On November 29, 2023, in Nam Dinh City, the Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) collaborated with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) of Nam Dinh province and partners to organize a final meeting of the project “Strategic Plastic Litter Abatement in the Song Hong”. The meeting aimed to synthesize the project processes, activities and results, and to share the project lessons learned to stakeholders, thereby promoting application and spread of the project successes.

The meeting was attended by over 100 delegates including national-level agencies representatives: Vietnam Agency of Seas and Islands; Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration; Environmental Pollution Control Department; Department of Fisheries; Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment; the Institute of Sciences for Environment, Seas and Islands; Vietnam Academy for Water Resources; MCD; Delegates of communities and organizations from coastal provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ca Mau; and delegates from Nam Dinh: Provincial People’s Committee Office; Leaders and officers of DONRE; representatives of Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Transportation, Science and Technology, Traffic Police Division, Riverway Management Company No.5, Nam Dinh Environmental Joint Stock Company and Loc Hoa Waste Treatment Facility, Nam Truc Green Environment Company; Leaders of the People’s Committee and officers of the Division of Natural Resources and Environment of Nam Dinh City and Districts of My Loc, Nam Truc, Xuan Truong, and Giao Thuy; representatives of the People’s Committee and the core community groups operating the trash trappers in My Tan, Tran Te Xuong, Dien Xa, Nam Thang, Xuan Thanh, Giao Huong, and other related localities; Xuan Thuy National Park Management Board; the Youth Union of Giao Thuy District. The meeting was reported by representatives of national and local press and television agencies.

Delegates visited the photo exhibition of project activities

The project “Strategic Plastic Litter Abatement in the Song Hong” was funded by Ocean Conservancy (OC) and implemented by MCD and its partners in Nam Dinh province from August 2020 to December 2023. This project aims to promote innovative technological and communication solutions for improving riverine and estuarine solid waste management in the Red River delta in Nam Dinh. At the final meeting, the prime project implementers including MCD, experts and representatives of local authorities and core community groups from the project areas provided extensive reports on the processes and activities of the project, and shared the results and lessons learned from the project implementation. The reports showed the most highlights that after more than three years of implementation and inheritance from the previous initiative, the project conducted research for design improvement, then manufactured, installed, and operated a total of 06 river trash capture tools (called “trash trappers”), of which 05 trash trappers are on the Red River in My Tan commune of My Loc district; Dien Xa commune and Nam Thang commune of Nam Truc district; Xuan Thanh commune of Xuan Truong district; Giao Huong commune of Giao Thuy district; and 01 trash trapper is on Dao River in Tran Te Xuong ward of Nam Dinh city. At the same time, the project also conducted various research activities about the river and coastal floating waste in Nam Dinh, and communication campaigns for stakeholders, with mobilization of local media, to raise awareness of plastic pollution sources and promoting solutions for addressing the plastic waste pollution.

Discussion session

The project achieved notable results, fulfilled the targeted objectives, with over 15,000 kg of plastic waste, of which plastic waste accounts for 51.4%, collected from the trash trappers then sorted and treated; about 4,500 direct participants in the project activities; more than 800 participants strengthened capacity through training, dialogues and technical support activities on solid waste and plastic waste management; nearly 19 million i-people having accesss to the project information, knowledge and activities, and 45 agencies and units coordinating in project implementation.

Awarding certificate of recognition to the core groups operating the trash trappers

At the meeting, Ms. Ho Thi Yen Thu – Permanent Deputy Director of MCD said: “The Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) has a long journey of nearly 20 years having supported Nam Dinh province in environmental protection, ecosystem conservation, and improvement of coastal community life. Currently, ocean plastic waste is a serious problem. Most ocean plastic waste originates from land-based sources. When improperly disposed of or ineffectively managed, waste can leak into waterways and flow to the sea. With this project, we focused on improving waste management in the Red river and Dao river areas. With much effort in receiving international guidance and experience, promoting local technology and indigenous knowledge, and mobilizing the participation of stakeholders, the project now well established a pilot trash trapper network on the rivers, which provided a practical model for waterway trash collection and resulted in positive impacts on community awareness and actions for plastic waste reduction, making inputs towards improving related policies. In that process, MCD played the roles of technical and governance assistance provider, connector and facilitator. MCD is very delighted that the project achieved the successes that are well received and owned by the local government and community, and could be maintained and replicated. We sincerely thank for the enthusiastic support and effective cooperation of national and local agencies, experts, local communities, and donor partners during the project implementation”.

Ms. Ho Thi Yen Thu – Permanent Deputy Director of MCD

Mr. Do Quang Trung – Deputy Director of the Nam Dinh DONRE shared: “The project Strategic Plastic Litter Abatement in the Song Hong significantly contributed to raising the attention and awareness of Nam Dinh officials and local people about solid waste and plastic waste pollution, especially in riverine, estuarine and coastal areas. The project has successfully inherited and improved the trash trapper initiative and replicated it in other locations along the Red and Dao rivers, contributing to the improvement of solid and plastic waste management in the marine environment of Nam Dinh province. We appreciate the efforts of MCD, national and international partners and experts, who supported the implementation of this project. We hope that we will continue to coordinate more closely and successfully in the next projects in Nam Dinh, for clean river blue sea”.

Mr. Do Quang Trung – Deputy Director of the Nam Dinh DONRE

At the meeting, the participants also attended the virtual remarks from a senior representative of Ocean Conservancy – the project donor, which highly appreciated the results achieved by the project. In the plenary discussion, the meeting participants shared information and methods on monitoring and assessment of river waste, and experience in implementing trash trappers. They also discussed and agreed upon the coordination among the key stakeholders in maintaining and replicating the successes of the project, including taking over the management and operation of the trash trappers with appropriate financial and governance mechanisms after the project ends. These efforts would be meaningful to manage more effectively the solid waste on river, riverine, and estuarine areas, contributing to the implementation of the Action Plan on Marine Plastic Waste Management of Nam Dinh province and Vietnam.

All Delegates

For more information, please visit: https://vir.com.vn/project-aimed-at-reducing-plastic-river-waste-ends-next-month-107248.html