IUCN through Viet Nam Business for Environment (VB4E) has collaborated with Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE)/MONRE to produce a communications video to show the commitment of retailers on reducing single-use plastic bags through joining the Alliance of Retailers. This activity is a part of Initiative “Rethinking Plastic” funded by EU and BMU. Expertise France is the implementing agency of this initiative in Viet Nam. So far, 16 businesses have joined the Alliance.

Please see the below video to see how retailers committed to reducing single-use plastic bags and plastic waste in their supermarkets, stores, etc.

On January 18, 2022, IUCN, through VB4E and the project “Advocating for Nature-based Solutions to Address the Coastal Squeeze in Mekong Delta” funded by UBS, conducted a field survey of mangroves in Vinh Chau commune, Soc Trang province. The field trip had the participation of PAN Group, CP Group and experts from IUCN. The purpose of the trip is to study and jointly discuss suitable ideas for the project restoring mangrove forests in Soc Trang.

For more information, please click the LINK (Vietnamese only)

GreenViet and GSI through the EU-funded-project “Establishing a funding foundation for biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability in Da Nang City, Vietnam” has collaborated with VB4E to call for the application of small grants on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Central of Viet Nam. VB4E is the partner of the project to provide technical advice for application screening, M&E and promote business participation in this process. 

After thoroughly reviewing all applicants, VB4E, GreenViet and GSI have selected the top 4 proposals. Three out of 4 selected proposals involved the participation and contribution of businesses. They are:  

Legal entity group: 

1. Establishing Zero Waste Community in An Hai Bac ward, Danang based on the community garden in Morrison street (around EUR20,000): C&E is the main applicant with VNWA, Tram Eco and other businesses such as Mud Bistro which will direct 16% of its net income to the project and the Lotus Collective which establish a modular community space, host classes and manage events to promote the garden and its mission. 

2. Strengthen partnership in promoting the development of ecological public space models in Hue City (including extended areas) (around EUR20,000): CCRD is the main applicant with Think Play Ground (a social enterprise) and Hue Women Union. 

Non-legal entity group: 

3. Piloting biodiversity conservation in West Truong Son through the implementation of the forest garden model in coffee farming (around EUR 5000): Coffee collaboration group Xary 2 is the main applicant with PUN coffee Vietnam Co.Ltd. 

4. Promoting the experiential learning activities in environmental education at secondary schools in Da Nang city (around EUR 5000): DIM Club is the main applicant with Building Up Sustainability Centre (BUS). 

Round 2 of Small Grant will be announced in 2022, with the expectation for more participation from the business sector. 

With the aim of raising public awareness of changing habits and reducing plastic bags and disposable plastic products”, Institute of Strategy, Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), with “Rethinking plastic – Circular economic solutions for marine waste” project, has carried out multiple media activities, including the YouTube video: “For today, for tomorrow”.

The video highlights the environmental risks of plastic waste and calls for changes in disposable plastic use habits. The video features MC Danh Tung, MC Thuy Linh, Actor Ha Huong, Young Actor Phuong Nghi, and Young Actor Thien Huy.

VB4E partnered with ISPONRE to implement the aforementioned project and produce other media videos.

For details, please see the below video

With an aim of promoting communications and awareness on Responsible Agriculture to wider audience, especially businesses and government agencies, IUCN, through VB4E, has partnered with Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper (VAN). Within this partnership, VAN has produced series of articles and talk shows about Responsible Agriculture on its online platform including good practices and initiatives from businesses and communities on reducing pesticide use, reducing land degradation due to over-exploitation, protecting water resources, increasing flood absorption, increasing sediments to reduce subsidence, restoring ecosystems functions and adapting to climate changes.

The outputs are listed as follows

1. Dual benefits from IPM 

Thanks to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, thousands of hectares of nereid lagoons in Hai Phong can be used for cultivating various high-quality rice varieties, bringing “dual benefits” to farmers.  

Previously, farmers were not interested in cultivating rice and other crops on the farmed area of nereid or only cultivated to create an environment for the nereid, without much attention to crops productivity. That is because the habitat of the nereid must be extremely clean, or else it would lead to immense revenue loss.  

However, with the new knowledge from the IPM program, farmers now know how to make biological pesticides from natural ingredients, such as ginger, fermented garlic, with high efficiency in preventing pests. 

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK 

2. Enhancing floating rice values  

IUCN cooperates with Lang Sen Wetlands Reserve, Tan Hung District People’s Committee (Long An) and Loc Troi Group to implement a floating rice farming model to help farmers improve their incomes alongside biodiversity conservation, soil nutrition restoration and freshwater storage goals.  

The floating rice seeding is deployed by the special application of drones, promising to bring high productivity to farmers. 

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK  

3. Promoting incomes from floating agriculture season in Mekong Delta area  

IUCN Vietnam promotes projects for incomes from floating agriculture season in the Mekong Delta area in various ways, piloting several models in the region such as lotus cultivation for tourism development, floating rice cultivation and vocational training in weaving lotus silk. 

The effectiveness of the models has convinced the community and local authorities to participate. Tan Hung District People’s Committee (Long An) shows great support and willingness to establish suitable conditions for the project and implement product consumption contracts for farmers.  

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK  

4. Recycling agricultural residue – Experts’ perspectives 

The rate of agricultural residues in Viet Nam is considerably high. However, the limited reuse of agricultural residues has caused unnecessary depletion, environmental damages and disease risks.   

The talk show: “Utilizing agricultural residues to promote circular and organic agriculture and increase production values” has proposed practical solutions for adopting agricultural residues as renewable resources, sustaining the value-added chain.   

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK 

5. “Green energy” from the roofs of cow farm and bagasse 

TH Group has been producing electricity from bagasse – a by-product of Nghe An Sugar Cane Co., Ltd (NASU). Electricity from bagasse provides 100% of the electricity used for all activities of NASU plan and is also transferred into national grid. NASU builds a Circular Economy model and recognizes the values of production waste and residue.   

In 2020, in response to the National Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy 2019 -2030, TH Group has invested in developing solar power system on the roofs of the world’s largest farm cluster in Nghe An (a record certified in 2020). This green energy sources have provided for 1/8, sometimes 1/5, total electricity consumption needs of TH farm.   

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK 

6. Biological products, the key to sustainable shrimp farming 

Shrimp farming and the fisheries sector in general have been struggling with challenges, especially diseases on shrimp, causing great damage to farmers. The environments for shrimp farming are under pressure due to waste, pollution, the impact of climate change, drought, saltwater intrusion, … The abuses of chemical use and antibiotics have not been fully controlled.   

The talk show discussed possible approaches, solutions, management strategies and application of new techniques and processes such as biological products in shrimp farming to minimize the above risks and to strive for sustainable shrimp farming.   

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK  

7. Energy-efficient electricity generation from bagasse 

TH Group has been producing electricity from bagasse – byproducts from sugarcane pressing process of Nghe An Sugar Cane Co., Ltd (NASU – a member of TH Group). At NASU, electricity co-generation technology from bagasse is integrated into the production chains.  

Adhering to the Circular Economy model, NASU reuses waste and byproducts under the motto “Waste is a resource”. In addition to bagasse, all byproducts from sugarcane are used for other purposes. Water is also circulated.  

For the newspaper, please visit (Vietnamese only): LINK 

Joint efforts in reducing plastic waste through “Chill duet dance on TikTok” contest 

Duet dance contest on TikTok with Ms. Nguyet (actor Ha Huong) is one activity of the online communication campaign “Joint efforts in reducing plastic waste” initiated by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) within the framework of the pilot project “Establishing a Supermarket Alliance to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic bags in Vietnam” (PLASTIC ALLIANCE Project).   

This is an initiative under the Project “Rethinking Plastic – a Circular Economic Solution for Marine Waste” funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the French international technical cooperation agency (Expertise France) in Vietnam, aiming at promoting the use of environmentally friendly bags, reducing plastic waste and single-use plastic bags. 

The campaign has received the support and active participation from different partners: Viet Nam Business for Environment (VB4E) Alliance, Vietnam Packaging Recycling Organization (PRO Vietnam), World Wildlife Fund in Vietnam (WWF-Vietnam), Embassy of the Netherlands, Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and Touch Media.  

After over a month, the contest received tremendous support, with 34 clips from contestants of different backgrounds and ages. The jury, Ms. Kim Thi Thuy Ngoc – ISPONRE, Miss Congeniality Duong Thuy Linh, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Anh – IUCN, had an exciting discussion to select the top clips. 

