GUIDING PRINCIPLES
for post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-GPA)


The Cairo Principles

  1. (Overarching principle) Reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to natural hazards by establishing a regional early warning system; and applying construction setbacks, greenbelts and other no-build areas in each nation, founded on a science-based mapped "reference line". ... more
    Using concepts of integrated coastal management, including public engagement in local decision-making, employ a rapid assessment zoning and planning process to:
  2. Promote early resettlement with provision for safe housing; debris clearance; potable water, sanitation and drainage services; and access to sustainable livelihood options.... more
  3. Enhance the ability of the natural system to act as a bioshield to protect people and their livelihoods by conserving, managing and restoring wetlands, mangroves, spawning areas, seagrass beds and coral reefs; and by seeking alternative sustainable sources of building materials, with the aim of keeping coastal sand, coral, mangroves and rock in place. ... more
  4. Promote design that is cost-effective, appropriate and consistent with best practice and placement of infrastructure away from hazard and resource areas, favoring innovative and soft engineering solutions to coastal erosion control. ... more
  5. Respect traditional public access and uses of the shoreline, and protect religious and cultural sites.... more
  6. Adopt ecosystem based management measures; promote sustainable fisheries management in over-fished areas, and encourage low impact aquaculture.... more
  7. Promote sustainable tourism that respects setback lines and carrying capacity, benefits local communities and applies adequate management practices.... more
  8. Secure commitments from governments and international organizations to abide by these Principles and build on and strengthen existing institutional arrangements where possible. ... more
  9. Ensure public participation through capacity building and the effective utilization of all means of communication to achieve outcomes that meet the needs and realities of each situation.... more
  10. Make full use of tools such as strategic environmental assessment, spatial planning and environmental impact assessment, to identify trade-offs and options for a sustainable future.... more
  11. Develop mechanisms and tools to monitor and periodically communicate the outcomes of the reconstruction through indicators that reflect socio-economic change and ecosystem health.... more
  12. Widely disseminate good practices and lessons learned as they emerge. ... more


I. Priority Technical Measures

Principle 1 (Overarching Principle)
Reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to natural hazards by establishing a regional early warning system; and applying construction setbacks, greenbelts and other no-build areas in each nation, founded on a science-based mapped "reference line".

It is not possible to sustain any development in coastal areas if the huge energy and natural dynamics of coastal systems are ignored. Many of the adverse social and economic impacts of the tsunami have occurred because people have been made more vulnerable to natural hazards through poor planning and the ineffective management of coastal development. The technical difficulties and financial costs of opposing the natural dynamics of coastal systems far outweigh the long-term benefits that can be gained by working with the natural processes that create and maintain healthy ecosystems and a flow of social and economic benefits to humankind. At a time when human populations are becoming increasingly concentrated along coastlines, sea level is rising and long established weather patterns are changing. We therefore know that hazards created by storms, the reshaping of coastlines by processes of erosion and accretion, instabilities produced by new patterns of land use as well as such relatively rare occurrences as tsunami will together make shorelines increasingly hazard-prone.

  • The nations of the region and several international organizations are working together to develop an effective tsunami early warning system that will reach the entire regional community, particularly the most vulnerable groups.
  • What is known about past and future coastal change can be applied to define a reference line showing where the shoreline is anticipated to be, for example, by 2050. Detailed aerial photographs could be prepared reach by reach for all of the region's shoreline, showing conditions as they were before and after the tsunami. A reference line could be drawn on such photographs showing the mean high water mark anticipated by the 2050 median projection for a sea level rise of 30cm made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This reference line should be modified by other tectonic and coastal data affecting anticipated coastal change in specific areas. Where information is available, data on the anticipated effect of historical trends in erosion and accretion to 2050 and the inland extent of flooding in past storms should also be integrated into estimates of the future position of shorelines.
  • A recommended construction setback line should be established by each government as a set distance and/or elevation inland of the reference line. The area seaward of the setback line should be designated as a strictly enforced "no-build" zone. It is essential that such setbacks are incorporated into the existing regulatory system and are applied equitably to the wealthy and the poor.
  • On low-lying shorelines with little topographical relief, practical disaster preparedness plans should be developed and tested that feature speedy evacuation of people to protected shelters.
  • The width of the no-build zone determined by the setback should be greater in as-yet-undeveloped shores than in already urbanized areas.
  • Designate setback lines with permanent on-site markers and enforce them uniformly as a regulatory measure.
  • Exceptions for building structures seaward of the setback line should be granted only where required to support such water-dependent activities as fishing and navigation (not tourist facilities or permanent settlements). Where such exceptions are granted, structures should be temporary or built to withstand flooding by strengthened structural members and elevated first floors that permit flood waters to flow through unimpeded. Attention should be given to the impact of such structures on adjacent coastal areas, and mitigation actions taken.
  • The granting of such exceptions for construction seaward of the setback line should be based on clear and uniform criteria and applied through a highly transparent process with opportunities for comment by the local community.

