Search

Social vulnerability indicators are a valuable tool for understanding which population groups are more vulnerable to experiencing negative impacts from disasters, and where these groups live, to inform disaster risk management activities. While many approaches have been used to measure social vulnerability to natural hazards, there is no single method or universally agreed approach. This paper proposes a novel approach to developing social vulnerability indicators, using the example of flooding in Aotearoa New Zealand. A conceptual framework was developed to guide selection of the social vulnerability indicators, based on previous frameworks (including the MOVE framework), consideration of climate change, and a holistic view of health and wellbeing. Using this framework, ten dimensions relating to social vulnerability were identified: exposure, children, older adults, health and disability status, money to cope with crises/losses, social connectedness, knowledge, skills and awareness of natural hazards, safe, secure and healthy housing, food and water to cope with shortage, and decision making and participation. For each dimension, key indicators were identified and implemented, mostly using national Census population data. After development, the indicators were assessed by end users using a case study of Porirua City, New Zealand, then implemented for the whole of New Zealand. These indicators will provide useful data about social vulnerability to floods in New Zealand, and these methods could potentially be adapted for other jurisdictions and other natural hazards, including those relating to climate change.

Niue is an uplifted coral atoll in the south western Pacific characterised by erosional terraces on its coastal margin. Beaches are found around the island located in pockets at the rear of erosional shore platforms. The beaches in Niue are

Niue is an uplifted limestone island, which preserves an atoll morphology with a sequence of terraces around its outer margin. A modern terrace fringes much of the island and this paper examines the extent to which this terrace can be considered accretionary and constructed by coral and coralline algae, or erosional and truncated by those processes that form shore platforms. The occurrence of Pleistocene limestone outcropping across this terrace and the continuation of caves and other karst features, dissecting the sub-aerial limestones, onto the forereef indicate the overall significance of erosion. At present live coral cover is restricted to isolated colonies growing in grooves, potholes and karstic channels eroded into the modern terrace surface. Coralline algae coat the outer margin of this terrace, and also veneer prominent surf benches that occur on the windward shore, 1–2 m above the terrace surface. Terrace evolution on Niue therefore appears to be primarily erosional in origin. There is little accommodation space for reef growth and, as a result, accretional fringing reefs are absent around most of the island. Erosional processes have also dominated landscape evolution for at least the past few eustatic cycles. Fringing reef growth is absent or severely restricted during the last interglacial and occurs as sporadic small reefs on the seaward margin of an erosional terrace during the penultimate interglacial. The development of terrace features in uplifting reef settings does not necessarily originate through accretional reef processes and may in fact be entirely erosional. Although reef terraces are frequently depositional in other settings, those present on Niue indicate a predominance of erosion, indicating the need to discriminate emergent terraces in terms of the extent to which they are erosional or accretionary when using such features to reconstruct island palaeoenvironments.