Sustainable mangrove forest protection run by local residents

Growing mangrove forests and adapting to climate change are important aspects of the Green-growth strategy, approved by the Vietnamese government in 2012. Since then, the government and local authorities have received intensive support from various international organisations in a bid to implement the strategy successfully. 

For the last 5 years, Trinh Van Hau has been a member of the mangrove forest guard team in Giao An Commune of Giao Thuy District, located in Nam Dinh Province. As a resident of this coastal region, Hau clearly understands the importance of mangrove forests in protecting livelihoods and mitigating natural disasters.

Hau still remembers when a storm struck Giao Thuy District in 2007. It was the well-grown mangrove forest that saved Giao An Commune, while other areas of the district were severely damaged. In 2013, Xuan Thuy mangrove forest became the first UNESCO-recognized Ramsar site in Vietnam.

Backed by the Japanese Red Cross Society and other international organizations, Vietnam has planted 24 thousand hectares of mangrove forest in northern coastal provinces for the last 10 years.

At a recent conference on climate change held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the South Korean government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) committed to funding Vietnam’s Green growth strategy, including growing mangrove forests and combating climate change in southern Vietnam.

For residents in Xuan Thuy, growing and protecting mangrove forests has been their responsibility. In the future, the Japanese Red Cross Society will help establish similar models of mangrove forest guard teams in Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa Provinces.