Mangrove forests dry out, leading to consequences

Bài liên quan

The story of preserving the forest in the middle of the sea

Tam Giang commune (Nui Thanh district) is a locality with a large mangrove forest area in Quang Nam province with about 25 hectares. The mangrove forest here is relatively diverse, with cork, mangrove, and Avicennia trees. It is hundreds of years old and serves as a green lung in the southern region of this province. Not only that, this is also the residence of many types of seafood, creating a source of livelihood for hundreds of households.

However, after the storm at the end of 2020, the entire forest lost its leaves, and then a part of the area dried up, creating patchy gray spaces. According to records, this mangrove forest is about 3km long, stretching from Dong Xuan village to Dong Binh village (Tam Giang commune). Almost every area has dead trees. Witnessing this scene, local people could not help but feel sad and regretful.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh - vice chairman of the Tam Giang Commune People's Committee - said the total area of mangrove forests in the locality is about 25 hectares. Since the rainy and stormy season at the end of 2020, the mangrove forest has dried up, and statistics show that more than 5 hectares of forest have completely died and cannot regenerate.

Previously, when the forest died, the commune sent a report to the district inviting experts to inspect, evaluate, and find the cause, but there was still no specific conclusion as to the cause of the tree death.

Mrs. Vo Thi Luat (79 years old, Dong Binh village) said that since she was a child, she had seen the people in the village stick together and make a living under this mangrove forest. Three years ago, for the first time, she witnessed a sudden mass death of trees in the forest that could not recover until now. The death of mangrove forests significantly impacts the lives of people in the area.

“Previously, I also made a living by catching fish and seafood in this mangrove forest. Also, the forests were still green, and there were a lot of fish and shrimp, so each day, they earned an income of VND 400 - 500,000. Now I'm lucky to earn only VND 100,000 - 200,000. So, many people have quit their jobs and sold their boats to find better jobs," Mrs. Luat confided.

In addition to creating livelihoods for people, mangrove forests in Tam Giang commune are also a place to anchor boats for people during the rainy and stormy season. There are no more forests to block waves and wind, so fishermen have difficulty finding safe places for their boats to take shelter when natural disasters occur. This area also suffers from a large amount of household waste from the sea with the tide, creating an unpleasant odor.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nguyet, Head of Dong Binh village, said that the village has over 300 households, most of whom work in near-shore fishing. Recently, trees in mangrove forests have died for unknown reasons, leading to many consequences: seafood catches have decreased significantly, and aquaculture activities have also been affected by polluted water sources. Up to now, it has not been possible to fix it.

According to the Tam Giang commune government, authorities at all levels have mobilized people to plant more than 27 hectares in addition to the original mangrove trees. By 2015, the People's Committee of Nui Thanh district implemented a project to plant and restore mangrove forests in this commune to develop riverside mangrove forests to protect dykes and embankments from erosion caused by storms as well as respond to climate change.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh, Vice Chairman of Tam Giang Commune People's Committee, said: "Restoring local mangrove forests is very necessary. However, according to calculations, the funding source, including research, planting, and maintenance, is large, about VND 3-4 billion, so the commune does not have enough potential. Therefore, we have repeatedly proposed that the district and province soon have solutions to restore mangrove forests. Currently, the district also has a project, but it will not be possible to implement it until 2025."