Coastal erosion destroys mangrove forests in Ben Tre (Photo: VNA) With a coastline of 65km, the province has 18km of coast in Thanh Phu, Ba Tri and Binh Dai districts eroding because of the impact of climate change, which has damaged farm land, mangrove forests, houses and crops.
In Ba Tri’s Bao Thuan commune, the coast of Nhan island, for instance, has been eroded more than 200 metres deep into the land in the past four years, destroying mangrove forests and many houses.
Bui Thi Men in Bao Thuan’s Thanh Hai hamlet said her family has 1ha of farmland near the coast, but most of the land has been eroded into the sea.
She had to move her house to a safer area about one month ago, she said.
“My family had to move the house three times in the past 10 years to avoid erosion, and now has only about 1,000sq.m of farmland,” she said.
Khong Minh Tang, chairman of the Bao Thuan People’s Committee, said Nhan island has been eroded for decades, affecting the lives of locals.
There are 68 households in the island affected by erosion, which has caused the loss of their farmland and houses, he said.
About 21ha of farmland on the island have been eroded into the sea, he said.
To prevent erosion, locals have used tree trunks and sandbags to make temporary erosion prevention embankments.
Tang said support for erosion-affected households was limited because the commune has no budget, and the commune has encouraged locals to make temporary erosion prevention embankments to protect their properties.
Ba Tri District has more than 8km of its 12 km coast eroded, according to the province’s management board for investment projects in agriculture and rural development.
Nguyen Van Dien, director of the management board, said the province has nearly 3.8 km of eroded coast that do not have erosion prevention embankments.
The province has petitioned the Government to allocate 100 billion VND (4.2 million USD) to urgently build a 1,020 metre-long embankment to prevent erosion at Nhan island, he said.
The construction of the embankment will help complete the system of erosion prevention embankments on the island, and increase the capacity and efficiency of erosion prevention, he said.
The province has implemented various measures, including building erosion prevention embankments, to prevent erosion in recent years.
The building of Geotube, a soft embankment which is made of fabric geotextile tube filled with sand and water, has effectively prevented erosion on Bung island in Thanh Phu district’s Thanh Phong commune.
The Geotube embankment is 1,100 metres long, was built in 2020 and cost 15 billion VND (630,000 USD).
Dien said the embankment has effectively prevented erosion and restored mangrove forests on Bung island.
With the support of the central Government and relevant ministries, the province has also built five erosion prevention embankment projects with a total length of 4.5 km and at a total cost of 230 billion VND (9.7 million USD) in recent years./.
VNA
