VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY BUI THI LAN RESEARCH ON PROPOSING SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF COASTAL WETLAND RESOURCES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN DONG RUI AREA, TIEN YEN DISTRICT, QUANG NINH PROVINCE MASTER’S THESIS VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY BUI THI LAN RESEARCH ON PROPOSING SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF COASTAL WETLAND RESOURCES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN DONG RUI AREA, TIEN YEN DISTRICT, QUANG NINH PROVINCE MASTER PROGRAM IN CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT CODE: 8900201.02QTD RESEARCH SUPERVISOR Prof. MAI TRONG NHUAN Dr. LUU VIET DUNG Hanoi, 2021 PLEDGE I assure that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not been published. The use of other research’s results and other documents must comply with the regulations.
The citations and references to documents, books, research paper, and websites must be in the list of references of the thesis. Author of the thesis Bui Thi Lan TABLE OF CONTENT PLEDGE TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF TABLES i LIST OF FIGURES ii LIST OF ABBREVIATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale for choosing Dong Rui wetlands. Research objectives and tasks 3 1.
Research question and hypothesis 7 1. Objects and Scope of the research 7 1. Novelty and Significance of the research 8 1. Theoretical basis for the research 9 1.
The concept of sustainability and sustainability of wetland resources. Sustainable use & principles for sustainable use of coastal wetlands. Overview of related studies 12 1. Wetland resources in CC context.
Sustainable use of coastal wetland resources. Frameworks for assessment of impacts on wetlands. 17 Chapter 2 MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGIES 25 2. Overview of the study site 25 2.
Socio-economic features. Research analytical framework 26 2. Bottom-up approach. Trans-disciplinary approach.
Sustainable development approach. Indicator-based assessment. 39 Chapter 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 51 3. Climate Change and Climate Change impact 51 3.
Climate Change manifestation. Climate Change impacts – the driving force. Human driving force and pressure on wetland resources 60 3. The human driving forces.
The human pressure on wetlands. The state and impact of the wetland resources 67 3. The state of environmental quality. The state of ecosystem of Dong Rui wetlands.
The state of biodiversity of coastal species of Dong Rui wetlands. The impact: change in productivity of wetland-related activities. The societal response toward wetlands 76 3. Local people’s awareness and willingness toward wetlands.
The efficiency of the wetland safeguard system. Overall assessment of the sustainability of the wetland resources in Dong Rui Commune, Tien yen District, Quang Ninh Province 82 3. Solutions for sustainable use of wetland resources 85 3. The bottom-up & systematic approach in sustainable use of wetland resources.
Solutions to deal with the driving forces. Solutions to deal with the pressure. Solutions to enhance societal response. 89 Chapter 4 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 90 3.
Limitation & Recommendation 91 REFERENCES 92 APPENDIX 96 LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1: Research objectives and tasks .4 Table 1-2: Global contribution of mangroves and other coastal habitats to carbon sequestration in the global coastal ocean.12 Table 1-3: Derivation of criteria and indicators of sustainability for inland wetland systems.19 Table 1-4: The Pressure-status-response model for wetland assessment .20 Table 1-5: Overview of the identified overall trend in the Mediterranean wetlands .22 Table 2-1: Data used in the research .29 Table 2-2: Research methods .30 Table 2-3: Social survey activities .33 Table 2-4: Field survey activities .36 Table 2-5: The sustainability assessment indicators of wetland resources in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .44 Table 3-1: Indicator PSR02 score.54 Table 3-2: Indicator PSR02 score.56 Table 3-3: Indicator PSR01 score.59 Table 3-4: Indicator PSR04 score.62 Table 3-5: Self-evaluation on resource-use pressure on the wetlands .63 Table 3-6: Indicator PSR06 score.64 Table 3-7: Indicator PSR05 score.67 Table 3-8: Indicator PSR07 score.68 Table 3-9: Indicator PSR08 score.68 Table 3-10: Indicator PSR09 score.68 Table 3-11: Wetland classification .71 Table 3-12: Indicator PSR11 score.73 Table 3-13: Indicator PSR12 score.75 Table 3-14: Indicator PSR13 score.77 Table 3-15: Evaluation of the local people on the efficiency of the wetland institution in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .79 Table 3-16: Indicator PSR14 score.80 Table 3-17: The sustainability assessment score by component .82 Table 3-18: Challenges for sustainable use of wetland resources in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .86 Table 3-19: Some solutions to deal with the driving forces .87 Table 3-20: Some solutions to deal with the pressure .88 Table 3-21: Some solutions to enhance societal response .89 i LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1: The ecosystem services of Dong Rui wetland .14 Figure 1-2: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Conceptual Framework .18 Figure 1-3: DPSIR approach for mangrove assessment .23 Figure 1-4: DPSIR approach for assessment of sandy beach in the northeast coast .24 Figure 2-1: Map of the study site .25 Figure 2-2: The research framework .27 Figure 2-3: Map of the surveyed households .33 Figure 2-4: Map of the observation sites and route .36 Figure 2-5: Procedure of Sustainability index calculation .43 Figure 3-1: Change in annual temperature during 1990-2020 & forecast until 2070 .51 Figure 3-2: Change in maximum temperature during 1990-2020 & forecast until 2070 .51 Figure 3-3: Change in minimum temperature during 1990-2020 & forecast until 2070 .52 Figure 3-4: Total annual precipitation & maximum precipitation in 1990-2020 .53 Figure 3-5: Number of rainy days/year in 1990-2020 .53 Figure 3-6: Change of climate extreme conditions in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .55 Figure 3-7: Number of typhoons in coastal region of Vietnam during the 1945-2019 period .56 Figure 3-8: Livelihoods in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .57 Figure 3-9: CC impact on human activities in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .58 