Hanoi (VNA) - Currently Vietnam has 28 provinces and cities with 125 districts along the 3,260km coast. With plenty of mangrove forested lands, they hold great importance in mitigating the problems of climate change, biological deplet⭕ion, and sustainable development, as well as the increase of climate resilience and green growth.

The information was announced at an international conference on multi-use forests in adapting to climate change hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the United Nations Development Programme, in coordination with the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue province on November 21. The event allowed developing countries to learn best practices and share lessons learned related to the management, protection and development of mangrove forests. The lands were correlated into the National Determined Contribution (NDC) identifying the green carbon potential of forests in providing finance to protect and restore them. At the conference, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Vietnam Ramla Khalidi stressed that the rapid loss of forests is a serious threat to the coastal recovery and biodiversity as well as millions of people whose livelihood depends on it. The restoration of mangrove is not only an environmental order but also a moral obligation to future generations, she said. The official spoke highly of Vietnam’s leadership in the preservation of mangroves, and highlighted the cooperation projects implemented together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. These include a project to plant over 4,000 hectares of forests and an upcoming project to be financed by Canada to protect and create another 1,000 hectares. She also touched upon the cooperation activities within the framework of the British-supported global programme UNDP Promise which assesses the carbon reserve in Vietnam’s 28 coastal localities and determine sustainable financial roadmaps, as well as potential of the carbon market in Vietnam. Deputy Director of the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Trieu Van Luc presented his report on Vietnam’s project on protecting and developing coastal forests against climate change for green development to 2030. He provided information on progress in policies and technical guidance on the sustainable management of mangrove and achievements in forest protection and planting, as well as the challenges facing Vietnam. Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Quoc Tri stressed the Vietnamese government’s efforts in intensifying policies concerning forest protection. He highlighted the important role of raising the efficiency and economic values of Vietnam’s coastal mangrove forests, and called on coastal localities to increase efforts in the protection and planting of these forests. At the conference, participants agreed on the need to have global and local acts to protect the sacred mangrove. They called for intensified multi-sectoral cooperation, sustainable financing, and integration of mangrove forest protection into national and international climate policies./.