Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi – Deputy Administrator of VASI,
Vietnam
This strategy is currently at draft version. In principle, after completion of this strategy, MONRE will submit it to the Minister. Because of the workshop I will present it here, as a person who has coordinated 3 programs on ICAM in Vietnam.
Vietnam is a coastal country. Vietnam has the maritime index about 6 times higher than the international average. Although three fourth of Vietnam’s areas is sea, it has never been recognized as a strong country in terms of ICAM and marine economics.
Along the coast we have more than 3260 km coastline (except island’s coastline). We have a lot of islands, some 2773 inshore islands and two offshore archipelagos. About population, up to 2009, we have some 30 millions people living in 125 coastal districts of 28 coastal provinces. Some 50% of major cities are in coastal areas with 40% total population. Coastal areas of Vietnam are rich in biodiversity, there are some 20 types of coastal and near-shore ecosystems. About 11,000 species are recorded, among 2,038 species of marine fish. Fish reserve is about 5 million tons and the sustainable threshold allowed for fishing is about 2.3 million tons.
Coastal waters provide 80% of the country’s total fishery catch, which contribute to about 4.5 billion USD worth of GDP exports in 2010 and around 5 billion USD in 2011. Therefore the Vietnam’s coastal areas play a very important role in the country’s development strategy as well as in management policy system of the Government.
In addition to potentials on ecosystems and ecological and biological resources, the coastal areas of Vietnam are also rich in other resources such as minerals, oil and gas. Heavy mineral deposits are distributed along the coasts. Salt fields are of 60,000 ha. Coastal tourism potential is high with 125 large beaches. Five world heritage sites are in (Ha Long Bay) or near coastal zone (Quang Binh, Hue, Hoi An…). Sixty percent of coastlines are estuaries. Twenty bays and 12 lagoons from Hue to Ninh Thuan are ideal locations for port and other economic sector development.
However, the coasts of Vietnam have faced many big threats which are loss of biodiversity, degradation of marine ecosystems, coastal habitat destruction and increasing land-based impacts. Coastal disasters are also big threats. Vietnam, because of its geographical position is one of the most affected countries by natural disasters. And the level of environmental risks in the East Sea focuses mostly to Vietnam. As Vietnam is in the monsoon area, any oil spills here will return back to Vietnam. In near-shore areas, we have coastal erosion, even in the two big deltas of Vietnam, Red river delta and Mekong delta. Vietnam is in the top 5 countries in the world which will be most affected by climate change and sea level rise. Vietnam has also experienced overfishing and overcapacity of coastal aquaculture. On the other hand, aquaculture has caused loss of 70% coastal wetland ecosystems.
MARD declared that, since 2000, there was overfishing in the areas of 50 m depth towards the coast. Although there are multi-uses of coastal resources, there is still traditional sectoral approach in policy and management. Therefore, throughout the course of development, there have been many benefits conflicts in the context of multiple use. We know that coastal resources are shared resources, but we just manage with singular sectoral approach. Thus, there is a need for solution to solve these conflicts in the near future. To solve benefit conflicts in context of such multi-use and sectoral management requires effective management of the ecosystems and involve contributions of all stakeholders to coastal issue in a coordinated way.
ICAM is not only a social issue, but also firstly it is an economic issue, especially for a developing country like Vietnam. Thus the common goal of ICAM is towards sustainable development of coastal areas, which tries to balance among economic, social and environmental aspects.
Therefore, ICAM should not only be viewed under scientific perspective. Scientists are one of the stakeholders participating in ICAM. In Vietnam, so far the perception of ICAM is just only on scientific perspective. People think that doing ICAM is doing scientific research. In fact, ICAM should be seen as a new management approach which should be institutionalized and implemented continuously such as socio-economic planning for 5 years, 10 years…at national, regional and provincial levels.
Coastal and marine areas in Vietnam have been managed by 15 ministries/sectors in a sectoral manner which has caused overlap and fragmentation. We lack of a national agency in cross-sectoral coordination for coasts, seas, and islands. We also lack of inter-sectoral policies in coastal management.
 |
| Multi-use, diverse activities in ICAM |
What have been done and what is going on? There are 2 periods of awareness. Before 1995, the ICM initiatives have not yet been formulated at both central and local levels. After 1995, the ICM initiatives have been formulated at the central level and implemented at local level as pilot projects supported by government and international organizations.
In 1996, in the framework of National Science and Technology Institute, MOST support the national project studying on development of ICM plan to maintain ecological safety and environmental protection. It was the first research that mentioned the terms “Integrated Coastal Management” in Vietnam.
After 2000, ICAM in Vietnam has been mostly relied on international supports, such as Netherland, US (NOAA), Germany, India, mostly on capacity building.
Up to 2005, although there are many pilot projects on ICAM have been conducted, most of the achievements are about awareness raising. There has not been much achievement in realization of ICAM in reality, except the model of PEMSEA in Da Nang.
Government has recognized the importance of ICAM in solving benefits conflicts of multi-use in coastal areas. Therefore, in 2007, the Minister declared the decision 158 on conducting ICAM for the Central Northern region and the Central region of 4 provinces, from Thanh Hoa to Binh Dinh. Government gave 100 billion VND for the period of 2007 – 2010, and 500 billion VND for the period from 2011 – 2015.
However, up to 2010, at the end of the first phase, mostly the ICAM has not been realized in reality. Achievements are mostly in awareness raising through training, capacity building… as many authorities and agencies still have not understood what ICAM is.
There are many projects on ICAM are going on now in Vietnam. PEMSEA is the regional program which has gained certain practical achievements on ICAM, applying at local levels and very suitable for Vietnam’s provinces. PEMSEA projects had been conducted since 2001 to 2008. And currently they have the programs to extend the Da Nang, Quang Nam and Hue models to 7 other provinces of Khanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Soc Trang and Kien Giang. Therefore, I suggest that in the coming future, GIZ Soc Trang should cooperate with this PEMSEA project. I’m also the coordinator of this project which will help in building and implementing ICAM plans for these 7 provinces.
Besides those ICM projects, there are also other efforts related to ICM such as:
• Agenda 21 for Vietnam (2004): directions for sustainable development in Vietnam. In which sea is among the 7 priorities.
• National program on marine science and technology in years 2006 – 2010, and just from last month, decision for the next phase in the years of 2011 – 2020.
• National plan on comprehensive surveys on marine environment and resources (2006 – 2010, vision 2020), 3,000 billion VND for around 30 big projects. One of the tasks of this national plan is to provide inputs for later ICAM and building national database.
• A national system of 16 marine protected areas (MPAs) toward 2020 has been approved in May 2010. Most of them are near-shore or in the coastal areas, only two MPAs are off-shore which are Bach Long Vi in the Northern Bay (Gulf of Tonkin) and Nam Yet in Truong Sa archipelago (Spratly Islands).
• The national system of marine environmental monitoring has been established since 1995.
• The national project on socio-economic surveys in coastal areas and islands (2006-2010).
About policy responses, some of the main signed international treaties are: international convention for the protection of pollution by oil from ships (MARPOL, 1997), international convention on protection of wetlands (RAMSAR, 1971), International convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (BASEL, 1989), United Nations convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS, 1982). However the institutionalization of these international treaties into national law on sea and coastal areas has been still not very clear.
It could be said that the development of the coastal areas has been supported mainly by international organizations. And therefore, on behalf of Vietnam, I would like to express our sincere thankfulness. Foreign donors have brought a significant change in thinking and behavior of the national administration with an emphasis on broader vision, integrated action, and stronger ownership.
About national policies, there are: Order No. 36 of government on strengthening environmental protection in the period of industrialization and modernization (1998), Law of Criminal Affair (1999) includes 10 environmental convicts, Law of Environmental Protection (1993, 2004), Law of Fisheries (2003), Law of Biodiversity (2009), Code of Navigation (1990, 2005), Ordinance of Tourism (2006). However, most of these laws are sectoral laws that applied in sectoral management approach.
ICAM issues have only recently been mentioned in Governmental Decree No. 25/2009 on Integrated Marine Resources Management and Environmental Protection dated 6 March 2009 (in force in May 2009). This is the first integrated governance policy in the field of coast, sea and island management in Vietnam. The policy offers some guidelines on ICM implementation in Vietnam and coastal function zoning and coastal use planning. So Vietnam is on some beginning steps towards institutionalized ICM, giving it a legalized position.
Law of Seas and Law of Marine Resources and Environment are in process of preparation which will be legal documents focusing on ICM and marine spatial planning and management. Law of ICM is still in discussion.
After VASI has been established. MONRE has assigned for VASI to integratedly manage seas and islands and directly manage activities in coastal areas. Bureau for sea use management. Two centers of ICM and planning in the North and in the South. At local level, 28 coastal provinces and stakeholders are involved.
Major challenges/obstacles in ICM implementation in Vietnam are:
• Lack of an institutional arrangement for ICM at different levels.
• Lack of national system on ICM policy and laws and low enforcement
• Collaborative mechanism of inter-agencies/sectors and stakeholders in ICM development and implementation is very limited.
• Incorporation of ICM into national and provincial socio-economic plans is weak and lack of special technical guidelines.
• Incorporation of climate change and sea level rise into long-term ICM plan has still not yet been done.
• Lack of human resources and capacity in ICM development and implementation.
• Lack of sustainable financing mechanism for ICM plans at both central and local level.
• The awareness and participation of local community in ICM cycle is unclear.
• The academic training and education program on ICM are limited.
• The skill of the staff from agencies responsible to ICM at both central and local level is still very weak.
Therefore, moving forwards, the strategic ICAM vision for Vietnam would be: Sustainable development of the Vietnam coasts have to be based on ICM effectively implementation to maintain the essentially natural function and connectivity of the coastal systems and marine ecosystems for adaptively economic development, for local community livelihood improvement and coastal hazard mitigation.
Priority issues of ICM in Vietnam would be:
• Management and reasonable use of coastal areas/natural resources with spatial approach.
• Management, prevention and mitigation of coastal pollution and environmental hazards
• Management, mitigation and adaptation of coastal natural hazards, including climate change and sea level rise.
• Conservation, protection of coastal biodiversity and nature.
• Mitigation of benefit conflicts in multi-use
• Improvement of local community livelihood
These are 6 priorities for ICAM in Vietnam. The common goals for ICAM towards 2020 are:
• ICM should be applied in 28 coastal provinces, of course, the levels of application have to be different
• ICM plan should be developed in 22 coastal provinces
• ICM plan should be approved and implemented in 20 coastal provinces
• ICM activities should be institutionalized, legalized (in law)
• Human resources and capacity in ICM development and implementation should be strengthened.
Practical priority activities would be:
• To establish institutional arrangement for ICM at central and local levels: ICM Steering Committee, ICM Office and ICM Technical Team with ICM partners network (domestic and international NGOs, academic, university, private sector, donors…)
• To implement the national program No.158 on ICM in 14 coastal provinces in central Vietnam.
• To implement the Vietnam-PEMSEA program on ICM scaling up for 7 key coastal provinces (2011-2015): Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Soc Trang and Kien Giang.
• To develop a national system of policies and laws to facilitate for ICM, including Law of Seas, Law of Marine Resources and Environment, and maybe Law of ICM and of MPAs?
• To upgrade the capacity of national system of ICM, including VASI, coastal provinces and line agencies
• To develop technical guidelines on ICM to support the ICM application at localities.
• To develop a training and education program on ICM in some related universities and learning centers (on-going in Da Nang).
• To develop a mechanism of sustainable financing for ICM
• To develop and implement a strategy and action plan for ICM
• To apply a coastal spatial use zoning and planning (US helping)
• To develop a guidelines on incorporating climate change and SLR impacts into ICM strategy plan
• To conduct international cooperation in sharing and exchanging lessons learnt, experiences and good practices.
• To implement a national plan on marine pollution management from land-based source
• To implement a MPA plan
• To develop and apply a set of ICM indicators to measure implementation progress of ICM plan.
Major solutions for strategy implementation would be:
• Inter-sectoral/inter-agency collaboration
• Integration of ICM into socio-economic development plans
• Integration of ICM into coastal plan to respond to climate change and sea level rise
• Science –technology: coastal database, state of coasts input for management plan, coastal function zoning plan, MSP (marine spatial planning)…
• International cooperation
• To organize administrative plan for the strategy implementation (MONRE?VASI, local PPC…)
In 1996, in the framework of National Science and Technology Institute, MOST support the national project studying on development of ICM plan to maintain ecological safety and environmental protection. It was the first research that mentioned the terms “Integrated Coastal Management” in Vietnam.
