and landslides, and a call for improving and providing a conceptual framework for transforming geohazards management from something that is predominately reactive to more proactive strategies. The book is broadly divided into two parts. The first two sections deal with the presentation and identification of geohazards events, especially, landslides and floods and the last section explores the management of geohazards events using supposed best possible approaches and technologies.
Chapters in the book are presented as a compendium of case studies and summaries of geohazards events (landslides and floods), and clearly indicate the incorporation of reputable technologies, such as, geoinformatics to facilitate mitigation and decision making over space and time. The content of the book is well supported with appropriate references and with an abundance of maps and charts. The fundamental premise of the book is that is will be impossible to minimize geohazards losses and facilitate mitigation, particularly at the national level until we are able to develop and demonstrate the use of national-level geohazards inventories and databases, build resilient communities, all with the support of cutting edge technologies, such as geoinformatics. The book follows logical sequences of subsequent discussions to support its premise.
Chapter 1 presents an overview of the potential reasons for geohazards in the Caribbean region and some of the best possible solutions to lessening the impacts of these hazards. The chapter explains the vulnerability of the Caribbean region to geohazards with vulnerability analyzed [End Page 245] in terms of exposure and sensitivity of the region to specific geohazards. This chapter suggests that the region could better manage its vulnerability to the traditional geohazards that influence the region by building its resilience, preparedness and adaptation to these events. The chapter further reinforces that the most basic approach to mitigate geohazards would be to build a robust conceptual and planning framework for understanding and assessing risk, for linking these to human well-being and then identifying points of resilience that might be enhanced.
In section 1, Chapters 2 to 5 deal with the identification of landslides and possible proactive approaches to managing landslide hazards in the Caribbean region. Chapter 2 outlines methods for assessing landslides from three possible perspectives: an engineering method, a GIS method, and a landslide warning system method. Chapters 2 through 5 also suggest the integration of all the three methods along with the incorporation of geotechnical information into the GIS method to enhance proactive landslide management possibilities. Chapter 3 reviews the initiatives taken by Town and Country Planning Division of Trinidad and Tobago to monitor unplanned rapid expansion of development into hillsides. The chapter presents a developed geoinformatics based approach for managing hillside development in this region. Chapter 4 reviews the problems associated with mapping susceptibility to landslide for tropical mountains environment. The chapter addresses the challenges of producing a reliable and robust database in most developing countries, in this case Trinidad and Tobago. Chapter 5 addresses challenges associated with mapping and identification of potential landslides for risk and hazard assessment. Similar to Chapter 4, major obstacles include lack of data and an understanding of factors controlling the landslide processes. This chapter suggests the use of remote sensing technology to bridge the gap in data and required information.
In section 2, Chapters 6 to 9 discuss problems...