International Congress on Development, Environment and Natural Resources: Multi-level and Multi-scale
Sustainability
. Cochabamba, Bolivia, 11 – 13 July, 2007
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Action plan for the multi-level conservation of forest wetlands in the
Mekong River Delta, Vietnam

L.A. Tuan
1,2
, G. Wyseure
2

1
Department of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering,
College of Technology, CanTho University, CanTho, Vietnam

2
Division of Soil and Water Management, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Keywords: Mekong, wetland, forest, water, multi-level conservation Abstract

The Mekong River Delta in Vietnam can be considered as a large tropical wetland, in
which two typical eco-forest wetlands can be distinguished: the inland
Melaleuca forest
wetlands and the coastal mangrove forest wetlands. Their main functions are the

. Cochabamba, Bolivia, 11 – 13 July, 2007
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60 percent of the total fish production. The MD is confirmed as a part of the international
biodiversity conservation Mekong basin. Fig.1: The Mekong River Basin and Land forms of the MD in Vietnam

The main objective of this article is the presentation of the forest wetland inventory
process, applied to both the inland and coastal forests. Forest wetland inventory is
considered as the first most important step in the formulation of sustainable strategies in
wetland conservation. The inventories provide information on the type and the location
of wetland, the economic and ecological value of the wetland, and the type and
incidence of human threat [2]. They are used as basis for the formulation of
conservation priorities, the drafting of planning and management measures and
regulations, and a variety of conservation programmes. 2. Materials and Methods

There are only two seasons in the MD: the rainy and dry season. Each year, from May
to October, most of the MD receives between 1800 and 2200 mm of rainfall. At the end
of the rainy season, due to the combination of floodwater draining from the upstream
areas, the overland flood water entering from Cambodia across the Vietnam border, the
inland high rainfall and the effects of high tide from the sea, yearly between 1.2 and 1.9
million hectares of land are inundated, mainly the Northern parts of the MD known as
the LongXuyen quadrangle and the Plain of Reeds. Along the 600 km-coast, the sea
tide strongly influences the water quality by sea water intrusion. In the dry season,
about 500,000 hectares of land are affected by salinity intrusion. In addition, an area of
2-million ha is covered by acid sulphate soils.

considered as the largest and richest ecosystems of Vietnam due to their development
in a very low topography, high humidity and temperature, interlacing rivers and canals
and abundant alluvium.

Mangrove forests is found along the country
’s 3,000-km coastline [7], and are the
harbour of at least 38 on a total of 46 plant species with economic value. Farmers use
mangrove trees mainly as a source of firewood and for construction. However,
mangrove forests are known for their high biodiversity to coastal fisheries and many
aquatic species. There are 77
Melaleuca plant species in which Melaleuca
leucodendron
plant is predominating throughout.

The exponential growth of the population in the MD, which expands annual with 2.3%, is
the primary cause of the increasing pressure on the natural resources and the tropical
eco-environmental system. Many mangrove forests are destroyed for aquaculture
farming (mainly shrimp, fishes and oysters), and
Melaleuca forests are cut for the
harvest of construction piles, rice cultivation and drainage works.
Melaleuca forests are
prune to fire every dry season. In general, the MD wetland area is being reduced by
unplanned forest exploitation and poor management. A recent study in the MD
discovered that every hectare of lost mangrove forest results in an annual loss of
roughly 0.7 tons of fish caught from the sea [8].

International Congress on Development, Environment and Natural Resources: Multi-level and Multi-scale
Sustainability
. Cochabamba, Bolivia, 11 – 13 July, 2007
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2,344 3,077
5,421
Regenerating
mangrove
748 1,134
1,882
Old growth
mangrove
771
711
Mudflat 1,504 1,050
2,554
Nypa fruiticans
swamp
646 720 519
1,366
Settlement and
agriculture
283 486 1,022 2,012 12,140 2,101 47 154 557 2,225
519
Open swamp 222 727 1,019 90 20 520 23
21,027
Grassland 1,721 8,509 85 379 3,609
2,621
Grassland with
Melaleuca
429 1,872 1,606 71 71 510 955
14,303
Melaleuca
plantation

international, national, regional and site level was developed (Fig. 3). By 1993 more
than 75 countries, including Vietnam, became member of the Ramsar Convention. The
latter being an intergovernmental agreement offers a sound and stable framework for
international cooperation in the area of wetland conservation. Fig. 3: Multi-level conservation scheme for forest wetlands in Vietnam