Understanding About Mangrove Forest Management in Vietnam

Vietnam used to have one of the world’s most significant mangrove forest areas. However, Vietnam’s mangroves declined from 408,500 to 209,741 hectares between 1940 and 2006. Now, Vietnam has more than 300 thousand hectares due to the efforts of government, local people, non-governmental organizations, and international organizations in forest restoration. Mangrove forests protect coastal communities against climate change and develop an ecological environment for many seafood and wildlife animals. Mangrove forests are also livelihood resources for thousands of local people. The article presents policies for managing mangrove forests in Vietnam after the Doi Moi policy (1986). The study results show that Vietnam has quite a few different policies for protecting and developing mangroves. However, many policies could be more effective in practice due to the many different management agencies, and they do not emphasize the role of people living in forests.