Integration of climate-change adaption strategies into policydevelopment, especially at the community level, is needed to cope withweather changes in Vietnam's coastal areas, speakers urged at a workshopheld in Can Gio last week.

Community and ecosystem-based solutions are badly needed as well, according to participants.

Morethan 70 delegates from four major coastal areas met last week at theBuilding Coastal Resilience (BCR) End of Project workshop.Representatives from Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Soc Trang provinces and HCMCity's Can Gio district attended the meeting.

The workshopreviewed the Preah Sihanouk Declaration, formulated during the ThirdAnnual BCR Coastal Forum held last month in Cambodia's Sihanoukville.

The BCR project has been implemented in Vietnam for four years.

Speakingat the event, Doan Van Son, Vice Chairman of Can Gio district'sPeople's Committee, said the district had an extensive forest area,covering over 300,000 hectares, of which a large amount was dedicated tomangroves.

"The mangrove forest supports marine life and aquaculture initiatives, but the area is vulnerable to climate change," he said.

AndrewWyatt, Mekong Delta Programme Manager at IUCN Vietnam, said the BCRproject had helped further the goals of the National Target Programmefor Climate Change, launched in 2011.

The challenge was how to clearly and effectively communicate climate change at a community level, he said.

CaoHuy Binh, Deputy Director of the Can Gio Forest Management ForestBoard, said the BCR project had helped the district improve locallivelihoods in the internationally recognised biosphere reserve.

Inaddition, community working groups developed through the BCR projecthad contributed to the improvement of natural-resource management anduse, he said.

During the workshop, provincial participants had a chance to visit parts of the forested area and coastal belt in Can Gio.

Participantscould understand how the area vitally supports marine and animal lifeby observing diverse livelihood activities, such as snail-raising,oyster cultivation, shrimp aquaculture, as well as bat and birdconservation zones.

However, Can Gio like the rest of coastal Vietnam, is vulnerable to climate changes that have already become more intense.

The impact of climate changes includes rising sea levels and salinity intrusion.

Workshopteams discussed alternative solutions and methods of communityinvolvement, which IUCN will use as valuable feedback for its work inthe future.

Stronger community integration and collaboration in BCR activities was also needed, the delegates agreed.

Increasing community awareness about climate change was also imperative, they said.

Stronger coordination between provincial departments in Soc Trang should be an example adapted by other provinces.

Provincial representatives said that training sessions and technical support provided by IUCN Vietnam had been beneficial.

However,there were requests for additional support, such training on finance.Further assistance on exploring soft and hard engineering solutions tocombat climate change was also needed, they said.

Andrew Wyatt,Mekong Delta Programme Manager at IUCN Vietnam, said: "The BCR projectends this year, but this is not the end of the engagement with IUCN inVietnam. Other projects and activities will continue, such as theinitiative Mangroves for the Future."

He said the next national plan for climate change would begin soon after 2015.

"All the input, remarks and recommendations from the meeting have been invaluable," Wyatt said.

During the meeting, attendees proceeded to ratify the Preah Sihanouk Declaration.

TheDeclaration is essentially directed at moving toward effectiveclimate-change adaptation action, based on what was learned from the BCRproject.

The workshop will submit its reports to the VietnamAdministration of Seas and Islands (VASI), Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment, and the donor – the European Union (EU).-VNA