- Conservationists and policymakers have long sought ways to alleviate pressure on mangroves from shrimp farming, one of the leading drivers of tropical coastal deforestation.
- A new study shows that despite government-led initiatives seeking to strike a balance between mangrove preservation and shrimp cultivation, farmers in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta are struggling to protect coastal forests with which they compete for farm space.
- The researchers found that despite participating in sustainable shrimp-farming schemes, more than half of interviewed farmers have flouted regulations that require them to maintain 60% mangrove cover.
- Experts say the findings indicate the current mangrove protection model isn’t working in Cà Mau and call on authorities to find another approach that diversifies the incentives and options for farmers to protect local mangroves.
Shrimp farming is a leading driver of mangrove deforestation the world over. As demand for the sweet crustaceans boomed over the past few decades, swaths of vital coastal forests were cleared at unprecedented rates, sparking widespread conservation efforts to balance shrimp production with mangrove protection.
While some approaches have successfully alleviated pressure on mangroves, slowing or even halting deforestation rates, other initiatives have been less successful. A new study based on interviews with 120 small-scale shrimp farmers suggests that government-led approaches in Vietnam’s Cà Mau province are failing to meet their conservation objectives.
The findings show that despite participating in state-led schemes that mandate farmers maintain 60% mangrove cover on their allocated farmland, almost half of the interviewed shrimp farmers have expanded their ponds into forested areas beyond such thresholds.
The team of researchers from Vietnam and Canada conducted their study in Tam Giang Protection Forest, a protected area spanning 4,880 hectares (12,060 acres) in Cà Mau, at the southern tip of the Mekong Delta. Cà Mau is home to Vietnam’s largest expanse of mangrove and also a shrimp-farming hub, with the industry employing 60% of the local rural labor force, mainly through small-scale ponds that covered a total of 296,500 hectares (733,000 acres) of coastal land as of 2022.
In the mid-1990s, farmers were allocated land for aquaculture and agriculture under government schemes to simultaneously preserve mangroves and encourage profitable livelihoods. Land contracts stipulate that farmers must preserve 60% mangrove on their land, and convert no more than 40% to shrimp ponds.
A shrimp farm in Tam Giang Protection Forest in Cà Mau province. Image courtesy of Hoang Ha Anh.
The researchers found that farmers who infringe the area-based regulations do so to enhance their productivity and profits, which increase with even minimal increases in shrimp pond size, according to the study. Smaller farms tended to clear relatively more mangroves in favor of maximizing their pond area compared to larger farms.
Hoang Ha Anh, an environmental economist at Nong Lam University in Vietnam and lead author of the study, said farmers taking part in such schemes would in fact struggle to protect coastal forests,