The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment yesterday held a conference reviewing five years of implementation of the Coastal Forest Protection and Development Program (2021–2030) — an initiative aimed at responding to climate change and promoting green growth in Ca Mau Province.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, during the 2021–2025 period, coastal provinces have implemented 147 forest protection and development projects with a total investment of VND2,631 billion (US$100,122,426). Of this, VND389 billion came from the central budget, VND551 billion from local budgets, and the remainder from official development assistance, organizations, individuals, and enterprises.
The provinces have protected 281,000 hectares of coastal forest, achieving 102 percent of the program’s target. The total newly planted forest area reached 11,627 hectares, including 7,741 hectares of mangroves, equivalent to 58 percent of the program’s goal.
Despite these positive results, several challenges remain. Each year, coastal provinces face frequent storms, tropical depressions, high tides, and strong winds. Combined with the effects of climate change and sea level rise, these factors contribute to coastal and riverbank erosion, land loss, and forest degradation, making reforestation increasingly difficult and threatening coastal ecosystems.
Available land for coastal forest planting is becoming scarcer and more fragmented. In many areas, new afforestation requires sediment accumulation and land formation techniques, which significantly raise costs.
At the conference, Mr. Trieu Van Luc, Deputy Director of the Ministry’s Forestry and Forest Protection Department, emphasized the crucial role of coastal forests as a green wall that reduces wave impact, blocks wind, and protects coastal infrastructure while contributing to climate change resilience.
He urged coastal provinces to review land resources carefully, prepare annual reforestation plans with clear timelines through 2030, and continue public education campaigns to raise awareness among coastal communities about the importance of forest planting.
Mr. Luc also called for greater application of advanced science and technology in forest management, protection, and development, and for mobilizing diverse financial resources to build a sustainable coastal green shield for Vietnam.
