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Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) - Call for papers!

Assessing Landscape Change and Effectiveness of Mangrove Conservation in Ca Mau Cape National Park, Ca Mau Province, Vietnam

(Vietnam), Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science (University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Dissertation Abstract:

The study was conducted in Ca Mau Cape National Park (CMCNP), Ca Mauprovince where the largest areas of mangroves in the country can be found. The study aims to examine landscape changes, the factors affecting landscape change and the effectiveness of the mangrove conservation based on monitoring data of CMCNP from 1973 to 2018. To evaluate landscape change and the effectiveness of mangrove conservation, both quantitative from remote sensing, landscape metrics and qualitative from key informant interviews were conducted.

At the first period from 1973 to 1979, the natural regeneration of mangrove forests was the main factor, which enabled an increase of forestland and a decrease of bare land and water surface. Although mangroves were destroyed during the war, the landscape is still homogeneous and simple structure but low value in connectedness.

During the second period (1979 to 2003), sparse mangrove increased by 144% and dense mangrove increased by 85%. The landscape became more fragmented due to the expansion of shrimp farming as well as the reduction of mangrove forests. Weak and conflicting policies in mangrove conservation, overexploitation, and conversion of mangrove areas to shrimp ponds were the main factors affecting landscape change.

The last period from 2003 to 2018, dense mangrove increased by 45% while sparse mangrove decreased by 30%. The landscape became more aggregated or clumped due to the reduction of shrimp farm and expansion of mangrove forest. These pieces of evidence prove the good management of CMCNP.

Although mangrove conservation in CMCNP is effective, this area still faces many problems such as climate change, sea level rise, and the impacts of tourism development. Therefore, the local government should be aware of changing policies and management framework that is more suitable in mangrove conservation in the future.