Benefits of Ecosystem Services
Ministry of the Environment, Japan

provided by Thai Thuy Wetland
in Vietnam

BirdLife International Tokyo

Viet Nature Conservation Centre
Office: Room No. 202, 18T2, Le Van Luong Street, Thanh Xuan district,Hanoi, Vietnam
Email: admin@thiennhienviet.org.vn
Phone: +84-4-62781380 www.thiennhienviet.org.vn

Photos provided by BirdLife International and Viet NatureThai Thuy Wetland
Basic Information

Major Ecosystem Services provided by Thai Thuy Wetland
Harvested Wild Goods

Thai Thuy wetland is one of the key wetland sites
in the Red River Delta and it is identified as anImportant Bird & Biodiversity Area (IBA)*. Thai
Thuy district has 16 km of coastline and isbordered by the Tra Ly river to the south and Thai
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 Binh river mouth
are located extensive areas of mudflats, farmed
as a result of sediment deposition. To the west
lies an area of salt pans and adjacent to the Tra
Ly river is a region of aquaculture ponds. The
wetland brings significant benefits to not only thewildlife but also local people.

One of the major industries in Thai Thuy
is fishing and local people depend on fish from thewetland and the surrounding marine area. Shellfish
are also harvested from the mudflat area of thewetland.
©

Cultivated Goods
20% of the IBA area is covered byaquaculture. Shrimps, fish and also seaweed arecultivated in ponds. Clams are cultivated andharvested in the mudflat area.
Salt is produced by using the sea water but recently
the number of people engaged in this activity hasreduced due to the difficulty to continue on acommercial basis.
A small amount of bee honey is also collected bybreeding bees in the mangrove for family use.
©

Since the area is recognized as globallysignificant for biodiversity and ecosystemservices, the Ministry of Natural Resource andEnvironment (MONRE) has a project aimed at
establishing new wetland conservation reserves inThai Binh and Thua Thien Hue to ensure theintegration of wetland conservation into wider
linked wetland landscapes.
*IBAs are identified using internationally agreed criteria applied
locally by BirdLife Partners and other experts for globally andregionally threatened species, species with highly restricted
ranges, bird communities restricted to biomes andinternationally important congregations of birds.

Importance of Biodiversity &Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the benefits that people
Land use
Area (ha)receive from ecosystems and we depend on theservices to produce our food, regulate our waterIntertidal mudflat
3,766
supplies and climate, and protect us from extreme
Mangrove forest
1,754
weather. A number of ecological and environmental
processes and functions, such as soil formation
Aquaculture
1,411
and nutrient cycling, underpin the ability of an
Salt farm50
ecosystem to deliver services which result in‘goods’ that are valued by people. We also value
Total
6,981
them in less obvious ways: contact with nature
Map and land use of Thai Thuy Wetland
can contribute to spiritual experience, provide
recreational enjoyment and is known to have a positive impact on long-term health and happiness. Thus, theeconomic, health, and social benefits that we derive from ecosystem services are vital for human well-being.

Climate RegulationThe wetland contributes to regulating theglobal climate through storage of carbon. Locally,
water moderates the climate by absorbing heat by
day and releasing heat at night.
©

Eco-tourism
Eco-tourism such as bird
watching and walking in the mudflat has
not been developed at Thai Thuy but
there is potential to attract tourists. Well
managed eco-tourism can provide
benefits not only for tourists, but also for
local people as an income source.
©

Water Purification
The mudflat conducts water
purification through the activities of livingorganisms such as clams, microalgae
and bacteria in the mud. Mangroves
also have a waste treatment function
and these functions are vital to maintainseawater quality.
©

Thai Thuy wetland provides various benefits. Local communities living in five villages located near the IBA harvest
food from the wetland. The mangroves provide a protection function from storms for local communities and theglobal benefit of climate regulation. The wetland also conducts water purification. There are wetland benefits towildlife as well; it provides a home for migratory and residential birds, amphibians, fish, insects and aquatic plants
etc. Among the waterbirds, the site supports threatened species including Spoon-billed Sandpiper (CR),Black-faced Spoonbill (EN) and Baer’s Pochard (CR).

© Jan Sasse for TEEB

Disaster Risk Reduction©
Mangroves in wetland areas can reducethe impact of coastal disasters such as flooding andstorm damage. Previous research in Vietnam showsthat the damage to the sea dyke and coastal
communes by typhoons has been reduced by thisfunction of mangroves.

Valuation of the Ecosystem Services
Thai Thuy wetland provides various ecosystem services. The economic value of a small subset of these
services was estimated using a rapid methodological approach.

