Disaster risk management models for rural relocation communities of mountainous southwestern China under the stress of geological disasters

Abstract Southwestern mountainous China is a vast, underdeveloped ethnic minority area with frequent geological disasters caused widespread poverty and therefore the inability to resist them, and relocation is one of the important measures targeted to geological disaster prevention and poverty alleviation there. We argue that it is crucial to explore effective management models for rural communities relocated in the context of disaster risk management (DRM). We identify two dominating types of relocation communities (the characteristic tourism type and the urbanization type) and changes in livelihood assets and strategies and in ecological-living-industrial land spaces of the two types, and discuss the common and different traits of two types of DRM models and the effects on village residents’ livelihood regarding mudslide risk management in Changde Village and unstable landslide risk management in Dabashan Village, then further research deficiencies of the models and countermeasures in policy and institutional dimensions, based on the Vulnerability and Capacity Approach and the Sustainable Livelihood Approach. Our results indicate that the DRM models of the communities should be different depending on what is the vulnerability and capacity of the focal community. In disaster preparedness and response, relocation is not an expedient measure, and a well-rounded management model integrated disaster reduction with sustainable livelihood, poverty alleviation can improve risk-resistance capacity and enhances resilience of the community. The measures to adjust models facilitate to strengthen resilience of the community. Attentions must be paid to avoid secondary geological disasters risks caused by infrastructure construction in the process of relocation.