The project “Ecosystem-Based Adaptation in the North-Central Coast of Vietnam: Restoration and Co-Management of Degraded Dunes and Mangroves”, which was launched in April 2018, has developed an approach that uses indigenous tree species to restore extreme locations along the coast. For the pilot, UNIQUE forestry and land use GmbH and the Institute for Resources and Environment (IREN) at Hue University, collected a total of 580,000 seedlings from 12 indigenous tree species of the Central Vietnamese coastal region and raised them at four local nurseries. As part of the project, these seedlings will be used over the next two years to restore 500 hectares of degraded coastal zone (sand dunes and estuaries).

The application of a co-management approach ensures the participation of local communities. In early 2019, consultations were successfully held with local communities in the three project provinces (Thua-Thien Hue, Quang Tri and Quang Binh). As part of the consultation process, potential pilot sites for the planned restoration activities were jointly identified, the local conditions discussed, and the project approach presented. Discussions then took place on whether and how the municipalities wanted to engage in project activities.

First plant preparations and plantings are scheduled to start in August 2019. The project expects up to 300 ha to be planted this year. The project activities also make an important contribution to the preservation of local biodiversity through the restoration of habitats with indigenous and endemic tree species. Some of the tree species, e.g. Shorea falcata, are found in both the Vietnamese and the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. The project team expects that the “proof-of-concept” of the approach provided by the large-scale pilot and accompanying studies will be scaled up by other programs in the future. This would make a significant contribution to adapting local communities to climate change. Project activities ranging from collection of seeds to nursery care can be viewed in the following video on the IKI homepage: https://tinyurl.com/ebaNCCVN

Contact: Till Pistorius, UNIQUE