The southern coastal province of Tien Giang is losing large areas of protective forest due to coast erosion, which threatens the safety of the Go Cong sea dyke. 

Tien Giang is losing large areas of protective forest due to coast erosion.

Protective forests provide a strong shield for the 20km long sea dyke protecting tens of thousands of households in Go Cong Dong district. 

According to Nguyen Thien Phap, head of the provincial irrigation and flood and storm control division, the protective forest belt used to be between 100-700m wide from the sea, but strong erosion has damaged around 6.5 km of forests since 2000, with no forest left in some sections, exposing the sea dyke to the sea.  

To cope with the phenomenon, which is growing more serious in recent years, Tien Giang has taken some measures such as concreting the side of the sea dykes and piloting the use of soft structure to alleviate waves, collect sediment and create new beaches.  

After more than one year, the 1.4km long soft dyke has produced some new alluvial ground, and the province is planting trees there to see whether they can grow.

Phap said the paving of dyke is only a provisional measure, stressing that the sea dyke can only be safe when there are protective forests. 

The Go Cong sea dyke protects about half a million people and more than 37,000 ha of rice and orchard farms.-VNA