Ca Mau (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung urged the localauthorities of the Mekong Delta region to respond in time to protect the livesand properties of residents in erosion-prone areas while conducting aninspection tour of U Minh district of Ca Mau province on May 29.

The Deputy PM criticised that planning for prevention of coastal erosion in theregion has not been done seriously.

Therefore, he noted the regional localities must strengthen erosion areas, keepthe protective forests safe and take measures to deal with areas prone toerosion.

He underlined the need to step up law dissemination to raise local awareness ofclimate change adaptation, and review urban and rural planning in economiczones, irrigation and manufacturing areas and attach them with climate changeadaptation.

The official requested the central-level agencies to complete the study on preventionof erosion and promote the application of science and technology in this area.

He highlighted the significance of the region for the country’s economic growthwhile mentioning the radical climate change that has occurred in the region.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development pointed out that very closeproximity of constructed houses, infrastructure and dykes to the coastline hasincreased the risk of coastal erosion.

According to the ministry, sea erosion in several areas has threatened thesafety of residential quarters and natural disaster prevention projects, wipedout coastal protective forests and seriously impacted the eco-system.

The Mekong Delta region has 24 areas experiencing regular erosion, covering alength of some 147km, including the Go Cong Dong coastline in Tien Giangprovince, Binh Dai in Ben Tre province, Vinh Chau in Soc Trang province, NhaMat and Ganh Hao in Bac Lieu province. Each year, erosion loses 500ha of landon average.

Based on scientific study and management, the ministry revealed seven basicreasons for coastal erosion, the majority of which are caused by humans.

One of the reasons is the declining level of mud and sand due to reservoirsbeing built on the upper part of the river and sand and gravel exploitation atthe riverbed.

Another reason is the deforestation of mangrove swamps to catch seafood andfind forest-related aquatic products. During the five years from 2011 to 2016,the mangrove forest area of the Mekong Delta region dropped from more than194,000ha to over 179,000ha.

Land depression due to overexploitation of underground water to raise aquaticproducts has occurred in Bac Lieu and Ca Mau. The level of land depression hasbeen recorded at 3cm per year, according to a report of the GeologicalInstitute of Norway.

The Government and the National Committee on Climate Change have launchedprojects and programmes to improve the Mekong Delta region’s capacity to adaptto climate change. The actions include a project on protection and developmentof coastal mangrove forests to adapt to climate change during the 2014-2020period, focusing on mangrove forest recovery.

The money disbursed for the region to protect and recover forests in the2016-2020 period is estimated to reach more than 4.4 trillion VND (196 millionUSD), making up some 40 percent of total disbursement for all localities.-VNA