evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Cần Giờ Mangrove Biosphere Reserve — 47 Years Rebuilding a War-Defoliated Forest, Now Threatened by Development

Vietnam · Cần Giờ · See the Vietnam profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 40% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1978, Ho Chi Minh City has replanted roughly 20,000 ha of mangroves defoliated by US wartime herbicide spraying, earning Vietnam's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (2000) — but shrimp ponds and an approved 2,870-ha development plan now threaten the recovered forest.

~57 %
Mangrove area destroyed by herbicide spraying (1965-1969) (1965-1969)
~20,000 hectares
Mangrove area replanted (1978-1991) (1978-1991)
75,740 hectares
Total reserve area
~4.4 million visitors
Tourism visitors, 2024 (2024)
~137 USD million (VND 3.5 trillion)
Tourism revenue, 2024 (2024)
2,870 hectares
Approved competing development plan area
Cần Giờ Mangrove Biosphere Reserve — 47 Years Rebuilding a War-Defoliated Forest, Now Threatened by Development

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ho Chi Minh City Forest Protection and Development Sub-Department
Period
1978-present
Keywords
mangrove restoration, blue carbon, coastal protection, biodiversity

Context

Between 1965 and 1969, U.S. Air Force herbicide spraying destroyed an estimated 57% of the Cần Giờ mangroves southeast of what is now Ho Chi Minh City, leaving only about 5,600 hectares of usable forest by the late 1970s.

Activities

After Ho Chi Minh City took over management in 1978, authorities replanted roughly 20,000 hectares of Rhizophora apiculata between 1978 and 1991; the 75,740-hectare reserve was recognised in 2000 as Vietnam's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and now shows natural regeneration with non-planted species colonising the site.

Results

Local and state media describe the reserve as a major carbon sink and storm-surge/erosion buffer for the metropolis; it recorded roughly 4.4 million tourism visitors and an estimated US$137 million in tourism revenue in 2024, up 23% year-on-year, alongside a district 'net zero' target by 2035 and a pending Ramsar wetland nomination.

Conclusions

Independent environmental reporting (Mongabay, 2020) documents ongoing threats: shrimp ponds carved into mangrove stands, cargo-ship pollution, erosion, and an approved 2,870-hectare coastal development master-plan — a long-run restoration success that remains actively contested by competing development approvals within the same governance system that protects it.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Ho Chi Minh City Forest Protection and Development Sub-Department

Conditions for success

  • 47-year sustained replanting and management programme achieving UNESCO recognition
  • Sourced Rhizophora apiculata seedlings from the Mekong Delta at scale

Common failure modes

  • Independent reporting documents an approved 2,870-hectare competing development plan and illegal shrimp-pond encroachment within the same reserve
  • Cargo-ship pollution and erosion continue to affect the mangrove belt

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful