The southernmost province of Ca Mau has set to fortify its coastalprotective forests against probable erosions and landslides triggered byclimate change.

According to Director of the provincialDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Van Suu, an annual2,000 hectares of protective forests will be developed along theprovince’s coastline from 2014 to 2020.

The target will bringthe locality’s total coastal forest coverage to 32,000 hectares, mainlygrown with mam (Avicennia), mangrove (Rhizophora apiculata) and vet (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), with Mam alone covering 25,000 hectares.

The forest coverage in Ca Mau has reduced considerably since the 1990sdue to local people’s acts of cutting down woods for shrimp farming.The local authorities are attempting to mobilise all possible resourcesto make up for the destroyed areas.

With some 20,000 hectares of protective forest, Ngoc Hien district is leading in planting new forests and protection efforts.

This is attributed to the district’s good planning on shrimp farmingareas, which requires local breeders to make their benefits and forestprotection go well together, explained Nguyen Truong Giang, Chairman ofthe district People’s Committee.

Vietnam is one of the fivecountries in the world most vulnerable to climate change while theMekong Delta region, Vietnam’s rice granary, is among the three largedeltas in the world worst hit by it.-VNA