Description

On Wednesday, August 11, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) released the publication of the National Thematic Report on Marine Environmental Status in the period of 2016 – 2020.

The report states that in the last five years, Vietnam has issued several policies and legislative tools for the establishment and completion of integrated marine management for local to central levels. In general, the marine environment is good (i.e., within allowed levels of technical regulation QCVN 10- MT:2015/BTNMT and value of Risk Quotient). However, there is partial and temporal pollution in some areas, e.g., aquaculture locations, estuaries, and ports. Besides, environmental incidents, e.g., the release of industrial waste, oil spills, and impacts of climate change have increased risks of marine environmental pollution. 

Land-based waste stream has indirectly affected on water environment of the sea and islands through estuaries and the pollution level is higher at coastal cities. More than 70% of tourism attractions in Vietnam are located in coastal areas. Tourism areas and related services have put a burden on urban infrastructure and marine urban space.

The major sources of marine waste and pollution are aquaculture and tourism activities. The growing marine plastic waste is another critical problem.

The report also assesses the status of marine biodiversity, integrated management of the environment and natural resources of seas and islands, international cooperation activities in marine environment and resources inventory, etc…

Besides low awareness, there are also some limitations resulting in certain restrictions in controlling marine environmental quality. Specifically, there are currently no regulations on administrative violation of marine environment and no inspection unit specialized in controlling marine environment quality. 

The report has 6 chapters including (1) Overview on Vietnam’s sea and islands, (2) Pressure of socio-economic development on the marine environment, (3) State of the marine environment, (4) Environmental impacts on marine environment, (5) Management of marine environment, and (6) Opportunities, challenges, and solutions to the protection of the marine environment. 

The report is available at: https://monre.gov.vn

Sources & further information: “Bộ TN&MT công bố Báo cáo hiện trạng môi trường biển Quốc gia” at https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn, “Lần đầu tiên công bố hiện trạng môi trường biển và hải đảo quốc gia” at https://www.vietnamplus.vn, and “Công bố Báo cáo hiện trạng môi trường biển và hải đảo quốc gia giai đoạn 2016 – 2020” at https://www.monre.gov.vn, accessed on 13 August 2021.