Figure 3-10: Degree of temperature change impact in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .58 Figure 3-11: Degree of precipitation change impact in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .59 Figure 3-12: Degree of impact of typhoon and other climate-induced hazards in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .59 Figure 3-13: Main income sources of local households in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .61 Figure 3-14: The degree of dependency on wetland resources for livelihoods in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .62 Figure 3-15: Wetland resource-use by percentage in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .63 Figure 3-16: Map of Dong Rui's land use in 2019 .66 Figure 3-17: Dong Rui's environmental quality .69 Figure 3-18: Map of distribution of wetland ecosystems in Tien Yen district (Dang et al.70 Figure 3-19: Productivity change of wetland-related activities in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .74 ii Figure 3-20: Action when facing productivity reduction in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .75 Figure 3-21: Local people's awareness about wetland values in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .76 Figure 3-22: Local people's willingness to participate in wetland conservation in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .77 Figure 3-23: The sustainability indicator score .83 Figure 3-24: Sustainability of Dong Rui wetlands .84 Figure 3-25: The bottom-up & systematic approaches in identification of challenges in sustainable use of wetland resources in Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province .85 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATION Abbreviation Interpretation AR4 IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report AR5 IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report CC Climate Change DPSIR Driving force – Pressure – State – Impact – Response DRR Disaster Risk Reduction EEA European Environment Agency IPCC International Panel on Climate Change MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Ramsar Ramsar Convention on Wetlands RCP Representative Concentration Pathway SD Sustainable Development SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SLR Sea-Level Rise iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to convey my utmost gratitude to Prof. Mai Trong Nhuan and Dr. Luu Viet Dung, my supervisors, for their big support and instruction for the master’s thesis. I will not be able to complete this without their guidance and encouragement.
My appreciation and gratitude also go to the master program in Climate Change and Development (MCCD) of Vietnam - Japan University and all of its amazing lecturers, staff, and students for their assistance and companion during my journey with MCCD. I owe my gratitude to the VNU Key Laboratory of Geoenvironment and Climate Change Response (GEO-CRE) staff for their support during the completion of this master’s thesis. I also thank the research team from VNU University of Science, led by Prof. Nguyen Cao Huan for the permission to join the field trip to Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province.
In addition, I have received the support from the VNU project no.06 which is important to the accomplishment of my master’s thesis, and I am so grateful for that. Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to the staff and local people of Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province for their hospitality and willingness in sharing the information which is the integral part of this master’s thesis. Last but not least, I am indebted to my beloved family and my dear friends for their love, care, and encouragement. The master’s thesis would not have been possible without their inputs.
Background Climate Change (CC) has become one of the biggest challenges globally, especially in the current context when all nations are making progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), different emission scenarios show that CC and Global Warming has changed climatic variables like temperature, precipitation, and sea-level rise (SLR), as well as has accelerated the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (IPCC, 2007). These changes severely affect both nature and the human systems worldwide. As estimated in the Global Climate Risk Index 2021, during the 2000-2019 period, over 475,000 people died, 2.56 trillion USD lost due to the occurrence of 11,000 extreme weather events (Eckstein et al.
Accordingly, Vietnam ranked 13th in the overall Climate Risk Index for the period. 2020 has been a tough year for the country with a series of severe weather events. Following the report by the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, Vietnam has gone through 13 storms in the East Sea, 264 thunderstorms/whirlwind/heavy rain in 49 cities/ provinces, 118 floods/flashflood/landslide, 86 earthquakes, and a series of severe droughts, saline intrusion, erosion, or sea dyke subsidence in many parts of the country in the year of 2020. These disasters have caused loss to 353 lives and injuries of 876 people; in estimation, 35,181 billion VND lost was one of the direct impacts.
Research on CC in Vietnam shows that over the past 50 years, the annual average temperature of the country increases about 0.5ºC, precipitation increases in the South, decreases in the North, and extreme climatic conditions like typhoon, flood, tropical depression, drought, or prolonged heat tend to increase (Tân & Thành, 2013). Accordingly, the ecosystem and socio-economic activities in the coastal zone are vulnerable under impacts of environmental depletion, changes in temperature, precipitation, SLR, and extreme weather events. Undoubtedly, CC is threatening the sustainability of the coastal zone of Vietnam. Rationale for choosing Dong Rui wetlands Dong Rui is an island commune of Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province; the commune is surrounded by coastal wetlands, mostly mangrove forests, and is beneficial from rich natural resources.
In the context of CC, Dong Rui has been facing unexpected and complicated climate conditions, causing difficulties for both the natural ecosystem and human activities. Annual temperature in Tien Yen district shows an increasing trend while annual precipitation has decreasing trend during the 1980-2010 period. Following the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.