In extreme cases relocation to nearby safe sites may be required. This program would need to be accompanied by work to determine the level of tolerable risk in this environment, and to ensure that there is a general understanding that the aim is not to eliminate risk, but rather to manage it.
Templates for all of the above measures exist in other countries, and in each case the approach has worked. To achieve similar success in Taiwan will take considerable political will and of course some time. While the costs will be far from insignificant, they will be low in comparison with those associated with disasters such as Morakot.
Hong Kong provides a real illustration of the effectiveness of such programs. In the 1970s, Hong Kong suffered a series of terrible landslide disasters, for example the 138 people killed in two landslide disasters in 1972. In response, the governor of Hong Kong established a government-level organization to manage and control slope development. The results have been highly impressive, with just three landslide fatalities in Hong Kong in the last decade.
To achieve the same in Taiwan will require both political will and considerable investment, but there is little doubt that the management of disaster risk can be achieved.
David Petley is Wilson Professor at the University of Durham in the UK. His research speciality is landslides.
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