After 2000, ICAM in Vietnam has been mostly relied on international supports, such as Netherland, US (NOAA), Germany, India, mostly on capacity building.
Up to 2005, although there are many pilot projects on ICAM have been conducted, most of the achievements are about awareness raising. There has not been much achievement in realization of ICAM in reality, except the model of PEMSEA in Da Nang.
Government has recognized the importance of ICAM in solving benefits conflicts of multi-use in coastal areas. Therefore, in 2007, the Minister declared the decision 158 on conducting ICAM for the Central Northern region and the Central region of 4 provinces, from Thanh Hoa to Binh Dinh. Government gave 100 billion VND for the period of 2007 – 2010, and 500 billion VND for the period from 2011 – 2015.
However, up to 2010, at the end of the first phase, mostly the ICAM has not been realized in reality. Achievements are mostly in awareness raising through training, capacity building… as many authorities and agencies still have not understood what ICAM is.
There are many projects on ICAM are going on now in Vietnam. PEMSEA is the regional program which has gained certain practical achievements on ICAM, applying at local levels and very suitable for Vietnam’s provinces. PEMSEA projects had been conducted since 2001 to 2008. And currently they have the programs to extend the Da Nang, Quang Nam and Hue models to 7 other provinces of Khanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Soc Trang and Kien Giang. Therefore, I suggest that in the coming future, GIZ Soc Trang should cooperate with this PEMSEA project. I’m also the coordinator of this project which will help in building and implementing ICAM plans for these 7 provinces.
Besides those ICM projects, there are also other efforts related to ICM such as:
• Agenda 21 for Vietnam (2004): directions for sustainable development in Vietnam. In which sea is among the 7 priorities.
• National program on marine science and technology in years 2006 – 2010, and just from last month, decision for the next phase in the years of 2011 – 2020.
• National plan on comprehensive surveys on marine environment and resources (2006 – 2010, vision 2020), 3,000 billion VND for around 30 big projects. One of the tasks of this national plan is to provide inputs for later ICAM and building national database.
• A national system of 16 marine protected areas (MPAs) toward 2020 has been approved in May 2010. Most of them are near-shore or in the coastal areas, only two MPAs are off-shore which are Bach Long Vi in the Northern Bay (Gulf of Tonkin) and Nam Yet in Truong Sa archipelago (Spratly Islands).
• The national system of marine environmental monitoring has been established since 1995.
• The national project on socio-economic surveys in coastal areas and islands (2006-2010).
About policy responses, some of the main signed international treaties are: international convention for the protection of pollution by oil from ships (MARPOL, 1997), international convention on protection of wetlands (RAMSAR, 1971), International convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (BASEL, 1989), United Nations convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS, 1982). However the institutionalization of these international treaties into national law on sea and coastal areas has been still not very clear.
It could be said that the development of the coastal areas has been supported mainly by international organizations. And therefore, on behalf of Vietnam, I would like to express our sincere thankfulness. Foreign donors have brought a significant change in thinking and behavior of the national administration with an emphasis on broader vision, integrated action, and stronger ownership.
About national policies, there are: Order No. 36 of government on strengthening environmental protection in the period of industrialization and modernization (1998), Law of Criminal Affair (1999) includes 10 environmental convicts, Law of Environmental Protection (1993, 2004), Law of Fisheries (2003), Law of Biodiversity (2009), Code of Navigation (1990, 2005), Ordinance of Tourism (2006). However, most of these laws are sectoral laws that applied in sectoral management approach.
ICAM issues have only recently been mentioned in Governmental Decree No. 25/2009 on Integrated Marine Resources Management and Environmental Protection dated 6 March 2009 (in force in May 2009). This is the first integrated governance policy in the field of coast, sea and island management in Vietnam. The policy offers some guidelines on ICM implementation in Vietnam and coastal function zoning and coastal use planning. So Vietnam is on some beginning steps towards institutionalized ICM, giving it a legalized position.
