IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

A peacock made of used papers by the students of Nhon Ly Secondary School, Binh Dinh Province

IUCN has a long history in Viet Nam since it supported the government in the preparation of the first National Conservation Strategy in 1984. Since then, IUCN has made significant contributions to biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, particularly through the development of laws and policies.

IUCN Viet Nam focuses its work on the following thematic programmes: Business and Biodiversity, Forest Conservation, Protected Area and World Heritage, Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, Water and Wetlands and Environmental Governance.

Latest news

Local fishermen harvesting shrimps in Can Gio Biosphere Reserve

BCR pilot projects rolling out in Vietnam

August marks an important milestone for the BCR project in Vietnam. Having worked with community and government partners to identify priority resilience building pilot projects, the project is now working with partners to roll out these projects. Approximately US$350,000 has been allocated for their implementation including approximately $50,000 in co-funding from the IUCN MCC/MFF project in Ben Tre. The 10 pilot projects involve the following: …

26 Sep 2013 | News story
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Shrimp mangrove polyculture in An Thuy Commune, Ben Tre Province

Field Coordinator (Viet Nam), Mangroves and Climate Change (MCC)

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is a partnership-based initiative promoting investment in coastal ecosystems for sustainable development. With a vision of a healthier, more prosperous and secure future for all coastal communities MFF provides a collaborative platform to help countries, sectors and agencies in the MFF region tackle the growing challenges to coastal sustainability. Since August 2012, MFF has been supported by DANIDA to implement a 3-year project in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam with the objective to realize the potential of mangroves and other coastal vegetation for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the MFF Region. And in Vietnam, the project will support activities in Ben Tre and Tra Vinh. …

05 Sep 2013 | Article
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Local grantee presenting project's results at the meeting

Stories of conflicts: a review of MFF Small Grant Projects 2011-2013

On July 23, 2013, nine organizations that have completed MFF-funded small grant projects attended a lessons learned workshop in Hanoi, together with representatives of the projects’ beneficiary groups. What emerged from the workshop were stories of conflicts. Some conflicts inspired to the grantees to find innovative solutions, others condemned the projects to failure. …

16 Aug 2013 | Article
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Dr. Vo Quoc Tuan training local forest protector to use GPS

Bringing new technologies to forest protectors

Half of all Vietnam’s mangroves are in Ca Mau, its southernmost province. Over 60,000 hectares of Ca Mau’s mangroves are managed by seven forest management units and one national park, which don’t have the man power or funding to do the job properly. The mangrove forests are difficult to access and to protect and there are cases of government officials being attacked by illegal mangrove cutters. …

26 Jul 2013 | News story
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Seedlings from nursery ground being prepared for planting

Planting, protecting, and sharing: three indispensable links in mangroves conservation

On a recent trip to Lang Co Lagoon in Thua Thien Hue Province, an MFF small grant project site, I met Nguyen Xuan Vinh who runs a local seafood restaurant. Right at the start of the project Vinh volunteered to plant two hectares of mangroves. When asked why, he said: “I remember many rare and precious aquatic species in the lagoon when mangroves were abundant. But now the mangroves are almost gone and it’s hard to find any such species. If I can bring them back, it will bring a huge profit to my restaurant, and the only way to do that is to plant mangroves. Mangroves also help to purify the water better than any modern machine”. Vinh used the internet to teach himself how to plant mangroves and raise fish and crabs under the mangrove canopy. … | Vietnamese

15 Jul 2013 | Article
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Stopping charcoal production in Mui Ca Mau National Park: work without end

In 2012, IUCN issued a small grant to the Mui Ca Mau National Park Management Board to support five local community mangrove protection groups. Last week, as part of a grantee monitoring visit, I attended a monthly meeting at which the protection groups report back to the management board on illegal mangrove cutting and their efforts to close down the charcoal kilns that are driving the mangrove cutting. In June 2013, the protection groups demolished more than 200 kilns. These are small kilns that earn households VND3,000,000/month. But past experience indicates that many of these kilns will quickly be rebuilt because the households have no other economic alternative. …

11 Jul 2013 | Article
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Forest Wagtail in Hlawga National Park, Yangon

Vacancy announcement programme officer, Myanmar (based in Yangon)

IUCN is seeking a qualified individual to join our project in Myanmar. The Programme Officer Myanmar position is based in Yangon, Myanmar and will be initially for a period of six (6) months, extendable based on mutual agreement and subject to availability of funding. …

09 Jul 2013 | Job vacancy
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A poor fisher and his discarded by-catch

The near-shore fishery challenge in Soc Trang

Soc Trang Province has recognized that the near-shore fishery and mangroves is suffering from a loss of species diversity, and this is increasing the vulnerability of coastal communities, who are heavily dependent on mangrove and marine resources, to climate change. The province has implemented numerous programs and regulations to protect and conserve its heavily exploited near-shore fishery. …

28 Jun 2013 | Article
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Farmer Nguyen Van Muoi, Hamlet 4 with his shrimp ponds

Why pump sea water onto your rice fields?

On a recent visit to Tra Vinh, I saw an unususual sight: next to the sea dike, which was built to prevent sea water intrusion, a farmer was pumping sea water back over the dike onto his rice fields. What was happening? … | Vietnamese

24 Jun 2013 | Article
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Annoucement on Competition on "Vietnamese students action for a healthy, prosperous and secure future for Viet Nam coastal areas

With the role as future owners of a coastal nation, Vietnamese students are welcome to join MFF Viet Nam to propose solutions for conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems in Vietnam’s coastal areas. To respond to the Vietnam Seas and Islands Week with theme “Acting together for seas and islands of the homeland” launched by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment from 1 - 8 June 2013 and the World Oceans Day on 8 June 2013, Mangroves for the Future (MFF) in Vietnam announces the competition on “Vietnamese students actions for a healthy, prosperous and secure future for Vietnam’s coastal areas”. … | Vietnamese

10 Jun 2013 | Jobs - call for proposals
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