Community ownership

Community site supervisor having worked on a MoSSaiC project in the SkateTown Community, Castries, St Lucia, here advising and discussing community-based landslide risk reduction measures with Government Technical Officers.

“Over the last three decades policy statements by all major agencies have included risk reduction as a pre-condition and an integrated aspect of sustainable development, but when it comes to practical implementation very little has been done, even when money is available.” (UN-ISDR, 2002; Wamsler, 2006)

MoSSaiC is dedicated to on-the-ground delivery of landslide risk reduction measures, together with Community ownership of the interventions.

As part of this vision MoSSaiC has delivered a Community-based course concerned with low-cost methods of improving slope stability.

Central to such an approach are inexpensive methods of slope drainage construction and maintenance as well as other innovative approaches to public awareness and stability monitoring methods for both structures and slopes.

Community-to-community transfer of concept has been undertaken and is a central mission within creating a sustainable strategy.

MoSSaiC works especially in areas of dense unplanned housing on steep slopes. Such communities are already amongst the most vulnerable on a wide range of indicies, and are extremely unlikely to have the resources to tackle the underlying causes of slope instability. Additionally, the residents may not fully appreciate the effect that certain practices they have developed for such matters as waste water can contribute to slope instability.

Such circumstances pose a significant problem for government agencies in terms of potential physical remediation costs, and the associated costs that can be attributed to community disruption and community relocation if slope instability were to occur – the MoSSaiC™ methodology seeks to minimise that risk.

Community-based action

Community based remedial measures for slope instability problems is a central element of the MoSSaiC mission. In St Lucia, the Poverty Reduction Fund is key in developing community participation in construction of improved drainage and access in residential zones prone to slope instability.

Creating improved public awareness is important in ensuring that improvements continue to be effective. The continued maintenance of such projects within the community is a critical factor in ensuring the overall success of the mitigation and remedial measures.