Natural Disasters and Resource Rights

The paper argues that resource rights—whether private or communal—are critical determinants of disaster vulnerability and recovery. In the pre-disaster phase, secure rights encourage investment in resilience and sustainable resource management, such as protecting mangrove buffers. Post-disaster, the loss of documentation and titleholders often delays reconstruction and compensation, potentially leading to opportunistic land grabs or social conflict. The authors emphasize that equitable re-allocation of resource rights is essential for restoring sustainable livelihoods and reducing long-term vulnerability.

• Resource rights are a primary determinant of vulnerability and resilience for the poorest populations, as they govern access to and control over the resources necessary to survive and recover from disasters.
• Secure resource rights enhance pre-disaster resilience by encouraging investments in protective infrastructure, such as windbreaks and flood barriers, and by promoting sustainable environmental management that reduces hazard impacts.
• The absence of clear tenure systems often leads to environmental degradation, such as deforestation, which increases a community's vulnerability to events like floods and landslides.
• Post-disaster reconstruction is frequently delayed by the destruction of legal documentation and physical land demarcations, making it difficult to identify rightful owners and resolve competing claims.
• Government-imposed coastal buffer zones intended to reduce future risk can inadvertently create new vulnerabilities by displacing communities from their livelihoods and triggering conflict over scarce inland resources.
• Marginalized groups, including women, Dalits, and ethnic minorities, face systemic barriers to accessing post-disaster compensation due to a lack of legal titles and discriminatory social norms.
• Secure land titles are essential for long-term economic rehabilitation because they provide the collateral necessary for survivors to borrow money and diversify their income sources.
• Community-driven adjudication (CDA), such as community-mapping exercises using GPS, can provide an effective alternative for resolving land tenure confusion when official records are lost.

APA

Brown, O., Crawford, A., & Hammill, A. (2006). Natural Disasters and Resource Rights. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tas_natres_disasters.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Oli, Alec Crawford, and Anne Hammill. Natural Disasters and Resource Rights. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2006. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tas_natres_disasters.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Oli |last2=Crawford |first2=Alec |last3=Hammill |first3=Anne |title=Natural Disasters and Resource Rights |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2006 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tas_natres_disasters.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2006natural, author = {Brown, Oli and Crawford, Alec and Hammill, Anne}, title = {{Natural Disasters and Resource Rights}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2006}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tas_natres_disasters.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }