Mangrove forest - green wall in front of the sea

Mangrove forest in Rach Cham - Phu Quoc

The mangrove forest, intact coral reefs and seagrass can mitigate or dissipate 15-meter tsunami waves. A Japanese study showed that a 100-meter-wide mangrove forest can reduce tidal wave height by 50% and reduce wave energy by 50%. During the earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004, on Indonesia's Pulau Sêmplu near the outer center of the earthquake, only 100 people died because the islanders learned of the experience of fleeing to the region. high land and areas surrounded by mangroves .

Vietnam with a coastline of 3260 kilometers, located in the monsoon tropics, suffers from frequent storms and storm surges every year, causing great damage. Previously, thanks to the natural mangrove forest strips and forest strips planted in estuarine and coastal areas, the dyke was rarely broken.

But recently due to increasing deforestation, landslides and floods have increased, so the lives of coastal communities are increasingly threatened. In 2005, Vietnam suffered huge losses of people, assets and infrastructure. Many sections of sea dykes are severely broken or landslides. But after the damage caused by typhoon No. 2, hurricane 6 and hurricane 7, many people in the sea have commented that, in areas with mangrove forests, sea dykes do not slide.

Mr. Pham Minh Trung, a resident of Cat Hai island district said: "I was over 70 years old, had witnessed 4 big storms. In 1955, Cat Hai did not have a dike, flooded, very dangerous and by the time because the condition has no good prevention policy, the storm of year 68, the dyke is not good, causing flood ., the number 2 hurricane this year is subjective, many people see the water wave coming out! aware and directed by the higher authorities to regularly report better prevention, in addition, this place organizes very good wave prevention, casuarina, parrot at the edge of the dike or bamboo to ensure the work It is very valuable to prevent the waves and wind, which shows the benefits of afforestation ".

In Thanh Hoa province, typhoon 7 caused serious damage, but also through this storm, people became more aware of the role of mangroves. Ms. Vien Thi Hoa - Chairman of Thanh Hoa Red Cross said: "After the 7th storm, we had the opportunity to go to some provinces in the mangrove planting project by the Danish Red Cross and the Japanese Red Cross. Sponsorship: See for yourself the broken dikes, the houses flooded in water and have the opportunity to compare with the good dikes covered by mangrove forests or bamboo spikes . we are easy It is easy to see one thing: where there is mangrove forest, the destructive power of the waves is reduced, the mangrove forest is a green belt that plays an important role in preventing and reducing natural disasters ".

Professor-Dr. Phan Nguyen Hong - an expert in the field of mangroves said: "Mangrove forests have a great significance in protecting dykes against erosion in coastal areas. If there is no flooded forest anywhere. salty, when storms are easily destroyed In countries with mangrove forests, they are very interested in helping countries without mangroves such as Japan and the Netherlands, some Northern European countries want Vietnam to develop mangroves. In order to protect the people, people have invested a lot of money to restore the forest, but some localities have a policy of deforestation to make shrimps, for the immediate benefit without considering the long-term consequences. The results of the storm No. 7 and No. 6 are very expensive lessons for us. "

We all know that, right after the tsunami and earthquake in South Asia at the end of last year, many scientific seminars on natural disasters were organized and the importance of mangrove forests in Natural disaster prevention and mitigation has been paid special attention and attention by countries. Lesson learned from the loss of people and property in Thailand - the country is too concerned about developing tourism business without considering the costly losses because natural disasters seem to be inadequate because In some localities, there is still a situation of deforestation for aquaculture.

Newly planted mangroves restore Dam Nai mangrove forest

Dr. Truong Quang Hoc, Doctor of Science, Director of the Center for Environmental Resources Research at Hanoi National University affirmed that it is a problem of inadequacy. He said: "We are very sorry that many areas of current mangroves in many places from North to South have been destroyed for shrimp farming. It can be seen that when raising shrimp in the first years of effectiveness, bring back the source. Benefit is much bigger than agricultural cultivation, but only for a few years.

In fact, all of these areas are degraded, meaning that our economy cannot be, ecologically cool too big, there are places that are completely lost. When the environment deteriorates, the land is polluted, then it is difficult to recover. In particular, when the ecosystem is destroyed, mangroves recover faster but also take tens of years. Therefore, we need to evaluate the value of ecosystems comprehensively, including intangible values. If we do it for the immediate benefit, improper resolution will have long-term consequences. "