Mr. Thanh is a fisherman living in Cai Vieng, Phu Long commune, Cat Hai district, Hai Phong city. Prior to the 1990’s he earned his living from net fishing. After he finished working for the army he explored Cai Vieng lagoon. His family started a black tiger shrimp farming pond with only 30 million VND, which was lent to them bythe Cat Hai district government. However, their farming methods failed many times due to their inexperience and lack of techniques.

In the past Mr. Thanh and other local people farmed shrimp using the traditional method: removing mangroves to fill in the natural environment with fish. Sadly, he lost an arm while removing the mangrove due to a mine explosion. After the accident he became aware of the dangers of this destructive practice, not only to his personal safety, but also to the environment, which leads to gradually disappearing mangroves.

In 2011, along with the Phu Long commune Aquaculture Group, Mr. Thanh had a chance to take part in training courses in breed selection, aquaculture and climate change adaptation livelihoods which were taught by experts from MCD. Thanks to the new knowledge and techniques that were learned, Mr. Thanh and other local people have experienced positive changes. Instead of further destroying mangroves, they applied new methods such as damming and strengthening banks to prevent saltwater intrusion. In addition, they used an intercropping shellfish farming model to protect the mangrove.

Aquaculture productivity and personal awareness of environment protection and climate change have been drastically improved. With each day their living standards got better. In particular, Mr. Thanh’s shrimp pond was up to 20 ha in width, generating hundreds of millions VND every year. His experience became an example of an enriched aquaculture livelihood in his commune, and was quoted saying: “We are trying to combine aquaculture production with community based ecotourism for the higher living standard. We cook meals from shrimp in our pond which all tourists show their appreciation”.

The change in awareness and production activities of both Phu Long commune Aquaculture Group and Mr. Thanh is an example of the successes achieved by the project: “Expand cooperation in strengthening climate change resilience in the biosphere reserves and marine conservation in Vietnam”. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and implemented by the Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) the project duration is from 2011 to 2013. The project aims to increase knowledge and skills surrounding many issues such as climate change response, marine resources management regulations and mainstreaming climate change adaptation in livelihood development. Results from the project in Cat Ba National Park and Phu Long commune were used to develop policy of resource management and climate change response in the Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve as well as in other areas in Vietnam.