"Floating Season Livelihoods" Project Launched in Tram Chim National Park Buffer Zone
(DTO) The Tram Chim National Park, in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN Viet Nam), on July 31 launched the Project "Floating Season Livelihoods to support agricultural ecosystems in the communes of An Hoa, Phu Cuong and Phu Tho in Dong Thap Province" (FLOW Project).
Funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation through IUCN Viet Nam, the project has a total budget of VND5 billion and is slated to run from July 2026 through the end of 2029.
Operating in the buffer zone and surrounding areas of Tram Chim National Park, the initiative focuses on developing nature-based rice–fish and lotus–fish farming models tailored to natural flood-pulse conditions. This effort aims to gradually transition from intensive triple-rice cropping to nature-based agriculture, reducing production costs, increasing economic value, and enhancing climate resilience.
In the long term, the project seeks to restore hydrological and ecological connectivity between the Tram Chim and Lang Sen Ramsar sites, enhancing water retention capacity, sediment replenishment, biodiversity restoration, and the development of an ecological corridor across the Mekong Delta.
During the 2026–2029 period, the initiative is expected to engage around 150 households across 200–300 hectares. In its first year, it will cover approximately 100.5 hectares, including 99 hectares of rice–fish farming and 1.5 hectares of lotus–fish farming, with an additional 10.5 hectares to be expanded if conditions permit.
In addition to providing fish seed and input materials, the project team will organize technical training for farmers, strengthen the capacity of around 150 households and 20 local officials, and establish a database to assess economic, social, and environmental impacts, providing a baseline for expanding the model in the coming years.
The initiative builds on a long-standing conservation partnership among The Coca-Cola Foundation, WWF-Viet Nam, and Tram Chim National Park.
During the ongoing 2024–2027 period, a parallel WWF project with a budget of USD500,000 has restored more than 1,000 hectares of Eleocharis dulcis (năng kim) grasslands, replenished over 31.44 billion litres of water, and expanded nature-based livelihood models to 228.3 hectares. These interventions have also generated profits worth hundreds of millions of VND for participating cooperatives.
More than 7,300 people have benefited from the WWF project's communication, environmental education, and livelihood development activities.
The FLOW Project is considered a crucial link in implementing the Scheme on the Conservation and Development of Red-crowned Cranes at Tram Chim National Park, contributing to ecosystem restoration, expanding nature-based agricultural models, and creating a sustainable ecological foundation for the return of red-crowned cranes and many other rare plant and animal species to reside long-term.
By MANH THUONG
Translated by X.QUANG
