Germany’s Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) has launched a photo contest with the theme “Climate change in the Mekong delta.”

All Vietnamese citizens, aged 16-years or over, can send in their best shots to the website http://mekong-photocontest.com from now until September 15. The photos need to reflect on the two themes of the impacts of climate change on human life and agricultural production.

The awards ceremony will be on October 12 and the best photos will be exhibited the following day in Can Tho City.

The competition is just one of many activities in the GTZ-funded project on the sustainable management of coastal forest ecologies in Bac Lieu province and part of the celebrations of the 35 th anniversary of Vietnam-Germany diplomatic ties.

Vietnam is one of the countries to be hardest hit by climate change and scientific studies have shown that if the sea rises by one metre, 5 percent of the country’s total acreage will be badly affected and agricultural output will decrease by 7 percent and GDP by 10 percent.

Seventy three percent of Vietnam’s population live in rural areas, mostly poor, and will suffer the most from the effects of climate change, say experts. The Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s granary, will also be seriously damaged by climate change./.