The World Bank (WB) approved an additional grant of $6.5 million to the Coastal Resources for Sustainable Development Project (CRSD) in Vietnam on March 29. The credit comes from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – a Trust Fund managed by the WB to help address six critical focal environmental areas: biodiversity, climate change, international waters, ozone depletion, land degradation and persistent organic pollutants. The money will be used to finance inter-sectoral planning for coastal areas and the co-management of near-shore capture fisheries. The grant will provide direct support to around 140 poor fishing communities in eight provinces across the country to help them prepare and implement co-management plans for coastal fisheries to improve their sustainable management. The original CRSD project (funded by $100 million from IDA credit) was approved by the WB on May 10, 2012 and has four components: strengthening institutional capacity for sustainable fisheries management; good practices for sustainable aquaculture; sustainable management of near-shore capture fisheries; and project management, monitoring, and evaluation. (VOV Mar 31)
