Thai Thuy Wetland
Basic Information
Ministry of the Environment, Japan

Benefits ofEcosystem Services- Thai Thuy Wetland,Vietnam -BirdLife International Tokyo

Viet Nature Conservation Centre
Email:admin@thiennhienviet.org.vn
Phone: +84-4-62781380
www.thiennhienviet.org.vn

Thai Thuy wetland is one of the key wetland
sites in the Red River Delta and it is identified
as an Important Bird & Biodiversity Area (IBA)*.
Thai Thuy district has 16 km of coastline and isbordered by the Tra Ly river to the south andThai Binh river to the north. The IBA site covers
6,981 ha of the coastal area and is bisected by
the Diem Ho river. To the south of the Thai Binhriver mouth are located extensive areas ofmudflats, farmed as a result of sedimentdeposition. To the west lies an area of salt pans
and adjacent to the Tra Ly river is a region ofaquaculture ponds. The wetland brings
significant benefits to not only local people but
also wildlife as well; it provides a home for
migratory and residential birds, amphibians,
fish, insects and aquatic plants etc. Among thewaterbirds, the site supports threatened speciesincluding Spoon-billed Sandpiper (CR),Black-faced Spoonbill (EN) and Baer’s Pochard(CR).
*IBAs are identified using internationally agreed criteria
applied locally by BirdLife Partners and experts

Photos provided by BirdLife International and Viet NatureValuation of the Major Ecosystem Services
Net Benefit : $ 15.0 million/year
Plus $ 60.3 million of carbon storage function

Harvested Wild Goods $2.2 million/year

Disaster Risk Reduction $ 1.1 million/year

Cultivated Goods $ 11.7 million/year

Climate Regulation $60.3 million*

One of the major industriesin Thai Thuy is fishing andlocal people depend on fishfrom the wetland and thesurrounding marine area.
Shellfish are also harvested
from the mudflat area.
Shrimps and fish arecultivated in ponds. Clams
are cultivated and harvested
in the mudflat area. Salt isproduced by using the sea
water although recently the
number of people engaged
h a s re d u c e d d u e to thedifficulty to continue on acommercial basis.

Mangroves can reduce theimpact of coastal disasters.
Previous research showsthat damage to the sea dyke
and coastal communes bytyphoons has been reducedby mangroves.
The wetland contributes toregulating the global
climate through storage ofcarbon. Locally, watermoderates the climate byabsorbing heat by day andreleasing heat at night.
*The value is an one-off
stored value, i.e. not anannual value.

Caution for interpretation of the valuation

・These economic values are estimates only and should be taken with caution due to limited sample sizein the surveys
・Less important services such as bee honey and harvesting sea grasses were excluded
・Water purification function was excluded since it was difficult to estimate, although it is an important function
・The value of wider biodiversity is not covered in the valuation since it cannot be measured with monetary
value in a straightforward way.
・The monetary value presented will vary year by year along with the market situation.
・It is uncertain that the estimated value would be maintained at the same level in future since the survey
did not include the sustainability of resource use.
Despite the above caution, Thai Thuy wetland provides multiple benefits, some of which can be estimatedusing economic valuation.

Importance of Biodiversity &Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the benefits that people
receive from ecosystems and we depend on theservices to produce our food, regulate our watersupplies and climate, and protect us from extreme
weather. A number of ecological and environmental
processes and functions, such as soil formationand nutrient cycling, underpin the ability of an
ecosystem to deliver services, all of which
depends on biodiversity.
Thai Thuy wetland provides various ecosystemservices. The economic value of a small subset ofthese services was estimated using a rapid
methodological approach and the results areshown on the left column.

Why value ecosystem service ?

Despite their importance, ecosystem services are
consistently undervalued in conventional economic
analyses and decisions. The valuation results help
people to recognize ecosystem services better andthe understanding can lead to wise use of thewetland such as sustainable agriculture andfisheries. It can also lead to better policy
formulation, resulting in land-use and management
options that deliver more effective conservation,
resilient livelihoods and poverty alleviation.