Situation, causes and solutions for coastal protection and restoration of coastal mangroves in the Mekong Delta

The Vietnamese Mekong River Delta is part of the Mekong Delta, covering an area of 39,734 km², formed by sedimentation and gradually accretion through the sea level changing eras. The mixed activities of rivers and seas formed fertile alluvial lands along river dykes and along some coastal sandbanks and acid soil on low-lying saline sediments. The contribution of the Mekong River plays a very important role during delta formation. The average annual water supply of this river is about 400 billion m³ of water and about 100 million tons of sediment, debris is eroded from the river basin, although part of it temporarily deposited along the flowing direction and eventually brought to the river mouth and deposited as a delta. Through the cycles of evolution, change and adaptation between the seas and the continent, there is an transitive ecological system, that is a coastal forest, creating a harmonious, sustainable balance connection between airspace, sea and land. Coastal mangroves are an integral part of the sea dyke system, which reduces the wave height before dyke, prevents adverse impacts from the sea to land, increases the ability of sediment deposition to protect the fore land; protect the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems. Although its important role, however mangroves belt of coastal zone in the Mekong Delta has been, and will continue diminishing. Coastal mangrove ecosystem including regeneration or pioneer belt (which is against large wave), belt of dissipation (reducing wave), and highland belt (connecting sea and land environment) is no longer complete or able to support each other. Even more coastlines with no mangrove forest, coastal erosion has destroyed many homes, infrastructure, architecture and many achievements of coastal people. By incorporating between remote sensing analysis, mathematical modeling and physical model, we defined the situations, development trends, causes and proposed mitigation measures to recover the mangrove forest for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.