Hanoi (VNA) – A workshop took place bothvirtually and in-person in Hanoi on October 21 to launch the Mekong DeltaCoastal Habitat Conservation project, which was announced during US VicePresident Kamala Harris’s visit to Vietnam in August.

The workshop was co-organised by the International Union forConservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Directorate of Fisheries under theVietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

With a planned budget of up to 2.9 million USD provided by theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project, runningfrom August 2021 to July 2024, aims to protect key coastal habitats in theMekong Delta region of Vietnam to increase the sustainability of fisheries,enhance climate change adaptation, and improve biodiversity conservation.

By partnering with businesses, provincial governments, themanagement board of Phu Quoc Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Phu Quoc NationalPark in Kien Giang province and fishing communities, the project will work tomitigate threats to coastal biodiversity and fisheries, and enhance coastalresilience in the region.

IUCN Viet Nam Country Representative Jake Brunner said theproject will help pilot and build new policies as well as open up new opportunitieson finance.

Geographically, the project’s activities will focus on thedelta’s lowest lying and most vulnerable coastlines along the East and West Seas,Phu Quoc MPA, and three small island clusters of Hai Tac, Ba Lua and Nam Du.

The Mekong Delta and its islands are home to 70 percent ofVietnam’s mangroves and 90 percent of its seagrass beds. Fed by the sediment andnutrients from the Mekong River, these habitats support Vietnam’s richestfishing grounds, but are also under growing threat. The delta’s mangroveforests, which provide nursery habitat for sea bass, snapper, and othercommercially important species, and important protection for coastalcommunities from storm surges, are declining due to sea level rise. The delta’scrucial fishery habitats are further threatened by environmental pressuresincluding prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, and aquaculture demand forgroundwater, and intensive near-shore fishing which has depleted fish stocks,causing cascading ecological damage.

The main components of the project include strengtheningmanagement of Phu Quoc MPA for more effective habitat and species conservation;establishing a network of locally managed marine areas to protect coral reefs,seagrass beds in three island clusters; and exploring solutions to conserve andexpand mangrove forests to increase fish nursery habitat and coastalbiodiversity.

It is expected that the project’s outcomes will contributeto addressing the systemic threats in the Mekong Delta, in support of ongoingmeasures being taken by the Government of Vietnam, such as the revisedFisheries Law, 2018 Resolution 36, Resolution 120, and 2019 Planning Law.

Director of the Directorate of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan saidone of the current challenges is to protect the marine environment withoutaffecting the livelihoods of local people.

The project is among concrete steps to raise people'sawareness of sustainable development in coastal areas, he stated.

Quang Trong Thao, Deputy Director the Kien Giang Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development, said the implementation of the project is ofgreat significance when it looks toward the engagement of many stakeholders inprotecting the living environment, such as the community, local businesses,international organisations, managers, and scientists./.