Assessing social vulnerability to riverbank erosion across the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
Assessing social vulnerability to riverbank erosion across the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
Climate change and trans-boundary development in the major deltas of the world, including the Vietnamese Mekong Delta have exacerbated environmental risks. Land subsidence, riverbed sand mining, and intensive groundwater extraction have all contributed to lower channel bed levels, resulting in riverbank erosion and the loss of assets and livelihoods for local residents. This study investigated the drivers, and classified the social vulnerability of local communities affected by riverbank erosion along two main branches in the Vietnamese Mekong. Direct interviews were conducted with 218 erosion-affected households along the Mekong and Bassac rivers in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces in order to create a social vulnerability index. More than 70% of the total surveyed households belonged to the highly, moderately, or low vulnerability groups, suggesting a range of affected communities within the sample, some of whom had the ability to cope with its short-term impacts. However, the estimated social vulnerability index revealed significant geographical heterogeneity, with communities along the Mekong branch being more vulnerable than those along the Bassac. The recommendations from our investigations include the establishment of community awareness programmes, as well as policy changes that ensure and support local residents’ livelihoods adaptation. Stakeholder participation and enhanced community engagement was found to be the most important tools available in terms of aiding local people cope with the complex impacts of riverbank erosion.
Riverbank erosion, Vietnamese Mekong Delta, social vulnerability
Van, Pham Dang Tri
1b680ebb-f7ee-4376-a3d1-589942946a6b
Trung, Phan Ky
9a3bf331-c0f8-4566-a8ae-5c3ebb52f235
Trong, Thai Minh
184bb24c-7193-424b-bf0c-1b776acb1aa5
Parsons, D.R
d15539a2-a95f-4782-a9b5-19d29a170bcc
Darby, Stephen
4c3e1c76-d404-4ff3-86f8-84e42fbb7970
20 February 2022
Van, Pham Dang Tri
1b680ebb-f7ee-4376-a3d1-589942946a6b
Trung, Phan Ky
9a3bf331-c0f8-4566-a8ae-5c3ebb52f235
Trong, Thai Minh
184bb24c-7193-424b-bf0c-1b776acb1aa5
Parsons, D.R
d15539a2-a95f-4782-a9b5-19d29a170bcc
Darby, Stephen
4c3e1c76-d404-4ff3-86f8-84e42fbb7970
Van, Pham Dang Tri, Trung, Phan Ky, Trong, Thai Minh, Parsons, D.R and Darby, Stephen
(2022)
Assessing social vulnerability to riverbank erosion across the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.
International Journal of River Basin Management.
(doi:10.1080/15715124.2021.2021926).
Abstract
Climate change and trans-boundary development in the major deltas of the world, including the Vietnamese Mekong Delta have exacerbated environmental risks. Land subsidence, riverbed sand mining, and intensive groundwater extraction have all contributed to lower channel bed levels, resulting in riverbank erosion and the loss of assets and livelihoods for local residents. This study investigated the drivers, and classified the social vulnerability of local communities affected by riverbank erosion along two main branches in the Vietnamese Mekong. Direct interviews were conducted with 218 erosion-affected households along the Mekong and Bassac rivers in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces in order to create a social vulnerability index. More than 70% of the total surveyed households belonged to the highly, moderately, or low vulnerability groups, suggesting a range of affected communities within the sample, some of whom had the ability to cope with its short-term impacts. However, the estimated social vulnerability index revealed significant geographical heterogeneity, with communities along the Mekong branch being more vulnerable than those along the Bassac. The recommendations from our investigations include the establishment of community awareness programmes, as well as policy changes that ensure and support local residents’ livelihoods adaptation. Stakeholder participation and enhanced community engagement was found to be the most important tools available in terms of aiding local people cope with the complex impacts of riverbank erosion.
Text
JRBM_2021_0059.R2_Author_Accepted
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 12 December 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 December 2021
Published date: 20 February 2022
Keywords:
Riverbank erosion, Vietnamese Mekong Delta, social vulnerability
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 455917
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455917
ISSN: 1571-5124
PURE UUID: 387219e4-97fb-4759-aba9-ac0c9d98fb3d
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 07 Apr 2022 17:06
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 07:09
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Pham Dang Tri Van
Author:
Phan Ky Trung
Author:
Thai Minh Trong
Author:
D.R Parsons
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics