1.2. Study site
Hai Phong is located between 20o
30' to 20o
01' N latitude and 106o
23'to 107o
08' E longitude. This city
belongs to the Northern coastal zone of Vietnam and lies within the tropical monsoons belt of Asia. It
borders Quang Ninh province to the north, Hai Duong province to the west, Thai Binh province to the
south, and the Gulf of Tonkin to the east. It is about 120 km from the capital Hanoi. The length of the sea
coast of Hai Phong is 125 km including the length of coast surrounding the offshore islands.
Hai An and Do Son are urban coastal districts of Hai Phong city. There are eight communes in the
former district and seven communes in the later district, of which mangrove forest are found mainly in
Trang Cat commune, Hai An district and Bang La commune, Do Son district. There are many similarities
between the two districts. In 2002, Hai An was separated from the An Duong suburban district and
became one of seven urban districts of Hai Phong following National Decree 106/CP while Do Son
became an urban district in 2007, following National Decree 145/CP. The population of Hai An was
about 103,300 and 46,200 in Do Son district in 2010.
There were some mangrove plantation programs supported by both international funding agencies and
the State undertaken in the two districts in particular and in Hai Phong in general. The Japanese Red
Cross (JRC) was the main international organization taking care of mangrove plantations program in these districts [5]. The 327 program was a national afforestation program related to mangrove plantation
on bare land and coastal sand in order to reduce poverty and promote fixed cultivation and
sedentarization