With a long coastline of over 3,000 km and 12 nautical miles in territorial waters, Viet Nam situates in a high biodiversity center of tropical oceans, possessing significant fisheries resources and marine ecosystems: mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds. Yet as Viet Nam has only developed a part of its potential marine economy, there has already been serious resources degradation and ocean pollution.

Trusted by the government and stakeholders to tackle these marine conservation issues, WWF-Viet Nam is focusing on two areas of Areas of Collective Actions and Innovations (ACAIs) to protect the coastal and marine ecosystems, endangered and critical species and human health:

• Increasing number of fisheries in the transition or improvement to achieve the sustainable fisheries goals, especially those fisheries relating to important marine ecosystem and bycatch species;
• Preventing the ocean from the pollution, focus on the marine plastic waste pollution.

We are currently deploying a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) to combat overfishing and ensure the sustainability of yellowfin tuna, in partnership with industry and the Government of Vietnam. The FIPs involve conducting assessments for stock, bycatch, ecosystem risks etc.; advocating for better law enforcement and policy compliance; implementing co-management model with local fishing communities.

To minimize plastic waste leakage into the ocean, we are implementing a Plastic Smart Cities model that engages cross-sector stakeholders:

• Governments commit their cities to be plastic pollution-free, issuing and enforcing new policies on single-use plastic products;
• Businesses reduce plastic items in daily operation, create and run a corporate platform to share best practices;
• Schools implement educational programs for students for behavior change;
• Local communities implement waste separation and collection systems.