- Poor small-scale fisher/aquaculturer/farmer population and coastal inhabitants, especially the youth, who are directly dependent on coastal aquatic and environmental resources and most vulnerable to climate changes and biodiversity degradation
- Community groups (Women’s Union, Youth Union, Fisheries Associations, Veteran’s Associations, etc. ) that have roles in mobilizing local people to participate in improving resource use and management practices and climate change responses
- Local authorities and staff of line ministries including protected areas management boards, who are mandated to administer the coastal communities, safeguard the coastal natural resources, biodiversity and environment, respond to climate change and disaster risks
- Policy makers on coastal zone management and climate change adaptation at national level, who can institutionalize and legalize the improved management practices for nation-wide implementation
- Other civil society organizations that strive for improving the quality of life of the coastal poor and the coastal environment
- Governance and Accountability: The enabling environment for the co-management of natural resources is in place in most of the Biosphere Reserve (BR), Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Nature Reserves/National Parks, and World Heritage Sites, where the voice and opinion of the local community is heard and reflected in the decision making processes.
- Equity and Equality: Values of the products and services produced by small scale fishermen and agriculture farmers are increased and benefit them, contributing to the increased quality of life, especially of the poor, marginalized and women. Youth engagement is also considered a priority.
- Inclusiveness: An enabling environment where lessons learnt from non-state actors in natural resources management and community development are considered by relevant government at all levels.
- Resilience: The concept of resilience is an effective tool for analyzing adaptive changes and uncertainties and how to maintain stability in the face of climate changes, whereas a resilient coastal community is synonymous with sustainability.
Key achievements
Marine and coastal resources management
MCD has introduced and piloted different approaches and tools in coastal resources management, particularly: Biosphere Reserve concept was promoted as an effective tool to care about important ecosystems that need to be protected and restored and its related local communities as part of the system. This concept opens a harmonious approach that is appropriate to various local contexts. Two biosphere reserves in the Red river delta have been supported by MCD. Environment Risk Assessment (ERA) is a tool applied by MCD with support from Swedish experts. This tool was introduced to two biosphere reserves and widely shared with partners and communities. Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) at community level: MCD piloted the implementation of ICZM in selected locations of coral reef areas such as in Ran Trao of Khanh Hoa province. This approach was expanded to adjacent provinces via a network of locally managed marine areas (LMMA) that managed by the local authorities and local people. MCD also provided advisory support to the ICZM program of the government, as well as supporting documentation and dissemination of lessons learned through Nha Trang University. In addition, the concept of a practical approach to Marine Spatial Planning has also been introduced to the relevant government authorities.Livelihoods and community development
Support livelihood and income improvement: MCD has worked in 13 coastal communes, directly supporting more than 1000 households with livelihood models that are adaptive to climate change impact. MCD also provided information and capacity building for almost 30,000 vulnerable poor residents in coastal areas. Some new crop varieties (such as salt tolerant rice, vegetables, mushroom cultivation, etc.) have been introduced by MCD and adopted by the local communities. These new livelihoods helped to significantly improve the income of participating households. In addition, a co-management mechanism of natural resources, including mangrove, aquatic resources has been introduced to the projected communes, to ensure sustainable livelihoods the local people. Enhance capacity for communities in response to climate change: The communities in MCD project locations have been equipped with information and knowledge on climate change, and on solutions to reduce their vulnerability. With this strengthened capacity, they are more able to indentify suitable alternatives of livelihoods, develop strong resilience to climate change conditions and reduce the impacts of natural disasters. Improve capacity of local officials: Alongside support for new livelihood models, hundreds of local officials have been provided with relevant technical knowledge and skills for evaluating the impact of climate change and natural disasters. Through engagement in the process of the Climate Change Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA), these officials have gained not only practical experience, but also skills in data collecting and feedback from communities. These data are used as inputs to planning and integrating climate change response measurements for the local socio-economic development plan and other social programs of the government.Communications and advocacy
