The Hyogo Framework for Action is a road map for building resilient nations and communities to which 168 countries committed to from 2005 to 2015. In making disaster risk reduction a national and local priority, building a culture of safety and resilience and reducing the risk in the key development sectors, including the environment, the understanding and building on local knowledge and practices in disaster preparedness and mitigation is valuable.

The importance of local knowledge and traditional wisdom was highlighted during the Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004. In Simeulue Island in Aceh Province, the community used their knowledge of sea behavior and the reaction of their buffaloes to evacuate 80,500 people from the shore to the nearby hills. Only seven people perished in the island while over 163,700 died in the rest of Indonesia.