SNV expert discusses bringing...
SNV expert discusses bringing climate-adaptive businesses to scale in the Mekong...
The Mangroves and Markets: Scaling up Ecosystem-Based Adaptation in the Mekong Delta (MAM-II) project supports mangrove restoration and protection in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, while strengthening the livelihoods and resilience of smallholder shrimp farmers and their families. MAM-II started in 2016 and will continue until 2020.
The MAM-II project is a follow up to a pilot project, MAM-I, that ran between 2012 and 2016. Both phases of the MAM project are funded by German Ministry for the Environment.
Vietnam has lost half of its mangrove forests over the past 30 years, notably to make way for shrimp ponds. This is a worrying trend, as healthy mangroves make important contributions to both climate change adaptation and mitigation. Mangroves act as a natural barrier against storms, sea level rise and erosion, and have a high potential to store and sequester carbon. In addition, the mangrove ecosystem forms a natural habitat for many aquatic and terrestrial species, and provides a source of livelihood for coastal communities.
To reduce the pressure on mangrove forests, SNV and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) jointly developed the MAM project. With funding from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Environment Ministry (BMUB), the project supports the development and introduction of sustainable aquaculture models which restore and protect mangrove forests, while enhancing smallholder livelihoods and resilience.
The aims to replicate and scale up the sustainable integrated mangrove-shrimp farming model along the coasts of Ca Mau, Ben Tre, and Tra Vinh provinces, which together contain half the mangroves in the Mekong Delta.
Objectives till 2020:
MAM-II is a follow-up to MAM-I: Promoting Ecosystem-Based Adaptation through Reforestation and Sustainable Use of Mangroves that ran between 2012 and 2016. In this phase of the project, around 2000 smallholder shrimp farmers in Ca Mau province received training and technical assistance to enhance the sustainability of their production practices to meet Naturland organic certification standards, which require a 50% mangrove cover on each farm. The project collaborated with processing companies and government authorities to develop stable market linkages and create an enabling policy environment.
Key achievements of the MAM-I project by February 2016:
Key achievements of the MAM project as of September 2019:
“Thanks to the project’s trainings on better farm management practices my shrimp production has increased by about 20% compared to last year“Tran Quoc Van, Shrimp Farmer Group Leader