The plans were announced at a conference on Wednesday to launch a project entitled ‘Conservation of Critical Wetland Protected Areas and Linked Landscapes’ in Vietnam, by the Global Environment Facility through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The move aims to strengthen national capacities for management and conservation of wetland-protected areas in the country.
With a total budget of more than US$18 million (over US$3 million deriving from ODA and the remaining US$15 million from counterpart funding and co-financing funds), the project will be implemented from 2015 to 2018 in Thua Thien-Hue and Thai Binh provinces. The ISPONRE is the project’s executing entity.
As part of the project, establishing the two wetland sanctuaries aims to enhance the management capacity at provincial levels, while ensuring the integration of wetland conservation areas and linked habitats more effectively, said Dr Nguyen The Chinh, head of the ISPONRE.
Dr Chinh said that 30% of Vietnam’s mainland area (10 million ha) comprises of inland and coastal wetlands. However, these areas are severely threatened by overexploitation of economic activities and aquaculture, causing environmental pollution.
Vietnam has developed a comprehensive system of protected biodiversity areas, yet wetlands are still less present in that system. In addition, the capacity of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in this area is still limited, especially in regards to the capacity to resolve threats to local wetlands arising from economic activities in the wider landscapes.
Therefore, the establishment of two new wetland reserves and linked habitats in Thua Thien-Hue and Thai Binh will contribute to minimising the degradation of biodiversity, solve environmental issues and develop policies for the conservation and enhancement of national capacity in the management of wetlands, Dr Chinh affirmed.
According to Jan Rijpma, an expert from UNDP, the project will assist Vietnam to develop systemic, institutional and operational capacities for effective wetlands biodiversity management at national and provincial levels at selected sites. The project’s immediate objective is to establish new wetland protected areas and improve capacities for their effective management to mitigate existing and emerging threats from connected landscapes.
Component 1 of the project will address gaps and weaknesses in the current protected area system, institutional capacity and the current policy and regulatory framework in relation to wetlands conservation. Component 2 seeks to ensure that the values of wetland areas are better understood and appreciated in addition to ensuring that the principles and know-how for conservation and sustainable use of wetlands are enshrined both at the local level, by strengthening incentives for conservation-friendly livelihoods, and at the landscape level, by promoting wetlands-friendly land use and development planning.
