Landslide Risk Assessments for Decision Making

Landslides pose an increasing risk to many countries, closely related to both demographic pressures and territory mismanagement, such as illegal settlements, deforestation and lack of appropriate waste water management (c.f. UNISDR 2011)1. Sound landslide risk management is based on landslide risk assessments which provide critical information required to identify suitable strategies and mitigation measures. Such strategies, including but not limited to, the integration of landslide hazard zones into land use planning, structural measures to stabilize slopes, development of drainage systems or establishment of early-warning systems, are all critically dependent on reliable information. However, the complexities associated with gathering this information, that is the characterization of slope instabilities, or the prediction of potential slope failures, for instance, present broad challenges.

This session will present several cases in which landslide risk assessments have been carried out to inform risk management strategies, and the associated challenges throughout the risk analysis, interpretation and decision-making process.

Leads: Cees van Westen & Souleymane Diop

Community based landslide risk reduction: evidence and challenges - Malcolm G Anderson

Providing Landslide Information for Decision-Making in Regional Planning - Jerome V. De Graff

An Overview of Landslide Occurrence, Inventorization and Susceptibility Mapping in South Africa - Souleymane Diop