The seminar aimed at reaching a common viewpoint on the reasons for coastal erosion in Vietnam. Expert speeches at the seminar shared the same worry about increasingly serious coastal erosion, which are affecting the region’s key tourist beach attractions. For the last 5 years, Cua Dai Beach in Quang Nam Province, dubbed “one of the planet’s most beautiful beaches”, has lost several square km of land. Last November, sea water moved another 160m inland. In addition to climate change, upstream hydropower plants have affected currents and mass coastal land reclamation have been pinpointed as causes.
"Coastal erosion in the central region is similar to the situation in Japan 30 - 40 years ago. Sand exploitation and the construction of hydroelectric power plants upstream are the reasons and I think Japan’s experience should be quite useful for Vietnam", said Prof. Hitoshi Tanaka, Japanese expert.
At present, local authorities in the central region are urgently looking for solutions to the problem while local budgets are quite limited. Their short-term objective is to help people stabilise their lives and restore the lost beaches.
"This problem is quite a challenge and the ministry has directed research institutes to find long-term solutions and co-operate with local authorities to carry out emergency measures. We’ve also asked for financial support from the government", said Hoang Van Thang, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development.
Accurate surveys and research are vital to find suitable solutions to coastal erosion. The local authorities should also learn from other countries’ experience in making a master plan to cope with the issue.
