US embassy cable - 05HANOI515

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND OES - MARSHA GOLDBERG 
STATE PASS TO AID/ANE - TIM RESCH 
STATE PASS TO NOAA - JONATHAN JUSTI AND ANNE WALTON 
BANGKOK FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KSCA, EAID, SENV, VM 
SUBJECT:  VIETNAM - SUPPORT TO INTEGRATED COASTAL MANAGEMENT 
BY EMBASSY SCIENCE FELLOW 
 
1. Summary.  Anne Walton, a marine coordinator with the 
National Marine Sanctuaries Program of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spent three weeks in 
Vietnam as an Embassy Science Fellow in December 2004. She 
focused on improving marine protected area management and 
coastal zone management.  Walton helped the GVN analyze the 
STATE/AID/NOAA funded project on integrated coastal 
management in the Tonkin Gulf in Quang Ninh Province 
project.  She compiled a strategic plan for integrated 
coastal management in the Northern Tonkin Archipelago, which 
will form the basis for the next phases of the project.  The 
strategy will be presented at the wrap-up session for Phase 
I of the project to be held in Ha Long March 14-16 (to be 
reported septel).  The strategic plan provides a basis for 
future proposals for public and private donor support in 
marine protected area management and coastal management. 
End Summary. 
 
2. Anne Walton, a marine coordinator with the National 
Marine Sanctuaries Program of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spent three weeks in 
Vietnam as an Embassy Science Fellow in December 2004. She 
met with the EST officer and US-AEP Representative to 
describe her activities in Vietnam.  Her focus was on 
improving marine protected area management and coastal zone 
management primarily through work on a two-year roughly USD 
450,000 project to build capacity for integrated coastal 
management in the Tonkin Gulf.  The Department of State's 
East Asia Pacific Environment Initiative (EAP-EI), USAID, 
and NOAA are providing funding for this project.  NOAA and 
the World Conservation Union (IUCN) are carrying out the 
project in partnership with Vietnam's Ministry of Fisheries 
(MOFI), the Hai Phong Institute of Oceanography (HIO) and 
the Ha Long Bay Management Authority (HLBMA).  The first 
phase of this three-phase project began in 2002 and will end 
in March 2005.  There is no funding for the second phase of 
the project. 
 
3.  Walton helped conduct analysis and prepare final reports 
for the first phase of the project.  She also assisted IUCN 
in coordinating a commune beach cleanup at Hon Mun Marine 
Protected Area in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province. 
Compiling a strategic plan covering the project's second and 
third phases as well as to extend the project area into 
other areas of Vietnam as well as into southern China was 
her main task.  The plan addresses five resource management 
issues: fishing activities, water quality, habitat loss, 
tourism development, capacity building.  The strategy will 
be presented at the closing session of Phase I in Ha Long 
City March 14-16 (to be reported septel) and will provide a 
basis for future proposals for public and private donor 
support. 
 
4. Walton noted that integrated coastal management (ICM) was 
appropriate for the long-term management and sustainable 
development of the region's various resources.  ICM attempts 
to guide future development and to correct past 
environmental mistakes, she observed.  ICM allocates natural 
resources effectively and limits ill-advised development, 
but requires networking among all relevant government 
activities, including national economic development 
planning, communities and NGOs. 
 
5. The first phase of the project focused on developing the 
planning and managerial capacity for ICM among national- and 
provincial-level officials, Walton said.  This phase mainly 
involved raising awareness of ICM for guiding decision- 
making on coastal development, she noted.  At the same time, 
the project promoted ICM to enhance the strategic planning 
process and analysis at the local and national level.  The 
project activities included training, technical assistance, 
socioeconomic assessments, habitat surveys, community 
education and outreach.  Walton noted that project 
activities illustrated the benefits of ICM to senior GVN 
officials.  Key officials involved included Vice Minister of 
Fisheries Dr. Nguyen Viet Thang, Vice Minister of Science 
and Technology Dr. Bui Manh Hai and Vice Chairman of Quang 
Ninh Province People's Committee- Nguyen Duy Hung.  Other 
GVN officials, NGOS and corporate partners also attended. 
 
6. According to Walton, the project's second phase will seek 
to nurture the public-private partnerships initiated in the 
first phase.  These partnerships seek to address the policy, 
managerial, community, economic and technical requirements 
for the future growth and development in the region.  Walton 
said that the plan also forms the basis for a community- 
based ICM plan for the area it covers.  She also noted that 
the plan identifies five priority resource management issues 
and the appropriate activities in the first and second 
phases to address those issues.  The goal of the project is 
to create a final plan to implement a system of marine 
protected areas.  Composed of stakeholders from communities, 
local governments and NGOs, the NTA Protected Area 
Coordination Council will be the primary vehicle to achieve 
these objectives. 
 
7. Walton went on to explain that the NTA protected Area 
Coordination Council will meet at least three times during 
Phase II to coordinate conservation and management of the 
NTA.  At the end of Phase II, the council will draft a plan 
to address region-wide goals for marine and coastal resource 
conservation, she added.  Council members will have access 
to historical and near real time geographically referenced 
data sets and an analytical tool, developed in Phase I, for 
making critical coastal resource management decisions for 
the Halong Bay area, Walton noted.  Another critical element 
of Phase II will be to train and certify Vietnamese 
officials to manage marine protected areas effectively. 
 
MARINE