Vietnam plants ‘green walls’ to fight rising seas

Vietnam News 20 Feb 09;

HAI PHONG — Northern Hai Phong port city is intensifying efforts to expand plantation of submerged forests along its coastline in a bid to boost defences against storms and the rising sea level.

A survey conducted by the Hai Phong Agriculture and Rural Development Department found mangroves covered more than 3,000ha along the city’s coast, 2,000ha less than in the 1997-2000 period.

According to a recent survey by a United Nations body, Hai Phong and HCM City face the greatest threat from rising sea levels.

The growth of mangrove is believed to be an effective measure to create ‘green walls’ to mitigate the effects of rising sea levels.

The Government recently approved a plan for the city to grow 2,800ha more to mitigate losses incurred by the rising sea water level.

Dr Phan Nguyen Hong, from the Submerged Forest Ecosystem Research Centre, said Viet Nam must restore and protect these forests, mainly comprised of mangroves, to mitigate losses caused by rising sea water levels.

"It is one of the most urgent tasks," he said.

A report from the International Panel on Climate Change revealed that the global warming was accelerating the meltdown of ice at both the south and the north poles, which in turn is resulting in rising sea levels. It’s thought that up to 12.2 per cent of Viet Nam’s land is under threat of being encroached by the sea, also endangering the lives of 17 million people by the end of this century.

Hong warned that much of the nation’s submerged forests had been severely damaged by shrimp farming and the building of tourist and industrial areas.

While Viet Nam had more than 400,000ha of this kind of forest in 1943, the figure dropped to 279,000ha in 2006.

While mangrove areas in Hai Phong extended across more than 5,000ha in the late 1990s, a lot of mangroves have been cleared to make way for shrimp farms. Lax land management is believed as a major factor leading to the loss of mangroves.

Deputy Director of Hai Phong Agriculture and Rural Development Department Nguyen Van Tung said the department had advised the city People’s Committee to build a strategy aimed at coping with the rising sea level by planting more mangroves. According to the Government, it costs about VND10 billion ($625,000) to restore about 2,900ha of mangroves in the city’s coastal land.

The funds for Hai Phong’s mangrove expansion will come from the State budget, and are also part of a total sum of VND2,740 billion ($171 million) targeted for growing mangroves for natural disaster prevention. The State has already approved the funds for the mangrove project.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry is carrying out an overall plan worth VND1.9 trillion (US$109 million) to restore mangroves along the nation’s coastline by 2015. —VNS