Planting mangrove forests along Tam Giang lagoon

Located at the downstream of the Huong River, near Thuan An estuary, Huong Phong commune is an area heavily affected by climate change (CC). Over the past years, along with the existing primary forest area in Ru Cha, through various projects, many areas of mangrove forests along the lagoon have been planted in this locality.

Mr. Nguyen Van Bon, Chairman of Huong Phong Commune People's Committee, said that currently, Huong Phong Commune has more than 20 hectares of mangrove forest in the Ru Cha area. Of which, the primary forest is about 3.6 hectares, the rest is planted later through projects. The entire area is managed and used by the Commune People's Committee in accordance with the law. Up to now, there has been no encroachment, overlap, or misuse of forest land... not in accordance with the law.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Bon, identifying the important role of Ru Cha in environmental protection, natural disaster response as well as local economic development, in recent years, the commune has had many policies to protect and preserve the existing forest area and gradually expanded the area of Ru Cha to more than 20 hectares. Not only playing a role in responding to natural disasters and fighting climate change, the mangrove forest in the commune also contributes to protecting hundreds of hectares of aquaculture ponds, creating a source of livelihood and bringing a stable source of income for the people.

In 2024, Thua Thien Hue province will be supplemented with the implementation of component 2 on mangrove planting under the project "Enhancing resilience to climate change impacts for vulnerable coastal communities in Vietnam" (GCF Project) in Huong Phong commune, Hue city.

Seedlings for mangroves

Accordingly, the project is implementing new planting of 22 hectares of mangrove forest (sour tree) in Huong Phong commune. The GCF Project Management Board said that due to the characteristics of the wetland without natural alluvial land, the natural ground elevation of the survey area has an average elevation of (-0.5 to -1.5 m). Therefore, it is necessary to build ridges and soft embankments to create a surface for planting mangrove forests with a total of 16 ridges. The forest planting area is filled with on-site soil (taking advantage of soil excavated outside the lagoon and at the location of the waterway system, cross-cutting channels).

The tree species selected by the Project Management Board is Sonneratia caseolaris, a woody tree species with large biomass, fast growth, good coastal protection ability, good flood resistance and is a pioneer mangrove species in estuary areas, where there is a brackish water environment, suitable for the needs of socio-economic development and local ecotourism and has been proven to grow well in Huong Phong.

Planting density is 2,500 trees/ha based on growing conditions in the project area. Suitable planting season is from January to June every year, can be extended to July or August depending on actual conditions.

Mr. Dang Van Hoa, Chief of Office of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control, Deputy Director of the GCF Project Management Board, assessed that the implementation of mangrove planting in Huong Phong plays a very important role in protecting the environment and minimizing the negative impacts of climate change. In recent years, mangrove forests have also contributed to promoting the development of eco-tourism and aquaculture, creating many jobs and increasing income for people in Huong Phong commune.

Huong Phong commune has a large area of land suitable for planting mangrove forests. According to the project to develop mangrove forests in Huong Phong commune, it is determined to build a concentrated mangrove forest with the largest area in Thua Thien Hue province and the Central region, in order to significantly improve the environmental protection capacity of the area, strongly promote tourism development and aquaculture associated with mangrove forests, actively contributing to promoting the socio-economic development of Huong Phong commune in particular and Thua Thien Hue province in general.

The implementation of planting 22 hectares of new mangrove forests under the GCF project contributes to increasing the coverage rate and improving the quality of mangrove forests, serving as a wave protection function, protecting coastal communities. At the same time, it contributes to limiting natural disasters, saving costs to overcome the consequences of storms and floods every year.

The most practical of these is to create an environment to conserve and develop aquatic and marine resources, contributing to improving sustainable livelihoods for the community with about 2,783 households (11,728 people) living on water, associated with the development and conservation of biodiversity, creating more jobs, increasing income, and improving the lives of people participating in planting and protecting forests.

According to the Project Management Board, due to the characteristics of Thua Thien Hue's wetlands without natural alluvial grounds, mangrove planting must apply mechanical solutions to build soft embankments to create beaches, and create beds to create a surface for mangrove planting, while the requirement to complete construction before June 2024 and complete disbursement of ODA capital before July 2024 is very difficult. Therefore, in June 2024, the Project Management Board issued a document requesting an extension of disbursement of the GCF project in Thua Thien Hue province.

In addition, the awareness of a part of the local people is still limited, so the implementation of the project in the early stages encountered many difficulties. Due to not being aware of the benefits of protecting and developing mangrove forests, some households initially opposed and sabotaged the forest planting work, people stole poles and nets to serve their personal aquaculture activities.

Construction solutions and technical requirements for mangrove planting are quite strict, working time must depend on tidal regime, planting techniques must be ensured, transportation of seedlings and other items must also be focused on, so it is a big challenge for forest workers.

According to the plan to expand the mangrove forest area, in Huong Phong commune (Hue city), it will be developed to more than 200 hectares, aiming to form the largest concentrated mangrove ecosystem in the Central region, with a total capital demand of about 110 billion VND. The main source of capital is from the investment capital of the project "Modernizing the Forestry Sector and Enhancing Coastal Resilience" (FMCR), combined with investment capital of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), international aid capital, state budget capital and other mobilized capital.
Article and photos: HA NGUYEN