Several hundred metres of coastal forests have been destroyed by human activities and unusually strong waves in the southernmost province of Ca Mau over the last few years.

A portion of a 92km-long dike passing through three districts in the southern province of Ca Mau has been repaired.

In September, a coastal forested area 650m long at the west-sea dike’s Rach Dinh-Lung Rai section in U Minh District, Khanh Tien Commune, was destroyed by the rampaging waves whose effects have been worsened by residents clearing mangrove forests for shrimp farming and other uses.

Huynh Cong Hieu, deputy chairman of Khanh Tien Commune People’s Committee in U Minh District, said the waves had also eroded several parts of the local dike section.

In 1997, the Government decided to build a 93km dike along the west sea in the province. The dike runs from Phu Tan District to Kien Giang Province’s An Minh District.

Completed in 2000, the six-metre-wide dike was designed to prevent increasing land erosion caused by the strong waves.

Tran Van Xia, who lives in Khanh Tien Commune, said three years ago, he had to travel a distance of 500 metres through a forested area to go from his home to the coast, but now he was virtually living on the coast.

Waves, tides

“Strong waves have destroyed the forested area between the west-sea dike and the coast,” Xia said.

On the province’s east-sea coast, tides more than a meter high and strong winds destroyed 57 houses in Tan Thuan Commune’s Luu Thanh Hoa and Dong Giac hamlets in Dam Doi District last week.

Ho Quoc Dung, deputy chairman of the Tan Thuan People’s Committee, said the tides had reached record highs several times this year.

Previously, the commune had had a small coastal dike but the waves had destroyed it and about 50 metres of protective forest are being lost every year. Residents are being forced to relocate their homes deeper inland.

To Quoc Nam, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province’s sea dikes had suffered severe damage this year due to strong winds and unusually high tides compared to previous years.

“Provincial authorities have fortified the dikes with cajeput stakes but this is only a temporary solution,” Nam said.

The west-sea dike in Ca Mau will be upgraded at a total cost of VND700 billion (US$41 million) drawn from the State budget, for which more than 1,000 families will be relocated.

He added the province is also building a 135km dike to protect its east-sea coastal areas from erosion.

“The east-sea coast is losing about 100ha of land a year,” Nam said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News