Viet Nam Initiates Replication of Danang's ICM Project Experience

Thua Thien Hue, Viet Nam — Thua Thien Hue is one of four provinces in Viet Nam's central region economic zone. The province is bordered on the north by Quang Tri Province, on the south by Danang City, on the west by Lao PDR, and on the east by the East Sea. The lagoon system in the coastal area embodies a unique eco-system, and has significant potential for development as an ecotourism site.

 

But Hue faces a number of issues that are having a negative impact on the sustainable development of its bountiful marine and coastal resources, including:Pollution of the lagoon from industry, tourism, agriculture , aquaculture and human activities around the lagoon;Overexploitation and destructive use of aquatic resources, particularly in the lagoon area;Unregulated/uncontrolled mining of minerals, sand and gravel in the coastal area, wetlands, and rivers;Natural disasters, including floods, coastal erosion and inlet instability;Salinity intrusion into the Huong River, causing water supply problems for domestic and manufacturing use;Conflicting uses of resources in the lagoon among fisheries, tourism, agriculture and domestic sectors; andPoverty.In November 2007, Thua Thien Hue Province expressed its desire to become an integrated coastal management (ICM) parallel site of PEMSEA. To determine the site's suitability for ICM implementation, a site evaluation mission was conducted on 11-12 April. The evaluation mission confirmed the ongoing initiatives of the local government as well as other stakeholders in the community for sustainable management of Hue's marine and coastal resources; identified the various challenges to sustainable development in Hue; and confirmed Hue's commitment to develop and implement an integrated coastal management program and to functioning as a PEMSEA ICM parallel site.Hue Province has a coastline of 126 km, stretching from Phong Dien to Lang Co. The selection of Hue as an ICM parallel site provides an opportunity for a continuum of coastline in Vietnam under ICM management, stretching from Hue Province in the north, across Danang City, and through to Quangnam Province in the south. Danang is an ICM demonstration site, while Quangnam is an ICM parallel site of PEMSEA. Collectively, they cover a total coastline of 343 km, or more than nine percent of the coastline of Vietnam, excluding islands.The ICM program in Hue also serves as a demonstration of national ICM scaling up and replication, using the Danang ICM demonstration site as the spring board to replication. On 9 October 2007, the Prime Minister of Vietnam signed Decision No. 158, which approved the development and implementation of a national ICM program focused on 14 coastal provinces. Thua Thien Hue Province was identified as one of the 3 ICM sites in north central Vietnam under the program. The lessons from Hue will be directly applicable in other coastal areas of Vietnam under the national ICM program.