Laguna, Philippines: Don’t rebuild communities in areas where landslides had occurred, advised Dr. Beatriz Cuevas-Jadina of the Visayas State University (VSU) in Leyte, Philippines. He has been studying high-risk landslide areas in Leyte.
Moreover, the mountainside should be planted to forest trees rather than cash crops such as coconut and agronomic or food crops, Jadina added. She also called for continuous monitoring of rainfall by setting up additional rain gauge stations as part of an early warning system for the people in the landslide-stricken area. The VSU scientist made these recommendations based on her study entitled ‘GIS-Aided Bio-physical Characterization and Assessment of a Landscape in Relation to Landslide Occurrences’.
The Los Baños-based, Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMED SEARCA), through its Seed Fund for Research and Training, supported the study.
Jadina discussed recently the results of her study at SEARCA’s Agriculture and Development Seminar Series, a regular professional forum sponsored by the center. Her research analysed the causal and triggering factors contributing to the likelihood of a landslide.
She said geologic formations, seismicity, steep slopes, vegetation and land cover, and soil properties are the causal factors of a landslide.
Source: The Philippine Star
