Authorities in the southern province of Ca Mau are constructing dykes and planting trees along the coastline in an attempt to fight land erosion.
The government of Ca Mau is using vinyl sheet piling and stones to build a pilot 300-meter long embankment and planting Mam, a tree species that has roots which can hold on to alluvial soil and hence prevent erosion and further loss of land.
In addition, the authorities aim to protect the forests, control deforestation, create alluvial sand plains and build up coastal embankments while removing illegal squatters from the protected forest areas.
To Quoc Nam, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said at a workshop to discuss ways to protect land erosion, that more than 1,100 meters of land has already been lost and the rate of erosion shows no signs of declining.
The Ca Mau Province, on the southern most tip of Vietnam is home to 27 kinds of mangrove trees that help to prevent the sea from eroding the land. However, landslips into the sea have swept away large parts of the mangrove forests.
