Thousands of people were displaced and numerous homes, schools and businesses were destroyed. Yet something surprising emerged in the wake of the disaster.
During a government-led Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) conducted with the support of UNESCO, the European Union, the World Bank and others, traditional knowledge, and particularly traditional building techniques, emerged as a key factor in Vanuatu’s resilience to the disaster.
More specifically, it was discovered that the island’s traditional nakamal buildings that were constructed with modern materials and techniques were much more affected by the cyclone than nakamals constructed using local materials and traditional building skills.
As climate change results in more extreme weather events, traditional knowledge can be a vital means of promoting the resilience of communities to natural disasters.
The role of the nakamals in promoting community resilience was the subject of the UNESCO report “Safeguarding indigenous architecture in Vanuatu” published in 2017.
Photo UNESCO