VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Mar. 20 adopted a Danish-funded project on enhancing capacity and perfecting legal frameworks for Vietnam’s network of marine protected areas (MPAs).

Illustrative image. (Source: Internet)
With a total investment of over 315,000 USD, including more than 285,000 USD in non-refundable official development assistance, the project will be implemented by the General Department of Fisheries in Hanoi, the central provinces of Quang Ngai and Khanh Hoa and the southern province of Kien Giang from now until 2013.

It will help supplement new regulations on the establishment, management and operation of MPAs and enhance capacity of officials and managers working for the areas.

* France shares air quality management skills

Vietnamese and French experts have emphasised the necessity for issuing new standards for vehicles to reduce emissions and encouraging the development of clean energy.

At a symposium themed, “Air Quality Improvement and Urban Transport: Best Practice and Cooperative Projects” in Hanoi on March 21, Director of UBIFRANCE Trade Agency of the French Embassy in Hanoi Marc Cagnard and Deputy Head of the Environment General Department Hoang Duong Tung said the degradation in air quality affects the community and causes socio-economic losses.

State management agencies, branches, organisations, individuals and the community should exert joint efforts to improve air quality, they said.

Vietnam also needs cooperation and technical assistance from foreign governments, agencies and organisations in air quality management.

At the event, representatives of the Pollution Control Department of the General Department of Environment said dust density in urban areas was 1.5 to three times and in some places 5 to 7 times higher than allowable levels.

Experts from the French National Institute for Environmental and Industrial Risks introduced solutions for air quality improvement and the air quality systems that are being used in major cities worldwide.

They said that sustainable development and traffic policy will certainly become a prospect for cooperation between Vietnam and France.

VietNamNet/Vietnam Plus