Policy Instruments for NBS to Landslide Risk Management in Urban Areas in the Hilly Areas of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Landslides had been traditionally considered as an insignificant disaster is now a common occurrence in the hilly areas of Sri Lanka. The recent landslides have not only natural causes, but they are also due to factors related to the location of population settlements and their behavior. The demand for land in hilly areas has led to the use of marginal land, prone to landslides in unstable slopes. Control of landslides in upland areas requires an integrated approach and the issues in these areas need to be addressed in a comprehensive way by enforcing new policies and land management regulations, planning landslide risk reduction activities, improving early warning systems, improving community level landslide preparedness, developing monitoring and evaluation systems for monitoring the vulnerable slopes, and formulating necessary policies. In many areas, the risk-informed nature-based solutions and hybrid solutions can be effective in reducing the impacts of landslides. Therefore, the authors present a review of the existing Legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for landslides mitigation and make recommendations to strengthen the existing development and agriculture related policies and to formulate suitable policies for NBSs for landslide management in Sri Lanka.