Hanoi (VNA) – Can Gio mangrove forest, designated by UNESCO in 2000 as the first Mangrove Biosphere Reserve in Vietnam, has been serving as a “green lung” of Ho Chi Minh City.
Rich ecosystem
Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve covers over 70,000 hectares, occupying one-third of Ho Chi Minh City’s total area. It is located in Can Gio district, previously Duyen Hai district. The area is situated in a recently formed estuary complex of tidal flats, where the Vam Co, Sai Gon and Dong Nai rivers reach the sea.
Historically, this land, also known as Sac Forest Guerrilla Base, was a key battleground in the two resistance wars against the French and US aggressors, and devastated by US forces who sprayed toxic chemicals that turned the zone into an uninhabited land.
After the war, the uninhabited mangrove forests have gradually been invigorated, and its beauty and magnificence returned thanks to the hard work of local people.
Tourists to the site are offered an insight into Sac Forest soldiers’ military feats in the past.
The forest is rich in biodiversity values. There are 52 true and associate mangrove, 200 animal, hundreds of fish and over 40 bird species.
The major habitat types found in Can Gio are plantation mangrove, of which there is about 20,000 ha; and naturally regenerating mangrove, of which there is about 7,000 ha.
A total of 18 mollusc, 27 crustacean, 45 fish and three amphibian species have been recorded at the site. There are anecdotal reports of local farmers shooting an Estuarine Crocodile Crocodylus porosus at the site in around 1990, although there have been no records since then. Also, dugong has been reportedly spotted seasonally in sea-grass beds at the site, and yet these reports have not been confirmed.
The mangrove forest in Can Gio performs many valuable ecological functions, including coastal stabilisation, and protection against coastal erosion, oil spills and storm surges.
Towards sustainable development
HCM City authorities have turned Can Gio into an attractive ecological tourist site by consolidating bridges, roads, canals and pathways to the forest.
The managing board of Can Gio forest has rolled out various research programmes to orient the management of natural resources, towards sustainable development and bio-diversity preservation.
Since 1994, it has also tasked 144 households and 12 units with forest protection, which has proven effective over the past time.
HCM City will consolidate mechanisms and policies on Can Gio forest management and planning, encourage the participation and contributions by local residents and relevant sides in this regard, step up the communications work to raise public awareness of environmental protection, and work to create livelihoods for residents in buffer zones.
Associate Prof. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, said Can Gio is developing sea-encroachment tourism, and suggested the locality boost sustainable development, while creating breakthroughs to optimise its advantages.
This will help the district promote both cultural and ecological tourism, said Dr. Nguyen Thi Hau, General Secretary of the HCM City History Association.
The Prime Minister has approved the 9.3 billion USD Can Gio Sea Encroachment Project, which is expected to help create 25,000 jobs and bring significant revenues for the city.
It will be developed in the coastal Long Hoa commune and Can Thanh town on an area of 2,870ha by the Can Gio Tourism Urban Area Joint Stock Company.
The project will be situated some 18km from the famous Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve, close to the Xoai Rap and Long Tau rivers, 17km from the Vam Sat Eco-Tourism Area, and 4km from Monkey Island./.
The Phuoc Thuan Border Guard Station and competent units in Ho Tram commune, Ho Chi Minh City, on June 4 rescued a rare sea turtle caught in a fishing net and safely released it back into the sea.
The elongated tortoise is one of the most beautiful and rare terrestrial tortoise species, listed in both the Vietnam Red Data Book and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. It typically inhabits tropical and subtropical forests and plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance. However, due to illegal trade and habitat loss, its wild population has been declining sharply.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded technical cooperation project on drainage management for climate resilience in Can Tho aims to improve planning capacity for wastewater collection, enhance operations and management of existing treatment plants, and the city’s ability to run public awareness campaigns.
A series of environmental and marine-related events to held in the central province of Nghe An from June 4-6 will generate a broad social impact, helping transform awareness into action and commitments into concrete results, and contributing to Vietnam’s goals of green growth, circular economy development, net-zero emissions and harmonious coexistence between people and nature.
According to marine experts, the repeated appearance of dolphins near the shore of Cai Chien Island is a positive sign that the local marine environment is well protected.
According to the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection, as of May 12, more than 1,350 communes and wards nationwide were under the highest forest fire warning of Level 5, while 294 others at Level 4.
To support conservation efforts, the national park has invested in a comprehensive system of breeding enclosures, quarantine areas, reproductive research facilities, wastewater treatment systems and surveillance cameras.
The climate resilience and sustainable infrastructure project in Lang Son consists of two main components, focusing on sustainable infrastructure and environmental improvement; and technical assistance and capacity building, with AFD experts expected to train project management officials and local agencies in disaster response and climate adaptation.
Beyond helping Hai Phong tackle environmental issues, Eco Hopia's primary objective is to transfer advanced technologies to Vietnam, enabling local partners to master them and contribute to the sustainable development of the country's agricultural sector.
The number and activity of tropical cyclones and depressions over the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea, and their direct impacts on mainland Vietnam are expected to be comparable to the multi-year average. The long-term average over the East Sea is 5.2 typhoons, with 1.9 making landfall.
Launched in 2021 with funding from the Norwegian people through WWF-Norway and WWF-Vietnam, the “Hue – Plastic Smart City in Central Vietnam” project aims to help Hue protect rivers, wetlands and coastal ecosystems from plastic pollution while building the city into a model plastic-reduced urban area in central Vietnam.
The Bac Lieu Forest Protection Unit under the provincial Forest Protection Sub-Department said that it had completed procedures to transfer and release the animal into its natural habitat.
Initiatives on biodiversity finance, carbon credits, public – private partnerships, nature-based tourism, and private sector investment are creating more opportunities to increase resources for ecosystem conservation and restoration, said an official.
Vietnam has established a network of 180 terrestrial and marine nature reserve covering more than 2.67 million hectares. These sites are being further strengthened to improve ecological connectivity, restore habitats and conserve endangered species. Forest cover remains stable at over 42%, contributing to water protection, climate adaptation and carbon absorption.
The animals included two masked palm civets, four stump-tailed macaques, and seven rhesus macaques. All belong to Group IIB under Circular No. 85/2025/TT-BNNMT issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on the management of endangered, precious and rare species, as well as the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The animal was identified as a clouded monitor (Varanus nebulosus), weighing approximately two kilograms and measuring around 70 centimetres in length. The species belongs to Group IB — a category of endangered and rare forest wildlife species given the highest level of protection in Vietnam, with all forms of commercial exploitation and use strictly prohibited.
The stump-tailed macaque, scientifically known as Macaca arctoides, is classified as a rare and endangered species under Group IIB in Vietnam’s regulations on endangered wildlife management.
Ho Chi Minh City aims to push urban green coverage above 1 sq.m per person by 2030, while stepping up greenhouse gas reduction initiatives on the way to Net Zero by 2050.
Designed to process 2,000 tonnes of waste per day and generate 45MW of electricity for the national grid, the project is the first high-tech waste-to-energy plant in southwestern Hanoi, where large-scale solid waste treatment facilities have long been lacking.
The figure includes losses of 6.7 billion VND in Cao Bang province and 3.5 billion VND in Dak Lak province, while Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa provinces have yet to report estimated damages.

