Urgent measures are needed to conserve mangrove forests, which have beenrapidly disappearing in the past few decades, experts said at a forumorganized recently in Ca Mau province.

Mangrove forests developin shallow water, such as in gulfs and estuaries sheltered by capes,narrow straits or along coasts protected by archipelagos.

Althoughthey account for a small part of Vietnam's forests, they provide animportant role in the preservation and protection of coastal andestuarine regions, habitat provision, storm protection, erosion controland carbon sequestration, said Phan Huy Thong, Director of the NationalAgriculture Extension Centre.

Mangrove forests are present in 20provinces and cities in the country, mostly in the south, and havediverse species, Thong told participants at the forum which wasorganised by the centre and the Ca Mau Province Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development on July 25.

Mangroves in 1943covered 408,500ha but due to aquaculture and urban development, thecountry has lost nearly 60 percent of its mangrove forest over the last70 years, to only 166,000ha now, he said.

"Coastal erosion andhigher levels of sea water caused by climate change have contributed tomangrove forest reduction," said Nhu Van Ky, an expert of the VietnamAdministration of Forestry's Department of Forest Development.

In addition, poor management as well as a lack of coordination among relevant agencies are to blame.

Also,localities have no policies to encourage residents as well as localcommunities to take part in mangrove protection, he said.

TranThanh Cao, Vice Director of the Forest Science Institute of SouthVietnam, said: "Besides technical measures, such as applying GIS(Geography Information System) to collect, store and monitor forest,local authorities should have measures to replant mangroves, withafforestation techniques suited to different areas."

Forest sanitation, including moving out fallen trees, was also needed to improve forest quality, he said.

Inits forestry development strategy to cope with climate change, thecountry plans to have 330,000ha of mangrove and coastal protectiveforests by 2015 and 500,000ha by 2020, Thong said.

"To realisethe targets, comprehensive measures must be applied, from re-zoningplans for mangrove forests to new policies related to plantation,protection, and development of mangrove forests," he said.

Localgovernments and agencies must work to raise awareness among residentsabout the importance of protection of mangrove forests, he said.

They should also be taught correct exploitation techniques that contribute to the sustainability of the forest.

Closelinkages between enterprises and communities in the forest should bedeveloped so that businesses ensure outlets for forest products, headded.

Currently, many farmers earn a good income from breedingshrimp and crab and bees under the forest shadow, Thong said, addingthat localities should conduct research studies to expand thesesuccessful models to raise residents' incomes, thus limitingdeforestation.

Tran Van Thuc, Deputy Director of Ca Mauprovincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which hasthe largest forest area in the country with 72,909ha, said the provincewould complete allocation of forest land as well as the granting offorest land-use rights to organisations and households so they caninvest long-term in forestry production.

The province is alsocalling on all economic sectors to invest in mangrove protection anddevelopment, as well as processing and consumption of forest products,he said.

With wise management, the rich resources that themangrove ecosystem offers could be of great assistance to thedevelopment of livelihoods for local communities, participants at theforum said.-VNA