Post-disaster coastal buffer zones in Sri Lanka and the Philippines exempted hotels
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
After the tsunami, Sri Lanka set a 100 to 200 metre coastal building ban, later reduced to at most 55 metres. After Typhoon Haiyan the Philippines set a 40 metre ban that allowed commercial rebuilding such as hotels, and post-tsunami mangrove planting in Sri Lanka largely failed.
- Fishing families in Sri Lanka — forced to relocate away from the coast IPS
- Fishing families in the Philippines — were to be moved from the coast without a designated site The ASEAN Post
- Post-tsunami mangrove plantings in Sri Lanka — largely failed; about 200 to 220 hectares of about 1,000 to 1,200 hectares were restored successfully Restoration Ecology
What happened
IPS reported that Sri Lanka's post-tsunami building ban of 100 to 200 metres was not applied to less damaged hotels, that the limit was later cut to at most 55 metres, and that fishing families were forced to relocate.
Kodikara et al. (2017) surveyed 23 sites with about 1,000 to 1,200 hectares of post-tsunami mangrove planting; about 200 to 220 hectares were restored successfully, and no plants survived at 9 sites.
Brookings reported that the Philippines' 40 metre rule after Typhoon Haiyan banned housing but allowed commercial rebuilding such as hotels, and that 205,000 permanent homes were planned, affecting about 1 million people.
The ASEAN Post reported that the post-Haiyan 40 metre ban did not cover hotels and restaurants, and that fishing families were to be moved from the coast without a designated site.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not give the number of fishing families moved in Sri Lanka.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not say how many of the planned Philippine permanent homes were completed.
- Disputed The sources reviewed give conflicting accounts of how the Philippine 40 metre rule treated commercial buildings.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Klein (2007) describes Sri Lankan fishing families calling the buffer zone a 'second tsunami'.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Out of the path of disastersThe ASEAN Post ·
Researchers
- Kodikara et al. 2017Restoration Ecology · 2017