Vietnamese Updates: National Assessment Report on Coastal Erosion completes (18 Jul 2013)

National Assessment Report on Coastal Erosion completes Thứ năm, ngày 18 tháng 07 năm 2013 cập nhật lúc 23:37

Vietnam is one of the frequent disaster- affectedcountries. Coastal erosion is a constant threat toVietnam and is getting more serious as a consequence of storms and rising sea levels caused by climate change.  A series of projects and programs have been implemented to deal with coastal erosion. On July 17,at a consultation workshop on National Assessment Report on Coastal Erosion in Vietnam, Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) said that the building and completion of the Report will helpCOBSEA get information to build a regional project to cope with the challenges of climate change andcoastal erosion.

Coastal erosion

At the workshop, Dr. Vu Tuan , Deputy Director of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands and Mr. Le Van Cong, senior consultant on coastal erosion said that , coastal erosion in Vietnam are increasingly complicated and serious and occurs throughout the coastal areas. Specifically, in the North, from Quang Ninh to Ninh Binh there are five places which have been eroded continuously since 1930 to now in Cat Hai, Bang La (Hai Phong), Thuy Xuan (Thai Binh), Xuan Thuy and Hai Hau (Nam Dinh). In particular, Cat Hai and Hai Hau are severely eroded.

In the central region (from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan), coastal erosion occurs in almost all types of shore structure such as sand, gravel,mud, etc. However, the most serious one is sand shore structure (accounting for 94% of the coastal erosion). Especially, there are 121 areas of coastline having dams, embankments, trees but the erosion still occurs.

In the South (from Ba Ria - Vung Tau to Kien Giang), since 1960, coastal erosion have taken place popularly and gradually. It can be easily seen in Can Gio (Ho Chi Minh City), Dong Hai (Tra Vinh) and some districts of Ca Mau province. Coastal erosion has threatened thepeople’s life, broken dykes, caused flooding and saltwater intrusion and seriously affected to food security and socio-economic development.

Coastal erosion management policies

Not only did it occur in Vietnam, coastal erosion is a common phenomenon in most East Asian countries. The workshop "Evaluation ofcoastal erosion in Vietnam" has figured out solutions for Vietnam and other countries to adapt and minimize damages caused by coastal erosion and natural. In addition, we need enhance people’s awareness about the consequences of coastal erosion and natural disastersso that people are aware of conducting Dyke Law, Law on Environmental Protection, Law on Forest Protection and Development and Law on Water Resources. Besides, it is necessary to establish monitoring networks to control erosion on the basis of coordination amongcentral scientific agencies and the local technical ones. Moreover, legal framework, planning of coastal protection against exploitation ofcoastal resources should be strengthened.

Mr. Reynaldo Molina, Secretariat Board of Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) said, COBSEA is building projects to strengthen the capacity of member states of Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand to restore and manage coastal erosion and protect coastal ecosystems. The workshop provided information for COBSEA to build a joint project ofsustainable development, social security and ecological security in Vietnam in particular and the South China Sea in general.

K.Linh

Source: http://www.monre.gov.vn/v35/default.aspx?tabid=675&CateID=80&ID=128383&Code=DVAR128383