The contest has awarded 01 first prize, 01 second prize, 01 third prize, 01 most public vote clip, 01 youngest contestant and 20 consolation prizes. The prizes are as follows:   

First prize: Tiểu Màn Thầu (tieumanthauuuu.111) https://www.tiktok.com/@tieu…/video/7028922237696609563…  

Secon prize: vtha (ha_182425) https://www.tiktok.com/@ha…/video/7032555119182957850…   

Third prize: Nhím_LinhNhi2017 (nhim_linhnhi2017) https://www.tiktok.com/@nhim…/video/7032158986220621082…   

Most public vote clip: lananhphung85 (lananhphung85)  

Youngest contestant: Hoahongtran1 (Hong Tran92 Flower)  

Using TikTok, a popular social network, the contest has achieved great success, bringing the message “Shopping without plastic bags” to the community.  

VB4E contributes to promoting communications to reduce single-use plastic bags at supermarkets/retailers 

With the aim of promoting communication to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags at supermarkets/retailers, on November 26, 2021, the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), the Hanoi Department of Industry Trade, Vietnam Business for Environment (VB4E) co-organized the businesses consultation meeting on the “Alliance’s Communication Plan for plastic bags usage reduction” with retailers and stakeholders. 

Currently, 15 enterprises have signed agreements to join the Plastic Alliance (a coalition of supermarkets and retailers committed to decreasing single-use plastic products) initiated by ISPONRE and Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade. This activity is a part of the project “Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter” funded by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Expertise France is the implementing agency of this project in Viet Nam.  

The meeting welcomed representatives from Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, IUCN, ISPONRE, VB4E, For Vietnamese Stature Foundation, WWF and 15 retailers, including AEON, Mega Market, An Nam, TH Truemart, Lock & Lock, Lotte, Big C, the Bodyshop, Coopermart … and other stakeholders. 

The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss the project’s Communication Plan and to propose communication activities implemented in 2021 & 2022 and collaborative plan between the Alliance business members and partners. 

Currently, there are 3 retailers in the Alliance pioneering the reduction of single-use plastic bags: Decathlon’s Hanoi branch, MM Mega Market supermarket chain and Annam Gourmet Market. However, their efforts were hindered by multiple obstacles, mainly the consumers’ awareness, inconsistency in communication strategies and plans among retailers and lack of resources. Other retailers also highlighted the difficulties in reducing single-use plastic bags, including balancing the interests of businesses, consumers and the environment and the high cost of reusable bags. 

To deal with these difficulties, participating retailers have proposed many practical suggestions: initiating a joint communication message of the Project taken by retailers, a consistent communication message; increasing communication through both traditional and non-traditional media channels; producing videos on the harmful impacts of plastic waste and positive effects of environmentally friendly bags; helping consumers feel interested not pushed; collaborating with associations and production units in Hanoi to promote communications, etc. Additionally, the development of a step-by-step roadmap and accurate measurement indicators and reusable bags subsidization will ease the transitional process.  

For Vietnamese Stature Foundation’s representative also shared the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection. The Foundation is willing to cooperate with retailers to design and build communication activities such as exhibitions or contests on plastic waste pollution. 

In the coming time, VB4E will cooperate with ISPONRE and the For Vietnamese Stature Foundation to continue working with the Alliances and supporting the implementation of supermarkets and retailers’ communication activities to raise the awareness of customers in reducing the use of single-use plastic bags.  

Call for Letters of Inquiry, Indo-Burma Hotspot

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and IUCN are currently accepting Letters of Inquiry (LoIs) from nongovernmental organisations, community groups, Indigenous People’s organisations, women’s groups, private companies and other civil society organisations for projects that address the conservation of biodiversity in the Indo-Burma Hotspot and that meet the criteria set out in this call.  

CEPF welcomes applications from current and past grantees, as well as organizations that have not previously received CEPF funding. Priorities eligible for funding under this call include: (1) Empower local communities to engage in conservation and management of priority sites; (2) Strengthen the capacity of civil society to work on biodiversity, communities and livelihoods at regional, national, local and grassroots levels.  

