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The following are a few recent publications which may be of interest to our readers. The ADPC Information and Research section can offer assistance in locating these publications.

Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response: The Sphere Project. Order from: P.O.Box 372, 17 Chemin des Cr�ts, CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland: Tel.: (41 22) 730 4501; Fax: (41 22) 730 4999; E-mail: sphere@ifrc.org or http://www.ifrc.org/pubs/sphere.

This hand book is a product of international inter-agency collaboration. It presents the combined efforts of 641 named individuals (and countless unnamed persons) drawn from some 228 organizations, including NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, academic institutions, the United Nations and governmental agencies. This hand-book presents its conclusions on what constitutes the core minimum standards in disaster response which the humanitarian system should strive to uphold in all emergency situations. This is a preliminary edition of the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster relief to a period of trial, culminating in their publication by the end of 1999.

Emergency Planning: Guidelines for Hazardous Industry. A publication of Chemical Hazards and Emergency Management (CHEM) Unit, Department of Emergency Services, Queensland; and Australia and New Zealand Hazardous Industry Planning Taskforce. 1998. ISBN 0-7242-9310-8. 69 pp. US$ 20. Order from: Chemical hazard and Emergency Management (CHEM) Unit, Department of Emergency Services, Block C, Level 2, Emergency Services Complex, Cnr. Kedron Park and Park Roads, KEDRON QLD 4031, GPO Box 1425, Brisbane, Queensland 4001. Tel: 61 7 3247 8444; fax: 61 7 3247 8433; e-mail: chem@thehub.com.au or http://www.thehub.com.au/~chem/index.htm.

This is a joint document of the Australia and New Zealand Hazardous Industry Planning Taskforce and the Chemical hazards and Emergency Management (CHEM) Unit of the Department of Emergency Services, Queensland. These guidelines address the practical issues confronting people who manage hazardous materials. They are also useful for other stakeholders in the emergency planning process, such as local authorities, regulators, partners, the emergency services and the wider community. Emergency planning is an interactive, dynamic process which benefits from consultation with informed stakeholders. Improved understanding of the planning process will contribute to the attainment of best practice in emergency planning.

Partnerships in Preparedness: A Compendium of Exemplary Practices in Emergency Management. 1998. Volume III. 86 pp. A publication of FEMA. Free. Copies can be requested from the FEMA Publications Distribution Facility, P.O.Box 2012, Jessup, MD 20794-2012; Tel: (800) 480-2520 or http://www.fema.gov/library/lib07.htm.

This compendium describes model public and private sector emergency management practices, including unique alliances among organizations, volunteer projects, examples of resource sharing, and other innovative approaches. Sections are organized alphabetically by state, and each program listing provides the name of the program; a contact person's name, address, email, phone and fax; program type; target population; program setting; startup date; program description; evaluation information; annual budget; and sources of funding. The compendium also indexes the entries by title, subject, location, and contact.

Forest and Land Fires in Indonesia: Impacts, Factors and Evaluation. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Sep. 1998. A publication of State Ministry for Environment Republic of Indonesia, UNDP. ISBN 979-8362-11-X and 979-8362-13-6. Available in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. May be requested from Environmental Programme UNDP, Jl. M. H. Thamrin 14, P. O. Box 2338, Jakarta 10240, Indonesia. Tel: (021) 8517145; 8580064.

This series describes recommendations to prevent and manage land and forest fires in the future through the evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the efforts to prevent and manage fires in the past. The major components are institutions building, law enforcement mechanism, management of fire information system, and communication, information and education system as well as programs to manage forest and land fire.

Executive Summary Forest and Land Fires in Indonesia. May be requested from Environmental Programme UNDP (mentioned above)

This is a summary report of the Environmental Emergency Project (EEP), a co-operation between UNDP (Project INS/97/028) and the State Ministry for Environment, Republic of Indonesia. The EEP addresses forest and land fires in Indonesia, focusing in the national fire disaster of 1997. This series provide a comprehensive plan of action for forest and land fire disaster management. This study also makes recommendations on systems and programs necessary for future prevention and management of fires in the 1998-2003 period.

Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting Disaster Policy and Planning. David Godschalk, Timothy Neatley, Philip Berke, David J. Brower, and Edward J. Kaiser. 1998. ISBN: 1-55963-602-5. 450 pp. Price: US $ 45.00.

Natural Hazard Mitigation describes and analyses the way that hazard mitigation has been carried out in the US under the national disaster law, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The book analyses the effectiveness of the Stafford Act and investigates what is contained in state hazard mitigation plans required by the Act. It describes how federal hazard mitigation funds have been spent, explores what goes into decision-making following a major disaster, looks at how government mitigation officials rate the effectiveness of the mitigation system, and suggests changes that could help solve the widely recognized problems with current methods of coping with disasters. The findings and the recommendations presented in this volume should help up strengthen natural hazard mitigation policy and practice, thereby serving to reduce drains on the federal treasury that pay for preventable recovery and relief costs, and geography, and professionals working for governments agencies that deal with natural hazards.

Climate, Change and Risk. Edited by Thomas E. Downing, Alexander J. Olsthoorn and Richard S. J. Tol. 1999. ISBN 0-415-17031-1. 407 pp. Hard Cover. May be requested from Routledge, Ltd. P.O.Box 1633, Cheriton House, Northway, Andover, Hampshire, SP 10 5QS, UK.

The intent of this volume is to explore potential sensitivity to changes in weather hazards that might be expected with climate change. The emphasis is on identifying critical issues and data requirements, exploring different methodologies, and synthesizing results across sectors and studies. It focuses on insurance, especially the commercial insurance sector. In this book, insurance is widely recognized as an effective response to risk, but there is considerable debate regarding its role in responding to climate change. The target audience for this volume is researchers and practitioners concerned with climate change adaptation, weather hazards and disaster management.

Weather, Climate, and Health. A publication of world Meteorological Organization. Geneva, Switzerland. 1999. ISBN 92-63-10892-7. For more information contact: Information and Public Affairs Office, WMO, P.O.Box 2300/CH-1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel: 41-22 730 83 14/ 730 83 15; Fax: 41-22 733 28 29; E-mail: ipa@gaetway.wmo.ch or http://www.wmo.ch.

This is a book published to commemorate the world meteorological day: 23 march 1999, which is coming into force of the Convention of the WMO. For each anniversary WMP selects a theme which highlights the contribution of meteorology and operational hydrology to an issue of importance to humanity. As the theme of 1999, Weather, Climate and Health has been chosen to focus on the impact of weather and climate on health. This is particularly appropriate in light of the human suffering as a consequence of the many recent natural disasters around the world.

Cooperating with Nature: Confronting Natural Hazards with Land-Use Planning for Sustainable Communities. Edited by Raymond J. Burby. 1998. Hard cover US $ 47.95. ISBN: 0-309-06362-0. 368 pp. Contributors to this volume bring to light why land use and sustainability have been ignored in devising public policies to deal with natural hazards.

Desindex: Disaster Bibliography, References 5001-6500. 1998. 524 pp. Free. Available from the Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID), Apartado 3745-1000, San JosŽ, Costa Rica; Tel.: 506 296-3952; Fax: 506 231 5973; E-mail: crid@netsalud.sa.cr; or http://www.netsalud.sa.cr/crid.

Desindex contains the latest increment in CRID's project to compile bibliographic information in both Spanish and English on disasters. Each entry provides author, tittle, publisher, keywords, and in most cases, a brief description or annotation.