The Federation for Environment, Climate and Technology (FECT) has been undertaking work on  Disaster Risk Management for more than two decades starting with our case study on Sri Lanka on multi-hazard risk analysis from 2002 – 2005 as detailed in our portal at www.disaster.lk in Sri Lanka. Indeed, all our work since then also contributes to disaster risk reduction in Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean Islands and their littoral. In keeping with our mission, we work with experts, administrators and vulnerable communities to conduct workshops, training programs, awareness programs, disaster relief programs and to contribute to education. Here, after describing the International day for Disaster Risk Reduction, we describe our communication products and advocacy on Disaster Risk Reduction for the last two decades in Sri Lanka and other islands in the  Indian Ocean at www.tropicalclimate.org.

About the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

The international day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) is held every 13 th October and it focusses on “how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to  disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face” – United Nations.

The 3 rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan in 2015 emphasized the impacts of local scale disasters on society and economy. Moreover, it was highlighted how sudden disasters, mainly due to climate change, which cause loss of life and displace millions of people, are posing challenges on investing in sustainable development and their desired outcomes.

Disaster Risk Communication by FECT

At FECT we monitor and disseminate reliable, up-to-date information on weather and climate in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean Islands. Our work expands to assessing avenues such as drought, floods, landslides, climate, man-made disasters, agriculture, electricity and epidemics.

We communicate the vast knowledge we have acquired through scientific analysis of disasters to the general public through our websites,

Disaster Risk: www.disaster.lk, www.drought.lk, www.disease.lk, www.cleanair.lk
Climate: www.climate.lk, www.climate.mv
International: www.tropicalclimate.lk

Disaster.lk

Disaster.lk site is dedicated to addressing some of the direst environmental and man-made upheavals that occurred in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, through disaster.lk we advocate for sustainable development of infrastructure in Sri Lanka. A list of the numerous post-disaster analysis performed on some of the catastrophic events in Sri Lanka is as follows: Aranayake Landslide, Meeriyabedda Landslide, Aruwakkalu Landfill and its impacts, Air Pollution, Easter Sunday Attacks and its aftermath, Matara Cyclone in 2017, Meethotamulla Garbage Dump, Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, Ratnapura Floods May 2016, Pinga Oya Floods, Ratnapura Floods May 2003, Sampur Power Plant, Sethusamudaram Project and Kandy Mob Violence.

Drought.lk

Drought.lk was designed to provide basic information on drought. Our research work carried out on impacts of drought and vulnerability, local and global news on persisting droughts in the world, and real time monitoring and analysis of drought related climate parameters such as standard precipitation index (SPI), rainfall, temperature and heat index are brought to the  public through this portal. Drought gives rise to water shortages and creates a favourable environment for onset of epidemics especially in the tropics. We have attempted to investigate the impacts of drought on hydropower generation, economy, public health and agriculture of  Sri Lanka.

Disease.lk

As Sri Lanka is located in the tropics, is more inclined to being a cradle for vector borne diseases such as dengue and malaria. Disease.lk is a database of inclusive information on endemic, epidemic and pandemic diseases, the effects of climate on disease spread, current census of disease spread, reports and control programs.

Cleanair.lk

Our campaign on raising awareness on air pollution and advocacy on clean air in Sri Lanka is accomplished through cleanair.lk. Through this we are able to deliver real-time air quality information of several districts in Sri Lanka. Moreover, we have undertaken projects on exploring the impacts of air quality in health and agriculture sector in Sri Lanka. The content in the website is made available in Sinhala, English and Tamil languages to ensure the effective dissemination of information to all in Sri Lanka. Our websites was adjudged as one of the two merit award winners in the Environment and Green Energy category of the e-swabhimani 2020 Digital Social Impact Awards on the 23 rd of March 2021.

Beyond Sri Lanka

We have expanded our work boundlessly to other islands located in the Indian Ocean namely Maldives, Chagos and Comoros. Our projects in these countries have covered climate, water resources, public health, disaster risk management, agriculture, coastal zone management and wildlife sectors. As an institution relying on science and technology to accomplish our goals, we have supported programs in these countries to promote STEM learning, especially in remote regions.

Looking Ahead

We hope to sustain the work we have done all through these years for more years to come and to expand our reach to serve marginalized communities of whom the living standards can be improved by utilizing science and technology to contribute even in the smallest way to their sustainable development.