With extensive practical field experiences, MCD has made meaningful contributions to a variety of policy forums related to community participation in coastal resource management, such as development of guidelines for co-management of aquatic resources. MCD has also provided recommendations and inputs to different important strategies at the national level on climate change response and marine conservation. Experiences and successful approaches from MCD’s project implementation have also been disseminated widely to partners and the public through a diversity of media such as internet-based social media, newspapers, radio, television etc. Human resources and organizational development During its first period of operation (2003-2007), MCD‘s organisational and human resources were divided into two programs which worked on two ecosystems of coral reef and mangrove.The projects that MCD implemented during this period were mainly small-scale, solving specific issues in each location. From 2008, MCD was re-organized to follow core specialized competencies to promote a professional development for the organization. Besides the core expertises such as environment management, biology, ecology, new competences such as climate change, practical standards in fisheries, ecological risk assessment combined with socio-economic indicators, and social entrepreneurship were added to MCD capacity. Recently MCD has organized its works into three programs: (1) Coastal environment and natural resources; (2) Sustainable coastal livelihoods; (3) Innovations for development. MCD head office is based in Hanoi, with local offices/focal points in all three regions of Vietnam. From a small group of four people in 2005, by now, MCD workforce has grown up to more or less 25 staff, led by a board of directors. All MCD leaders and staffs have bachelor and master level of education, specializing in biology, environmental management, integrated coastal zone management, climate change, fisheries, economics, organizational management, social management, business development, finance and accounting. Throughout its history, MCD has obtained voluntary support from a number of devoted international advisors and experts, who deeply share MCD vision and mission. Partnership and alliance development MCD has been able to establish strategic partnerships at both national and international levels with a wide range of stakeholders including government authorities, INGOs, Vietnamese NGOs, and donor agencies. MCD has been actively engaged in many policy and advocacy forums, especially in the fields of marine living resources conservation, climate change and disaster risk reduction. MCD is a founder and core member of a number of national networks including Network of Vietnamese NGOs Working on Climate Change (VNGO-CC), the Climate Change Working Group (CCWG). MCD is in charge of Resilient Community Chapter of the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment (VACNE). MCD is also a member of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN), South East for Fish for Justice Network (SEAFish). This engagement helps MCD to confirm its position and role at the national level. More importantly, this involvement is a good opportunity for MCD to promote its experiences and successes, and to echo common voices of CSOs for larger policy impact. As well, MCD has also emphasised partnership and alliance building in joint initiatives to pursue common goals. MCD has strengthened and expanded its partnership with several donors such as the EC, Sida, Oxfam, AusAID/DFAT, and the McKnight Foundation. Since 2014, MCD became a direct partner of USAID, and until now has been awarded two important projects from USAID with focus on environment protection and climate change adaptation. These strong partnerships provided a solid foundation for MCD to sustain its funding sources during the past years. Recently, MCD also established collaboration with some companies and new donors, to stabilize its income in the context of possible reduction of conventional grant sources. The ICC-CCC program Was first implemented on 23 September 2000 by the International Marine Alliance (IMA-VN), the precursor of MCD initiated in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa. Since then, MCD has been the focal point for the annual ICC in Vietnam. Key projects, in chronological order- Supporting poor coastal Vietnamese communities in advancing sustainable livelihoods and conserving the environment (2007 – 2011; funded by Oxfam Novib and European Union)
- Supporting poor coastal communities in Vietnam through increasing the leverage and impacts of local NGO community-based interventions (2008 – 2010; funded by McKnight Foundation)
- Research project on the economics of adaptation to climate change in Vietnam’s aquaculture sector (2009 to 2010; funded by World Bank)
- Ecolife Café project– a community learning space to adapt to climate change (2010; funded by iBOP Asia)
- National consultation on developing an awareness-raising program on climate change for communities in and around Marine Protected Areas (MPA) (2010; subcontract with Sustainable livelihoods in and around MPA component, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)
- Developing a manual with guidelines on climate change vulnerability assessment for coastal communities (2009-2010; funded by SEAFish)
- Strengthening CSO participation and local stakeholders’ capacity to mainstream environmental aspects in the development of five-year socio-economic plans in selected coastal central provinces (2010-2012; funded by GEF)
- Enhancing resilience of coastal and marine biosphere reserves in Vietnam through strengthening natural resources management and sustaining community livelihoods (2011 – 2013; funded by SIDA)
- Partnership for improved climate resilience of Biosphere Reserves and Marine Protected Areas in Vietnam (PBM) (2012–2014; funded by Oxfam Novib)
Tags: Center for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development - MCD, Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD)
-
Việc làm tại các tổ chức phi chính phủ - NGO Recruitment
- Website: https://ngorecruitment.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ngorecruitment_vn
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngorecruitment
- Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VieclamPhichinhphu
- Youtube: http://bit.ly/Youtube_NGORecruitment