Project launched to protect key coastal habitats in Mekong Delta region
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Directorate of Fisheries of the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday launched the Mekong Delta Coastal Habitat Conservation project.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Directorate of Fisheries of the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday launched the Mekong Delta Coastal Habitat Conservation project.
Participants at the launching event
The project, which was announced during US Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Vietnam in August, has a planned budget of USD2.9 million provided by USAID.
This three-year project aims to protect key coastal habitats in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam to increase the sustainability of fisheries, enhance climate change adaptation, and improve biodiversity conservation.
The Mekong Delta and its islands are home to 70% of Vietnam’s mangroves and 90% of its seagrass beds. Fed by the sediment and nutrients from the Mekong River, these habitats support Vietnam’s richest fishing grounds, but are also under growing threat. The delta’s mangrove forests, which provide nursery habitat for sea bass, snapper, and other commercially important species, and important protection for coastal communities from storm surges, are declining due to sea level rise. The delta’s crucial fishery habitats are further threatened by environmental pressures including prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, and aquaculture demand for groundwater, and intensive near-shore fishing which has depleted fish stocks, causing cascading ecological damage.
By partnering with businesses, provincial governments, the management board of Phu Quoc Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Phu Quoc National Park and fishing communities, the project will work to mitigate threats to coastal biodiversity and fisheries, and enhance coastal resilience in the Mekong Delta.
Geographically, the project’s activities will focus on the delta’s lowest lying and most vulnerable coastlines along the East and West Seas, Phu Quoc MPA, and three small island clusters in the West Sea (Hai Tac, Ba Lua, Nam Du). The main components of the project include strengthening management of Phu Quoc MPA for more effective habitat and species conservation; establishing a network of locally managed marine areas to protect coral reefs, seagrass beds in three island clusters; and exploring solutions to conserve and expand mangrove forests to increase fish nursery habitat and coastal biodiversity.
It is expected that the project’s outcomes will contribute to addressing the systemic threats in the Mekong Delta, in support of ongoing measures being taken by the Government of Vietnam, such as the revised Fisheries Law, 2018 Resolution 36, Resolution 120, and 2019 Planning Law.
Police in An Giang Province have dismantled a fraud network that impersonated hotels and resorts on Phu Quoc, with 229 linked bank accounts handling...
Forestry officers in HCM City have captured a monkey that had reportedly been harassing residents and chasing pedestrians for months, raising public...
The HCM City People's Committee has approved a plan to develop an elderly healthcare system for 2026-2030, with a vision to 2045, aimed at providing...
Influenza A cases among children in Hanoi have surged sevenfold in five weeks, with doctors warning of severe complications in elderly patients with...
A Ukrainian tourist in Danang found a wallet containing cash and personal documents and handed it to local police, who traced its owner and returned...
The 3,400-tonne main span of HCM City's Saigon River pedestrian bridge is expected to be transported by water and installed on October 21, marking a...
Nearly 300 VNVC vaccination centres across Vietnam have administered more than 100,000 doses to children in just over two weeks since the vaccine was...
Hanoi's AI-powered traffic cameras recorded more than 18,500 violations in September, with one motorbike found to have broken traffic rules 43 times...
HCM City faces a heightened flooding risk as high tides are forecast to exceed the third warning level by up to 15cm, coinciding with heavy rain and...
