According to a recent report by the National Steering Committee for Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation, Vietnam’s biodiversity and water resources are facing massive environmental pressure. Over the past 50 years, the area of mangrove forests has decreased by three quarters while primeval forests now make up just 13 percent of the total forest area.

The action plan aims to raise national forest coverage to 42-43 percent and restore 50 percent of degraded watershed forests by 2010.

The nation will also work hard to increase the total area of submerged and marine reserves to over 1.2 million ha and restore 200,000 ha of mangroves.