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Figure 13:
Average cost of natural disasters per re-
gion 1990–2008
North and
South America
North and
South America
Source: EM-DAT, The International Disasters Database, CRED, 2009.
Asia
Asia
Asia
Asia
Europe
Europe
North and
South America
North and
South America
Europe
Droughts
Hearthquakes
Floods
Storms
25
Billion US Dollars, 2008
5
1
Average cost of natural disasters
by region, 1990-2008
Top: Erosion gullies in a hot, steep, calcrete slope (part of the
ancient Coega River Estuary) scarred by old livestock tracks,
deeply scoured by wind and rain, lead down to a freshwater
earth dam. Bottom: 2 years after slope rehabilitation using en-
demic plants salvaged from adjacent Deepwater Port develop-
ment. Rainwater is channelled into the hillside where backfilled
terraces now support buck, small mammals, reptiles, birds and
insects. Trees and shrubs are coming back via these animals.
Project and photos credit: Linda Redfern Landscape & Environmental Services.
Butterfly Valley at Coega, Port
Elizabeth, South Africa
CASE STUDY #26