Available in English and French
Produced by : the ISDR secretariat and Flycatcher.
Duration: 5 minutes

Madagascar is famous for its wildlife and natural beauty, but though it may seem like a tropical paradise, the island is prone to major tropical cyclones and severe droughts. In order to help reducing the vulnerability of people who are living in the island, the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction has chosen Madagascar as the first french speaking country to receive a Field library for disaster reduction in French.

The films describes what is the Field library project about and how it will help Malgache people to get more resilient against any type of disasters.

Available in English and French
Produced by the ISDR secretariat and Flycatcher
Duration: 5 minutes

Madagascar is a land of extremes: extreme beauty, extreme biodiversity, but also extreme poverty and above all extreme weather.Every year the population is subjected to a series of cyclones, and in the south of the country there are long and frequent periods of drought. Despite the violence of these storms, the people of Madagascar have actually suffered in 2007 fewer losses due to prevention measures spearheaded by the Government and the National Platform on Disaster Reduction.

One of the key roles of the National Platform is to help reduce the impact of natural hazards and better prepare populations against disasters. The film describes how the National platform works in Madagascar and what is its major role before, during and after disasters.

Over the past 30 years, disasters - storms, floods and droughts - have increased threefold, according to the UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. When extreme weather strikes, the poor are usually hit hardest. Tropical storms, floods and droughts account for 75 percent of all disasters. Disaster relief agencies try to pick up the pieces. But increasingly, governments and UN agencies are going one step further, aiming to reduce damage before it strikes. Earth Report investigates how poor farmers in Honduras and fishing communities in Vietnam are working with disaster risk managers to strengthen nature’s defences against the violent effects of climate change.

When the Asian Tsunami struck in December 2004, over 200,000 people were killed and 1.5 million were left homeless.

Earth Report, with the support of ISDR, traveled to three of the worst affected countries (Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka) to examine the recovery process. With so much funding flowing in to the region, are these countries re-building better than before or are they making the same old mistakes?

Transmission schedules (all times GMT) – After the wave has been broadcast on BBC World on Saturday 28 October at 08:30, 13:30 (not Europe), 20:30 and Monday 01:30 (Not Asia Pacific or Southern Africa)

The scale of the death and destruction brought by the Tsunami in Asia has shocked the world. Few disasters of this magnitude have ever been recorded. Though earthquakes are difficult to predict, questions are being asked. How many lives could have been saved if people had been more aware and better prepared?

Two episodes of Earth Reports assess what is being learned from the disasters that affect the lives of some 200 million people every year. And we find that even in the poorest nations, the loss of life and damage can often be reduced by modest investment in early warnings and public education

Earth report visits the city of Goma from Congo, Cuba and Bangladesh.