Exchange rate: 22,300VND/USD

Harvested Wild Goods$2.2 million/year

Fish harvested in Thai Thuy district $1.37 million/year 1
Shellfish collected in the mudflat $0.87 million/year

Benefit

Cultivated Goods $ 11.7 million/year

Fish and Shrimp harvested from semi natural aquaculture $0.58 million/year($2,524/ha/year) 2
Fish harvested from intensive aquaculture $8.93 million/year ($7,558/ha/year) 2
Clam harvested from clam culture in mudflat $ 1.93 m/year
Salt production in the salt farm $0.22 million/year 3

Interpretation of the Results
The value of ecosystem services at Thai Thuy were estimated based on existing data andsimple interview surveys. Since only some of the major ecosystem services were selected forthe survey, this is a minimum estimate. There is also need for caution in the interpretation.
These economic values are estimates only and should be taken with caution due to limited
sample size in 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 futuresince the survey did not include the sustainability of resource use.
Despite the above caution, Thai Thuy wetland provides multiple benefits, some of which canbe estimated using economic valuation.

Threats to the wetland
Disaster Risk Reduction $ 1.1 million/year

Protective benefits of mangrove forest $1.05 million/year 4

The following activities are major threats to wetland. In order to receive the benefit derived
from the wetland, such activities need to be monitored and controlled in a sustainable way.
- Electric shock fishing : it causes overexploitation of fish resources- Industrial and agricultural water pollution : contamination of the water affects human healthand threatens the existing biologically diverse plant and animal species.

Climate Regulation $60.3 million

The benefit of global climate regulation from the carbon stored in the wetland is$ 60.26 million. This is an one-off stored value, i.e. not an annual value. 5

Net Benefit : $ 15.0 million / year

To receive this benefit sustainably…for future generations

Plus $ 60.3 million of carbon storage function*1 Since there is no boundary in marine area, the contribution of mangroves to production function for wild fish wasestimated as 25% according to previous research (Samonte-Tan, 2007).
*2 Since the sample size for aquaculture is limited, confidence in the results is low and should be improved by further
survey with wider sample size.
*3 In other economic calculations, family labor cost is deducted in order to capture the net benefit from ecosystemservices. However, family labor for salt farming was not deducted since most of them are elderly people or who areunable to engage in other jobs.
*4 The value was estimated by using previous research undertaken by the International Federation of Red Cross andRed Crescent Societies in a report entitled “Case study: Mangrove plantation in Viet Nam: measuring impact andcost benefit”*5 There is no fixed price of carbon and the market price is highly variable. In this survey, the price of Plan Vivo
certification ($31.69 MgC, in 2016) was used for the calculation. This is the price that a buyer would pay for carbon
credits from the Plan Vivo certification scheme, if there was to be a carbon trade project established at Thai Thuy.

Appropriate conservation
action and management
reduces pressures on thewetland and helps tomaintain good ecosystem
condition of the wetland.
Healthy ecosystems deliver
benefits sustainably topeople.

ImprovedConservation Action& Management

Reduced Pressuresupon Wetland

Increased Benefit
from Wetland

Healthy State ofWetland

How to Measure Ecosystem Services?
This survey was conducted by using a rapid methodological approach, which is simplified and adjusted froma guidance toolkit called “TESSA” –Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment. In “TESSA” , thestep-by-step process for measurement is designed as a decision key and it leads the user through a seriesof steps or questions (For more information: http://tessa.tools/). In order to estimate the value of ecosystemservices rapidly and simply, existing research was used as much as possible and simple interviews wereconducted in order to complement the existing information.

Why value ecosystem services ?
Despite their importance, ecosystem services are consistently undervalued in conventional economicanalyses and decisions. The valuation results help people to recognize ecosystem services betterand the understanding can lead to wise use of the wetland 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.

The area of the IBA (ImportantBird and Biodiversity Area)
was selected as the site forthis measurement.
Background information andprevious research wascollected for scoping andidentifying the beneficiaries.

Preliminary work &Rapid appraisal
・Define site, based on
biological importance andperceived threats
・Explore policy context
・Identify the stakeholders
・Identify habitat, services andbeneficiaries

Methods selection
・Select relevant services toassess
・Select appropriate methods
for each service

In this survey, four ecosystemservices were identified andmethods for each service wereselected- Harvested wild goods- Cultivated goods- Disaster risk reduction- Global climate regulation

All data collected during
the survey were analyzed
with the existing data andliterature. For the climate
regulation and disasterprevention, desk top
analyses wereconducted.

Data acquisition
・Collect/collate data for site

Analysis andcommunication
・Analyse data
・Communicate messages

Data was collected fromexisting data and simple
interviews. In order to identify
missing services and collectinformation, a stakeholder
meeting was conducted withthe representatives of thearea.