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| Mangroves in Quang Ninh province (Photo: Vu Dinh Thai |
Vietnam has in the past two years worked closely with international environmental agencies to ensure sustainable development for submerged forests, which face over-exploitation for aquaculture rearing.
There remain 14 mangrove forests of national strategic importance that need to be protected in the 2005-2010 period, according to a recent survey jointly conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Institute for Forest Science and the United Nations Environment Programme/Global Environment Fund's East Sea Project.
They include Hai Ninh, Tien Yen, and Yen Hung in the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh, and the Cat Hai National Park, Bac Dang-Van Uc estuary in northern Hai Phong, the Xuan Thuy marsh national park in northern Nam Dinh Province in the Red River Delta.
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| Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, HCM city - one of the most beautiful mangrove area in Vietnam (Photo: Le Xuan Tuan) |
The Eastern Nam Bo (the South) region is home to the Can Gio Biosphere Reserve in Ho Chi Minh City, while the Mekong delta boasts seven mangrove forests in Soc Trang province, southernmost Ca Mau province, Kien Giang province, and Ben Tre province.
The survey reported that Vietnam's mangrove forests have to date dwindled to 155,290ha, a 50% drop from 1980. The reduction was blamed for the conversion of these forests to aquaculture and farming. Environmentalists said the situation has seriously ruined the mangrove forests' ecosystem and impacted the sea environment.
(Source: VNA) |
