News and Events
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Marine turtle conservation in Viet Nam – more is needed!
Viet Nam’s coastal provinces used to be important nesting grounds for many species of marine turtle. But the numbers of nesting sites has declined sharply over the past 10 years as beaches have been converted to shrimp ponds, hotels, and other uses, and marine turtles have been killed as fishing by-catch or suffocated by plastic bags. For the past five years, IUCN, with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), has partnered with the Sub-Department of Capture Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DECAFIREP) in Binh Dinh Province to promote the conservation of marine turtles. … | Vietnamese
23 May 2013 | Article
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"Mekong Days"
Robert Mather, Head of IUCN Southeast Asia Group, was in Washington, DC for the U.S. debut of the film “MEKONG”, which examines the issues of hydropower development and its impact on Mekong citizens' lives. IUCN, Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD), Challenge Programme for Food and Water (CPWF), and the Goethe Institute set up the debut of the film during the DC Environmental Film Fest, and also planned related “Mekong Days” -- several days of events held over 22-27th March 2013, highlighting issues related to the Mekong, including panels at the Goethe Institute and the Woodrow Wilson Center in which Robert participated. …
11 May 2013 | Article
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