Please apply if relevant or share in your network: 

• Opening date: 11 November 2021
• Closing date: 5:00 PM 21 December 2021
• Grant size: small grants (up to US$40,000) and large grants (US$40,000 to US$250,000)
• Eligible countries: Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam 
• Eligible priorities: Strategic Directions 4 and 8. For details of priorities, please see https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/indo-burma-small-large-cfp-11-21-english.pdf 

Coral reefs monitoring in Cat Ba National Park: Propose effective management and conservation measures

Within the framework of VB4E, IUCN collaborated with Cat Ba National Park and TH food chain joint-stock company to implement the project “Coral reefs monitoring in Cat Ba National Park”. During the time of 26-30/9/2021, the first monitoring activity was conducted at 3 strictly protected areas namely Van Ta, Gio Cung and Ba Dinh.

The activity aimed to conduct the survey, evaluate the coral coverage and hard species composition at the 3 mentioned areas. The first survey was done with several coral samples taken, and images data collected for research. The next survey will be in November 2021.

The results of the 2 surveys would help the expert team in releasing some advice for effective management and coral conservation at Cat Ba National Park. In the next following years, the survey activities will be continually maintained to collect data for the more precise and adequate results to propose solutions that help conserve coral reefs effectively.

Promoting communications on plastic waste reduction at TH true mart

According to the recent survey in March 2021 conducted by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other partners on the current status of single-use nylon bags at 48 supermarkets in Ha Noi, the number of single-use nylon bags used is 104,000/day, an equivalence of 38 million nylon bags/year and 46/48 supermarkets provide free nylon bags. On average, each supermarket consumes approximately 1,454 nylon bags/day, ranging from 70 to 2800 bags.

Recently, on 22/7/2021, the Prime Minister enacted Decision No. 1316/QD-TTg: Approval of the scheme for strengthening management of plastic waste in Viet Nam. By 2025, the scheme strives to use 100% environmentally friendly nylon bags and packages instead of non-biodegradable nylon bags for daily-use purposes at commercial centers and supermarkets; ensure to collect, reuse, recycle and dispose 85% of generated plastic waste.

With an aim of promoting communications, reducing the use of single-use plastic products in supermarket chains and retailers and bolstering the goal of Decision No. 1316, on 27/8/2021, Vietnam Business for Environment (VB4E) in collaboration with ISPONRE co-organised the workshop “Promoting communications on plastic waste reduction at supermarket chains and retailers”. The first one was conducted with TH true mart under TH Group.

TH true mart is one of 14 businesses that signed agreements to join the Plastic Alliance (a coalition of supermarkets and retailers committed to decreasing single-use plastic products) initiated by ISPONRE and Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade. This activity is a part of the project “Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter” funded by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Expertise France is the implementing agency of this project in Viet Nam.

The main objective of the workshop was to raise the awareness of TH True Mart’s staff on plastic pollution and its interlinkage with human health; provide information on the status of single-use nylon bags in supermarkets and brainstorm ideas for the communications plan of TH true mart.

The workshop welcomed 97 representatives from IUCN, ISPONRE, VB4E, Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF); retail chain TH True Mart’s staff, TH Group’s executives, Hanoi University of Public Health, Ha Noi University of Civil Engineering,…

In addition to information about plastic pollution – health interaction and the status of nylon bag use in supermarkets, the IUCN representative also shared international experiences and some good business practices that can be applied to reduce plastic use. The ISPONRE representative presented the communications strategy of the project “Rethinking Plastics”. Accordingly, the staff of TH True Mart suggested ideas to implement communication activities at their company, simultaneously contributing to the overall “Rethinking Plastics” communications strategy.

The TH true mart’s representative presented measures to reduce plastic waste at TH true mart and company’s roadmap on environmental protection and plastic waste reduction integration with the TH Group’s Sustainable Development Strategy. 

The workshop has shown the need for raising awareness on plastic pollution for staff of supermarkets to better communicate with customers when carrying out plastic waste reduction campaigns. Customers, accordingly, can further understand about plastic pollution and cooperate with supermarkets during implementation. Additionally, business awards or benchmarking programmes for businesses pioneering in plastic waste reduction should be implemented by governmental agencies such as the Department of Industry and Trade and ISPONRE,…

In the coming time, VB4E will continue to partner with ISPONRE to expand communications activities to other supermarkets and retailers that have joined the Plastic Alliance and made the pledge. 

For the workshop report, please see: LINK

[1] https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Tai-nguyen-Moi-truong/Quyet-dinh-1316-QD-TTg-2021-phe-duyet-De-an-tang-cuong-cong-tac-quan-ly-chat-thai-nhua-482053.aspx