The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the University of Tokyo and the Vietnamese Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) started a project on Mangrove Forest Mapping and Carbon Stock Estimation in Hanoi Mar 21. The two-year project which will focus on reporting the situation of mangrove forests and biomass since 1990 will help Vietnam better forest management and inventory and prevent people in coastal areas from storms and waves, said Nguyen Phu Hung, the FIPI’s deputy head. The project based on aerospace exploration will provide exact carbon reserves to be sold to raise income of people in coastal areas where mangrove forests are located in, Hung added. Once showing significant results after two-year operation in Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City, the project will be expanded nationwide, Phu noted. Mangrove forests are important to Vietnam’s coastal regions as it helps absorb carbon dioxide while generate oxygen and prevent storms and waves. The country’s mangrove forests have been reported to fall to 155,290 hectares in 2009 from 279,000 hectares in 1996. (Dai Doan Ket – Great Unity Mar 22 p13, Nong Nghiep Viet Nam – Vietnam Agriculture Mar 22 p2)