Principle 2
Promote early resettlement with provision for safe housing; debris clearance; potable water, sanitation and drainage services and access to sustainable livelihood options.

Putting people first in rehabilitation requires moving quickly to resettle those displaced by the tsunami in a manner that provides the poor with living conditions and services that are better than those that existed before the disaster. Those that have lost property and cannot rebuild because their properties are within the no-build zone must be adequately compensated.

  • Where practicable, identify sites beyond the "no build zone" for permanent housing for those displaced by the tsunami, and for reconstruction of essential infrastructure, such as access to roads, water supply and sanitation, waste water treatment and solid waste disposal.
  • Avoid or minimize involuntary resettlement-in accordance with the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly. A "no build zone" applied to a settled coastline may have severe consequences for those deprived of land tenure or rights of residence. Where relocation is judged to be in the best long-term interest of those affected, provide adequate compensation for land and property. Also, establish channels for grievance resolution at the appropriate levels of government.
  • Adopt appropriate building codes for all structures, including seismic codes in earthquake prone areas.
  • Provide potable water, sewage collection and treatment, and adequate drainage systems in all new and reconstructed communities.
  • Favor standardized, modular systems with interchangeable components to achieve cost savings and reduce future maintenance costs.
  • Encourage the use of local labor in all phases of the reconstruction process thereby generating employment and enhancing the marketable skills of the poor.

Principle 3
Enhance the ability of the natural system to act as a bioshield to protect people and their livelihoods by conserving, managing and restoring wetlands, mangroves, spawning areas, seagrass beds and coral reefs; and by seeking alternative

Natural barriers to flooding and coastal erosion, such as coral reefs, near-shore rock outcrops, sandbars, and sand dunes should be protected from construction activity and uses that compromise their structural integrity. They reduce, absorb and redirect waves and floodwaters. Wetlands, lagoons, river estuaries, and reefs are essential to sustaining fisheries, public health and the many livelihoods that support coastal populations. They contribute to a healthy and aesthetically pleasing environment for a seaside holiday. A portion of the funds for rehabilitation should therefore be assigned to protect and restore these habitats. Reconstruction will require thousands of cubic meters of sand for cement and for fill, and building materials of every description. Traditionally, many of these materials have been taken from the coast itself. When sand is mined from beaches, dunes and coastal rivers, mangroves are cut for timber, and wetlands filled as building sites coastal settlements become more vulnerable to hazards of every description.

  • Conduct rapid assessments that involve local people in the identification of natural areas important to fisheries production, the recycling of wastes, shoreline stabilization and scenic quality, including coastal wetlands and mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. The aerial photographs and maps used for establishing setback lines can be used in this process of identifying critical areas.
  • Incorporate these natural features and habitats into a designated coastal bioshield that maximizes the protection from coastal hazards and the associated benefits provided by these natural features. Adopt measures to protect bio-shields from activities that compromise their natural qualities. Protect them from future disturbance and, where feasible, restore them.
  • Where feasible, plant trees seaward of the setback line to form a greenbelt that buffers the shore from waves, floods and erosion.
  • Prohibit the mining of sand, coral and stone from coastal waters within the 20-meter depth contour.
  • Regulate sand mining from rivers.
  • Declare wetlands and mangroves as off limits for harvest of wood.
  • Prohibit the filling of wetlands and estuaries.

Principle 4
Promote design that is cost-effective, appropriate and consistent with best practice and placement of infrastructure away from hazard and resource areas, and favoring innovative and soft engineering solutions to coastal erosion control.

The reconstruction is an unprecedented opportunity to relocate communities away from hazardous and unhealthy areas, rectify badly designed infrastructure and services, and reduce previous inequities in their availability and distribution.

  • Place arterial roads, railroads and other transportation infrastructure well inside the setback line, and site access-ways perpendicular to the coast.
  • Limit investments in erosion control to those situations where pre-existing infrastructure or settlements make it cost-effective, and where it is considered environmentally justifiable; favor soft solutions (placement of sand, planting vegetation) over hard solutions (breakwaters, groins, shoreline armoring).
  • Identify natural barriers to flooding and coastal erosion, specifically coral reefs, near-shore rock outcrops, sand bars, and sand dunes; protect them from construction activity and uses that compromise their structural integrity.

Principle 5
Respect traditional public access and uses of the shoreline, and protect religious and cultural sites.

  • Identify with permanent on-site markers and preserve public rights of way to the shore. All coastal development initiatives should respect the customary rights of local communities to the coastline, and recognize these areas as public domain.
  • Assure that landing sites for local fishers and associated facilities for cleaning catches and storing fishing gear are restored or relocated to an equivalent or better nearby location.
  • Identify with permanent on-site markers and preserve religious or cultural sites valued by local residents. Coastal development should keep these special coastal features accessible and protect their visual integrity.

Principle 6
Adopt ecosystem based management measures; promote sustainable fisheries management in over-fished areas, and encourage low impact aquaculture.

The rehabilitation of hundreds of kilometers of shoreline should generate many opportunities for more diversified and more sustainable livelihoods. A primary concern must be the future prospects of communities dependent upon fishing. These same communities contain a high proportion of the region's poorest people. A recent statement prepared by WorldFish points out that coastal fisheries in Asia were severely depleted and over-fished before the tsunami. Too many boats taking too many fish had in some areas reduced fish stocks to less than 10% of their original levels and destroyed or degraded the habitats upon which these potentially renewable resources depend. A trend toward the use of damaging gear and the use of increasingly destructive fishing methods-such as small mesh nets that take juveniles-has made the situation progressively worse. The tsunami has only added to the problem.

  • While assisting fishers by replacing equipment and rebuilding boats, ensure that less destructive and more sustainable fishing practices are adopted.
  • Assist fishers who do not wish to return to fishing by developing alternative livelihoods. This will contribute to reducing fishing effort and restoring natural resources.
  • Promote employment-intensive fisheries operations that contribute directly to poverty alleviation and food security.
  • Implement integrated coastal fisheries management (ICFM). This approach is centered on the development of management plans that incorporate social, economic and biological objectives. Such initiatives should be developed within a co-management framework with strong involvement from the affected communities. ICFM encourages communities and governments to look explicitly at the distribution of benefits from coastal resources and to maximize the contribution of fisheries to poverty reduction.
  • Develop investments, training and infrastructure that reduce post-harvest losses. In rebuilding destroyed infrastructure and processing facilities and creating new ones, make investments to minimize post-harvest losses and add value to catches. This will also provide additional livelihoods, particularly for women, when it emphasizes the use of employment-intensive, low-cost, hygienic technologies.
  • Encourage investment in community-based aquaculture and other livelihoods that bring benefits to local populations and do not degrade coastal ecosystems. Rehabilitated aquaculture must adopt environmentally sound management practices that do not pollute, damage habitats or cause long-term harm, including use of feed that is taken from sustainable sources and seeds that are raised in environmentally sound hatcheries or taken from sustainable fisheries.
  • Modify the placement and density of shrimp aquaculture operations to reduce environmental degradation and adverse impacts on other coastal activities. In particular, subject shrimp ponds to siting criteria that protect natural systems and coastal water quality, and limit the intensity and extent of operations in each coastal reach.
  • Avoid the 'privatization' of inshore waters and the consequent disruption of fishing operations and livelihoods.

Principle 7
Promote sustainable tourism that respects setback lines and carrying capacity, benefits local communities and applies adequate management practices.

  • Identify vulnerable sectors of the population and develop strategies (e.g. training, micro-enterprise development) to redirect these to such income generating activities as value-added processing, ecotourism and cottage industries that reduce pressure on ecosystem services.
  • Ensure that tourism planning is responsive to the needs of the local community and seeks to ensure community benefits. Local communities should be involved in the tourism planning process and development of associated recreational activities. This will help ensure that economic benefits are adequately distributed.
  • In coastal tourism development, use appropriate siting, improved engineering designs and appropriate construction management practices that respect the dynamic nature of the coastal areas and ecosystem function. Such measures help control the negative impacts that can come with coastal tourism, including the loss of habitat and landscape, degradation of water quality, erosion of beaches and loss of beach access and income by traditional resource users. Such siting and design also helps minimizes risks from storms, hurricanes, tsunamis and erosion and will reduce the need for prohibitively costly restoration and rehabilitation measures. Construction setbacks are one of the most appropriate proactive means of reducing risk of natural hazards. National and local authorities must support the industry through public sector planning, development control and provision of construction standards.
II. Process Measures

Principle 8
Secure commitments from governments and international organizations to abide by these Principles and build on and strengthen existing institutional arrangements where possible.

