floodplains restoration

In the floodplains of the Mekong Delta, triple rice mono-cropping by high-dyke building has been the major agricultural practice. Due to this practice, the seasonal floodplain in the Delta suffered severe losses, and ecosystem services such as reduced land fertility, lower flood resilience, and decreased aquatic habitat and aquatic biodiversity also declined. To address these challenges, IUCN Viet Nam has implemented the flood-based agriculture project in three upper provinces (An Giang, Dong Thap, and Long An) of the Mekong Delta. The project has aimed to help farmers develop sustainable flood-based agriculture to raise incomes, while protecting the environment and conserving biodiversity. The project has supported the implementation of National Resolution 120 issued by the Government of Viet Nam by demonstrating practical ways to respond to climate change by conserving and even restoring the ecosystem functions of the floodplain in the Plain of Reeds and Long Xuyen Quadrangle to respond to more severe floods and droughts. The flood-based agriculture employed a Nature-based Solution (NbS) and included models such as lotus ecotourism, integrated lotus-fish models, floating rice, flood-season fish aquaculture, and various floating vegetable crops (water caltrops, water chives, etc.). The FbA is a NbS to address the negative consequences of intensive rice crops as mentioned above. FbA uses nature such as flood pulse to restore ecosystem services. Moreover, FbA simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. The flood-based agriculture models can better enable controlled flooding and adaptive approaches to mitigate the risk of drought and to regulate the arrival and receding of floods to be more in tune with crops needs. They support the adaptability of the economy and the climate, as well as preserving and restoring the biodiversity found in the freshwater wetlands of the Mekong Delta.