Focus on Arts and Ecology

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has promulgated an action plan with the aim of promoting cooperation, sharing and monitoring trans-boundary water resources from now to 2020. The plan also looks to improving the management, conservation, and utilisation of water resources to serve the country’s sustainable socio-economic development and ensure water security amid climate change. The MoNRE has been building institutional and legal documents in the direction of refining technical standards and regulations regarding the management of water resources, as well as implementing financial policies to provide clean water for the daily use and sewage treatment. It has been conducting a study on water resources as well as evaluation and forecast of climate change impacts on water resources, thereby submitting a national strategy on water resources through 2030, with a vision towards 2050, to the Prime Minister for approval. The MoNRE will increase the dissemination of information about policies and regulations to raise public awareness of managing, using and protecting water resources, while keeping a close watch on the exploitation and usage of water resources in the upper reaches of the Red and Mekong rivers. It will draw maps on water resources with scales of 1/100,000 for 50 percent of the nation’s total area, 1/50,000 for water-shortage regions, and 1/25,000 for key areas, alongside with building a national database and a cross-border water resource monitoring network. The ministry will also classify water resources and recover contaminated rivers in addition to controlling reductions in underground and surface water resources in line with the Viet Nam Sustainable Development Strategy for 2011-2020.