Dead planet, living planet

Average cost of natural disasters by region, 1990-2008

CASE STUDY #26

Top: Erosion gullies in a hot, steep, calcrete slope (part of the ancient Coega River Estuary) scarred by old livestock tracks, deeply scoured by wind and rain, lead down to a freshwater earth dam. Bottom: 2 years after slope rehabilitation using en- demic plants salvaged from adjacent Deepwater Port develop- ment. Rainwater is channelled into the hillside where backfilled terraces now support buck, small mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. Trees and shrubs are coming back via these animals. Butterfly Valley at Coega, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

North and South America

Asia

Project and photos credit: Linda Redfern Landscape & Environmental Services.

Asia

Asia

Europe

25 Billion US Dollars, 2008

Europe

5

North and South America

1

North and South America

Droughts

Asia

Floods Storms

Europe

North and South America

Hearthquakes

Source: EM-DAT, The International Disasters Database, CRED, 2009.

Figure 13: Average cost of natural disasters per re- gion 1990–2008

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