Protecting the marine environment: international assistance in the Vietnam Sea

Vietnam’s marine environment is being degraded. This is because of the country’s economic development, population growth and human activities in coastal areas. Marine ecosystems are also suffering from pollution from other countries and climate change. The combined impact is habitat loss and declining resources for people who depend on this ecosystem.

Despite conservation efforts, theproblems are increasing. The Vietnam Sea plays an important role in theeconomic and social development of East and South-East Asia. AsVietnam expands its globalactivities and develops its economy, the demand for international assistance toprotect the marine environment will become even greater. Research by theInstitute of Marine Environment and Resources, Vietnam, considers theenvironmental importance and vulnerabilities of the Vietnam Sea. The research alsoassesses the domestic laws dedicated to protect it, as well as internationalenvironmental programmes.

The Vietnam Sea suffers from a range ofproblems and threats:

• High-density development and theassociated infrastructure have damaged the tidal floodplain and the environmentalquality of the Vietnam Sea. These developments include dams, oil developmentand logging (which increase the flow of sediment to tidal areas).
• Biological productivity hasbeen declining due to these developments; impacts include the degradation ofhabitats such as tidal flats, mangrove marshes, beaches, sea grass beds andcoral reefs.
• Natural processes, including anincreasing intensity and frequency of coastal floods, increasing coastalerosion and saltwater intrusion, are also affecting marine ecosystems.

Vietnam has made great efforts to protectits marine environment. The national environmental strategy includes a systemof central and local environmental management agencies, strict environmentallaws and regulations and several local environmental projects. However, thishas not always been enough.

Since 1985, international assistance hasaided the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and the NationalEnvironment Agency in marine conservation efforts. Although this aid has generallybeen effective, its impact has been limited by unequal distribution. Whileinternational assistance has been critical to some schemes, there have beeninadequate funds in other places. Furthermore, the funds available have not alwaysbeen used effectively. For example, few projects have included effectivetraining programmes for conservation staff.

Despite significant efforts by the Vietnamesegovernment and international donors and organisations, the marine environmentcontinues to deteriorate. The research identifies several ways to increase theimpact of international assistance:

• international aid agencies mustdeliver increasing amounts of aid to solve the growing problems
• the decentralisation ofinternational aid will enable funds to reach more projects (this process isalready beginning)
• diversification of the type oforganisations receiving aid, including coastal community groups and small scaleconservation projects, will enable funds to be used more evenly throughout theregion and reach remote and previously under funded regions
• the use of multilateral funds, such as the Global Environment Fund (GEF), should be made available for the protection of internationalwaters and the conservation of marine biodiversity.