Focus on estuaries and coastal areas

Focus on response

Ben Tre is a coastal locality with a long coastline and a dense system of rivers, canals and streams, and is always heavily affected by climate change, rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion. Ben Tre province currently has 112 riverbank and coastal erosion points with a total length of 134km, causing damage to houses and loss of productive land for hundreds of households; coastal erosion occurred at 8 points with a total length of about 19km, causing the loss of about 200ha of land and 54ha of protective forest in 3 coastal districts.

The most serious is still Ba Tri, every year this district always faces the increasingly complicated situation of coastal erosion. Many dykes, natural disaster prevention works, national defense land areas, river banks, and coastlines have eroded deep into the mainland, causing negative impacts on the lives and production of local people, as well as the socio -economic development of the locality.

Ben Tre deploys effective solutions to respond to climate change and rising sea levels.

Faced with the above situation, Ben Tre has implemented many solutions such as: Organizing propaganda to raise awareness for organizations and people about preventing riverbank and coastal landslides; urgently evacuating residents from dangerous landslide areas... From 2020 to now, the province has focused on investing in 22 landslide prevention projects and works with a total length of about 37km, with an implementation cost of 1,143 billion VND.

Most recently, the People's Committee of Ben Tre province also issued a decision to issue an order to urgently build a project to prevent coastal erosion and encroachment in Ba Tri, in order to create conditions and premises for people to develop sustainable, stable and long-term production; contribute to consolidating and upgrading essential infrastructure for communes in coastal border areas; at the same time, protect and develop coastal protection forests... of the province.

Appropriate planning

Mr. Bui Van Tham - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province said that climate change response work has always been of interest to the province and has been widely deployed across departments, branches, sectors, mass organizations, district and commune levels and with the participation of the people; at the same time, communication and awareness raising work has also been focused on and implemented regularly and continuously. In particular, Ben Tre province has had many livelihood and farming models adapted to climate change that have been piloted and received the response and participation of local people as well as the models have achieved positive results.

Mr. Duong Vinh Thinh - Deputy Director of Ben Tre Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that with a 65km long coastline, Ben Tre province has issued a policy to develop the province to the East to open up new development space for the locality and the whole region. This is also an opportunity for Ben Tre province to promote its strengths, awaken the potential of the marine economy, promote regional development linkages, and create conditions for the province's coastal districts to develop comprehensively in terms of economy and society in the coming time.

In particular, Ben Tre aims to strive to become one of the provinces with strong and sustainable development in marine economy by 2030, focusing on developing renewable energy, tourism and aquaculture; gradually forming a marine ecological culture, adapting to climate change and rising sea levels, ensuring environmental sanitation, preventing coastal and riverbank erosion, preserving and promoting ecosystems.

According to Mr. Duong Vinh Thinh, in the coming time, the locality will step up propaganda work on climate change response, as well as pay attention to strictly managing and effectively using land, resources, and protecting the environment; at the same time, ensure effective implementation of plans and projects on sustainable development of the marine economy, especially in building new rural areas and civilized urban areas, contributing to the socio-economic development of coastal areas.

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