Abstract:

For generations, indigenous peoples and local communities have successfully been using traditional methods to prepare for, and respond to, disasters. They were using these methods and passing them on from generation to generation. Their risk reduction practices were based on knowledge and experience of surrounding context, well before the existence of technologybased early warning systems, disaster risk mitigation strategies, and operating procedures for response (UNISDR 2018). Science, modernisation and upgraded knowledge systems have allowed researchers and practitioners to develop the means by which various hazards and vulnerabilities can be assessed in detail. Policymakers now have advanced information, with which to mitigate hazards and reduce disaster risk. However, a distance has grown between scientific and traditional knowledge