"Implementing ambitious plans to protect and restore mangrove forests"
Statement from the Government of Vietnam on World Mangrove Day 2017
On World Mangrove Day 2017, governments from tropical regions rich in mangrove habitat issued statements recognizing the important role these forests play in daily life and nature.
Vietnam’s coastal ecosystems have been degraded for the last few decades, including 
mangrove forests with the total area falling from over 400,000 hectares in the 1940s to less than 150,000 hectares in 2000 before rising to about 200,000 hectares in 2006. This loss has been associated with increased coastal erosion, decrease in muddy sediment supply, aquaculture development and land reclamation. The degradation of mangrove forests reduces productivity of fisheries resources, coastal resilience to natural hazards and creates many other coastal environment problems. As Vietnam is now implementing ambitious plans to protect and restore mangrove forests, the support from the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) working in partnership with Mangroves for the Future, of which Vietnam has been a member country since 2010, is welcome.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Vietnam
