IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

IUCN has a long history in Vietnam 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 Vietnam 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.

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Fisherwomen selling aquatic products at the market of Xuan Thuy National Park

Working with fisherwomen in Xuan Thuy National Park

Every day, hundreds of local fisherwomen enter the mangrove forest in Xuan Thuy National Park to collect shells, mollusks, crabs, and other aquatic products. Although the law prohibits any kind of resource extraction in the core zone, the poor women who depend on these natural resources have no other choice. Up to six hours a day, they wade through the mud and water and end up earning less than US$3 a day. The overexploitation of aquatic products has resulted in increased scarcity and growing competition between the fisherwomen. …

26 Apr 2013 | Article
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Where have the sea turtles gone?

“Sea turtles don’t come to nest on our beach anymore!” said Mr. Minh, a member of Sea Turtle Nesting Beach Protection, a volunteer network in Quang Tri Province. Despite the participation of nearly 3,500 local residents and school children in beach protection, a recent survey found that, since 2007, no marine turtle nests have been recorded in Quang Tri, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai Provinces and the very few nests that remain in Binh Dinh Province are on off-shore islands. Meanwhile, according to a 2009 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 1,000 mature turtles a year are killed accidentally by fishermen as “by-catch”. …

26 Apr 2013 | Article
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Unconsolidated sea dike in front of vegetable plots at Mo O, Soc Trang Province

Soc Trang community prepares to adapt to climate change

The Mekong Delta is one of the parts of the world projected to be most impacted by sea level rise. And within the delta, the coastal districts of Soc Trang Province are considered particularly vulnerable because of the very flat topography. Local people are already observing higher high tides and stronger wave action that break the unconsolidated earth dike that protects them from the sea. The EU-funded project Building Coastal Resilience (BCR) is working in Mo O, a small village in Trung Binh Commune to build local capacity to address this threat. …

25 Apr 2013 | Article
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The beach at Co To island, Quang Ninh Province

Mangrove for the Future (MFF) Viet Nam Small Grant Facility - 2013 Call for Proposals

The Mangroves for the Future (MFF) small grant facility (SGF) is pleased to announce a call for proposals covering Central and Northern Viet Nam . MFF is a partnership-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystems. For more information about MFF, please visit: www.mangrovesforthefuture.org. The SGF supports local community actions for the conservation and management of coastal ecosystems as key natural infrastructure which supports human well-being and security. For details of Call for Proposal, please click HERE. … | Vietnamese

19 Mar 2013 | Jobs - call for proposals
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Cement sea dike at Ganh Hao, Bac Lieu Province

Coastal defense: New thinking needed

A major risk with the current obsession with climate change adaptation is in fact maladaptation: expensive solutions to problems that may never emerge or which themselves create new problems (the famous law of unintended consequences). This is evident in Vietnam where in 2009 the prime minister approved a plan to build concrete sea dikes (replacing the existing dirt dikes), at a cost of US$3 million per kilometer, along the entire coastline. This was motivated in part by a World Bank study that showed that most of the Mekong Delta will be flooded when sea level rises by 1 meter as it is predicted to do sometime between 2050 and 2100. A study by an academic at Can Tho University of the costs and benefits of concrete sea dikes around the Mekong Delta concluded that these were a good idea (http://www.eepsea.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=434:adaptation-to-sea-level-rise-in-the-vietnamese-mekong-river-delta-should-a-sea-dike-be-built?&Itemid=192). The assumptions on which the study is based are highly selective, however. For example, it assumes that rice and freshwater shrimp are the highest value land uses in the coastal zone, ignoring the benefits of saltwater aquaculture and changing market demands over time. … | Vietnamese

08 Mar 2013 | Article
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Schoolgirl planting mangroves in coastal erosion area, Phu Tan Commune, Tan Phu Dong District, Tien Giang Province

Buddhism and mangroves in Tien Giang Province

On January 19, 2013, MFF staff participated in two events in Tien Giang Province: an award ceremony for paintings of mangroves; and a visit to a mangrove plantation on Loi Quan Island. Both events were organized by MFF grantee Phu Thoi Pagoda. … | Vietnamese

22 Feb 2013 | News story
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Lam Binh Community sends strong message to poachers

Once bitten, twice shy. Or perhaps, in this case the phrase should be ‘once stung, twice shy’. That is the lesson SOS grantee, People Resources and Conservation Foundation, hopes poachers will take from a recent successful ‘sting’ operation carried out in Lam Binh, a remote mountainous karst region in northern Vietnam.
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08 Feb 2013 | News story

Mangroves die due to the construction of fish port in An Hoa Lagoon

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Viet Nam Small Grant Facility 2013 Call for Proposals

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is pleased to announce the launch of a Small Grant Facility (SGF) in the coastal districts of Ben Tre and Tra Vinh Provinces. MFF is a partnership-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystems (http://mangrovesforthefuture.org). The SGF supports local community action for the conservation and management of coastal ecosystems with the objective to realize the potential of mangroves and other coastal vegetation for climate change adaptation and mitigation. SGF projects should ensure the participation of women and other disadvantaged groups, at least at a demonstration scale. The deadline for application is 17:00 Friday March 15, 2013. For details of the Call for Proposals, please download HERE … | Vietnamese

08 Feb 2013 | Jobs - call for proposals
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A group of villagers from Mekong River provinces protests in front of the headquarters of Ch Karnchang, the Thai company contracted to build the controversial hydroelectric Xayaburi dam in Laos.

After Xayaburi, it's time for some 'hydro-diplomacy'

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Xayaburi dam in Laos on Nov 7 marked the symbolic end to a long and contentious international campaign to delay the dam's construction until further studies into its potential trans-boundary impacts were complete. … | Vietnamese

05 Feb 2013 | News story
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Saving Saola from snares

An initiative created by the Saola Working Group of IUCN's Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Greater Mekong Programme has removed and destroyed 26,651 snares from the forests of Viet Nam and Laos that are home to the rare and elusive Saola. …

25 Jan 2013 | News story

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