On December 8, 2011, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Wetland Association (VWA) was established under the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment.
An wetland in Xuan Thuy National Park (Nam Dinh Province)
functions as an object to stop wave and wind (Photo: Manh Cuong)
“Smart use of wetlands is a contribution to the country's sustainable development, reduction of poverty, and effective response to climate change”, said Ass. Prof. Le Dien Duc, the president of VWA.
Vietnam has approximately 5,810,000 hectares of wetlands which make up 8% of total area of wetlands in Asia. Among the Vietnam wetland areas, 68 are of special importance in biodiversity and environment and some of them are internationally known like Ba Be Lake (Ba Be National Park), Red River Mouth area, Tien Hai, U Minh Thuong, Ca Mau Cape, and Con Dao wetland. Wetlands are distributed in nearly all types of ecological areas and fulfill function of climate regulation, wave and landslide stopping, and reducing impact of climate change.
“Climate change become more and more visible and has a strong effect on wetland ecosystems”, said Dr. Hoang Van Thang from Research Center for Natural Resources and Environment, Hanoi National University. “Wetlands play an important role in reducing impact of climate change as well as its possible consequences.”