Law of Seas and Law of Marine Resources and Environment are in process of preparation which will be legal documents focusing on ICM and marine spatial planning and management. Law of ICM is still in discussion.
After VASI has been established. MONRE has assigned for VASI to integratedly manage seas and islands and directly manage activities in coastal areas. Bureau for sea use management. Two centers of ICM and planning in the North and in the South. At local level, 28 coastal provinces and stakeholders are involved.
Major challenges/obstacles in ICM implementation in Vietnam are:
• Lack of an institutional arrangement for ICM at different levels.
• Lack of national system on ICM policy and laws and low enforcement
• Collaborative mechanism of inter-agencies/sectors and stakeholders in ICM development and implementation is very limited.
• Incorporation of ICM into national and provincial socio-economic plans is weak and lack of special technical guidelines.
• Incorporation of climate change and sea level rise into long-term ICM plan has still not yet been done.
• Lack of human resources and capacity in ICM development and implementation.
• Lack of sustainable financing mechanism for ICM plans at both central and local level.
• The awareness and participation of local community in ICM cycle is unclear.
• The academic training and education program on ICM are limited.
• The skill of the staff from agencies responsible to ICM at both central and local level is still very weak.
Therefore, moving forwards, the strategic ICAM vision for Vietnam would be: Sustainable development of the Vietnam coasts have to be based on ICM effectively implementation to maintain the essentially natural function and connectivity of the coastal systems and marine ecosystems for adaptively economic development, for local community livelihood improvement and coastal hazard mitigation.
Priority issues of ICM in Vietnam would be:
• Management and reasonable use of coastal areas/natural resources with spatial approach.
• Management, prevention and mitigation of coastal pollution and environmental hazards
• Management, mitigation and adaptation of coastal natural hazards, including climate change and sea level rise.
• Conservation, protection of coastal biodiversity and nature.
• Mitigation of benefit conflicts in multi-use
• Improvement of local community livelihood
These are 6 priorities for ICAM in Vietnam. The common goals for ICAM towards 2020 are:
• ICM should be applied in 28 coastal provinces, of course, the levels of application have to be different
• ICM plan should be developed in 22 coastal provinces
• ICM plan should be approved and implemented in 20 coastal provinces
• ICM activities should be institutionalized, legalized (in law)
• Human resources and capacity in ICM development and implementation should be strengthened.
Practical priority activities would be:
• To establish institutional arrangement for ICM at central and local levels: ICM Steering Committee, ICM Office and ICM Technical Team with ICM partners network (domestic and international NGOs, academic, university, private sector, donors…)
• To implement the national program No.158 on ICM in 14 coastal provinces in central Vietnam.
• To implement the Vietnam-PEMSEA program on ICM scaling up for 7 key coastal provinces (2011-2015): Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Soc Trang and Kien Giang.
• To develop a national system of policies and laws to facilitate for ICM, including Law of Seas, Law of Marine Resources and Environment, and maybe Law of ICM and of MPAs?
• To upgrade the capacity of national system of ICM, including VASI, coastal provinces and line agencies
• To develop technical guidelines on ICM to support the ICM application at localities.
• To develop a training and education program on ICM in some related universities and learning centers (on-going in Da Nang).
• To develop a mechanism of sustainable financing for ICM
• To develop and implement a strategy and action plan for ICM
• To apply a coastal spatial use zoning and planning (US helping)
• To develop a guidelines on incorporating climate change and SLR impacts into ICM strategy plan
• To conduct international cooperation in sharing and exchanging lessons learnt, experiences and good practices.
• To implement a national plan on marine pollution management from land-based source
• To implement a MPA plan
• To develop and apply a set of ICM indicators to measure implementation progress of ICM plan.
Major solutions for strategy implementation would be:
• Inter-sectoral/inter-agency collaboration
• Integration of ICM into socio-economic development plans
• Integration of ICM into coastal plan to respond to climate change and sea level rise
• Science –technology: coastal database, state of coasts input for management plan, coastal function zoning plan, MSP (marine spatial planning)…
• International cooperation
• To organize administrative plan for the strategy implementation (MONRE?VASI, local PPC…)
No comments:
Post a Comment