Combining Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge in the Dagupan City Flood Warning System
This paper / case study by Lorna P. Victoria of the Center for Disaster Preparedness (CDP) Philippines is part of the UNISDR publication “Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region” which presents a collection of 18 indigenous practices in the communities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ms. Victoria’s paper introduces the “kanungkong”, a bamboo instrument which was traditionally used to call community members to assemble at the village hall for meetings, alert people or call children home. The flood early warning system set up in eight villages in Dagupan City, Philippines, has revived the use of the kanungkong along with staff gauges as flood markers in strategic locations in the villages of the city. The indigenous knowledge is combined with modern scientific knowledge and equipment for use in disaster risk reduction.
The case study can be found on page 52 of the publication.
