Sustainable sand management helps reduce climate change impacts on Mekong Delta

Sand mining (Photo: VNA)

Can Tho (VNA) – A project on enhancing sustainable sand managementin the Mekong Delta, carried out by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) –Vietnam, has helped mitigate impacts of climate change on the region.

The information was heard at a working session betweenrepresentatives from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR),WWF Vietnam, and the People’s Committee of Mekong Delta Can Tho city on October 5.

SIWRR Deputy Director Nguyen Nghia Hung said riverbed sand is an essential resourcefor socio-economic development needs. Especially in the Mekong Delta, it is much exploited and used as construction materials and in leveling.

However, sand mining in this region is facing challengessuch as a decrease in the annual amount of sand due to the impact of upstream damconstruction; climate change; overexploitation causing ecological imbalance;river geomorphological instability; and uncontrolled downstream landslides, erosionand sedimentation, Hung noted.

At the working session between representatives from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, WWF Vietnam, and People’s Committee of Can Tho city (Photo: VNA)

According to WFF-Vietnam, in recent years, the resilience ofthe Delta has been heavily impacted by human activities, including upstreamhydropower dams and sand mining in its main and distributary channels. Between2018 and 2020, sand mining within the Mekong Delta's channels was reported at17.77 Mt per year - far more than the 6.18 Mt flowing into the Deltaeach year.

As a result of this unsustainable activity, the Mekong'sriverbanks and coastal zones are eroding, and half a million people are placed at riskof losing their homes. There has also been a reduction in diversity andabundance of fish in mined areas, as well as changes to riverside vegetation.Climate change worsens the effects of unsustainable sand mining on the Deltawith increased droughts, heavier rains, and unprecedented sea-level rise.

Started in 2019 and set to end in 2023, the project's goalis to contribute to maintaining key ecological functions and reducing socio-economicvulnerability to climate change in the Mekong Delta.

The project aims at establishing a delta-wide sand budget tocreate a better understanding of the scope and impact of unsustainableextraction rates.

It also intends to work with key players in thepublic and private sectors to develop and propose better policies andpractices such as the River Geomorphological Stability Plan in relation tosustainable sand and stone mining, and it uses public outreach to raiseawareness of the need for action to counter the impacts of unsustainablesediment exploitation in the Delta.

Furthermore, the project is expected to promoteparticipation and dialogues among key players in the Vietnamese constructionsector, whom it provides with information on the risks associated with sandmining and opportunities for sustainable alternative sourcing to river sand and stone./.

VNA