  • Mobilize rapid or immediate endorsement of these principles and enunciate their implications for all reconstruction activities. The adoption of the principles need not add time to the reconstruction process and, if unequivocally endorsed by the highest levels, will reduce uncertainty.
  • Set specific measurable goals (e.g. to double the number of people with potable water over pre-tsunami levels) for the reconstruction by each participating nation and its partner organizations. This will help focus the effort and provide a basis for measuring successful implementation of the principles.
  • Use the opportunities created by the intense activity brought by the reconstruction process to strengthen the relationships among these institutions and to address weaknesses in the current coastal management system. Responsibility for coastal planning and decision-making-including the necessary enforcement powers- are invariably distributed among a number of governmental agencies at the national and sub-national levels. In some nations non-governmental organizations also play major roles in coastal management.
  • Embrace opportunities to strengthen each nation's coastal management system and encourage investments in associated training and institution building.

Principle 9
Ensure public participation through capacity building and the effective utilization of all means of communication to achieve outcomes that meet the needs and realities of each situation.

  • First, consult with local people to review conditions as they existed before the tsunami to identify potentially significant habitats, rights of way to the shore and significant cultural or religious sites. The provision of detailed before and after aerial photographs and maps showing the reference line will assist in this process. It is essential that representatives of the poorer segments of the community are present and participate actively and that traditional leadership such as village leaders and religious leaders provide guidance and assist in the mediation of disputes.
  • Second, envision the conditions and specific features of the coastal reach in question that would be seen as meeting local needs and local goals. This will address the specifics of marking the setback line and engaging in a rapid planning and zoning process. These discussions are likely to reveal competing views and conflicts. Therefore, it is important that decisions be guided by the precise demarcation of the setback line and that the boundaries of bioshields be based on pre-defined and unambiguous criteria and that these be applied in a transparent manner.
  • Adapt strategies for applying these principles as appropriate. It will be important to learn and adjust as the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts unfold. Local knowledge combined with technical expertise and guided by national goals is the recipe for success.

Principle 10
Make full use of tools such as strategic environmental assessment, spatial planning and environmental impact assessment, to identify trade-offs and options for a sustainable future.

  • Tailor coastal management principles to the unique conditions present in every coastal reach. This favors a decentralized approach and a co-management structure in which local institutions assume significant roles in planning and decision making.
  • Assist the governmental and non-governmental institutions with coastal management responsibilities to refine their abilities to identify threats and their root causes, to negotiate goals and strategies with a diversity of stakeholders, to practice conflict resolution and to prioritize their actions.
  • Promote the use of economic assessment tools that help set priorities for investments, define and meet financing needs and sequence investments so as to maximize inter-sectoral collaboration and the advance towards sustainable development.
  • Encourage the application of the Precautionary Principle and to its use in impact assessments that should be used to evaluate proposals for major construction projects.

Principle 11
Develop mechanisms and tools to monitor and periodically communicate the outcomes of the reconstruction through indicators that reflect socio-economic change and ecosystem health.

  • Set clear goals for the desired outcomes of the reconstruction and rehabilitation process reach by reach and subsequently use these as a reference point for assessing progress and the practice of adaptive management.
  • Define and monitor simple, practical indicators for assessing progress towards goals and monitoring the coastal reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
  • Report periodically on the results of the reconstruction processes and the lessons that emerge from the application of the principles; document failures as well as successes.
  • Make it easy for the print, radio and television media to stay involved in the reporting process by establishing and updating a website and registering it with the main search engines.

Principle 12
Widely disseminate good practices and lessons learned as they emerge.

  • Annually invite experts and leaders from the region and elsewhere to review progress and widely disseminate throughout the region the emerging good practices.
  • Celebrate success. Create incentives to, and publicly recognize successes- particularly when they result from local initiatives and local creativity in problem solving.

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