Mangrove forests and aquaculture in the Mekong river delta
The mangrove area in Viet Nam is dramatically decreasing in the last decades. Since 1995, mangrove forests in south Viet Nam are allotted and contracted to households for protection, management and logging. Under this policy, households are allowed to convert 20–40% of the allotted forests into other uses, mainly shrimp farming. Most households develop mixed shrimp-mangrove farming systems, in which shrimp ponds are mixed with mangrove forest.