In Vietnam, wetlands distribute in many places and in different regions. From early 1989 Vietnam signed up to The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as as the 50th member and the first in Southeast Asia. According to experts, to management and rational exploit wetlands, it is necessary to produce maps of distribution of wetland types in Vietnam.
Using satellite imagery for mapping
Wetlands are diverse, productive ecosystems of ecological and economic values. At the same time is also the area with the function of environmental protection such as groundwater regulation, flood control, coastal protection and microclimate stability.
To set up a distribution map of wetland types in Vietnam, it needs to use the information of satellite images, because they are able to identify objects on the surface with high precision. Otherwise, it can allow producing distribution maps of wetland types in different territories.
In Vietnam, there have been many satellite images. Image exploitation and processing technologies have been improved a lot. Especially, Vietnam possesses quite a few modern equipments and specialized software. Therefore, the possibility of using satellite images to produce this type of map will be possible. Moreover, the image analysis can find the rules and characteristics of the distribution, and recognition of the movements of the land as well as conduct research on the correlation between them and wetland ecosystems with natural ecosystems .
1/100.000 scale-map of coastal wetlands has been set up
In the framework of the project “Investigation and assessment of planning and land use planning of coastal wetlands and proposed orientation of use planning for environmental protection and disaster prevention” led by the Department of Environmental Protection, National Remote Sensing Center under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the1/100.000 scale- map ofcoastal wetlands has been produced. However, this map shows the distribution of the wetland types in coastal areas in Vietnam. The map is a basis for building use planning direction for environmental protection and disaster prevention as well as for the conservation and rational exploitation of this important ecosystem.
This is the first map of coastal wetlands of 29 provinces and cities that fully reflects the types of coastal wetlands among 19 types of wetlands of coastal waters and 7 other types of wetlands. Also, it is the first document of coastal wetland that was published in Vietnam. In addition, data on the area of coastal wetland types are listed according to administrative units. The map also shows some kinds of freshwater wetlands in coastal areas such as lakes, ponds , rivers , streams , river island , reservoirs , canals , water-rice, peatlands as well as residential areas, the type of roads, administrative boundaries.
However, according to the classification system of the Ramsar Convention, distribution maps of wetland types include the following contents: saltwater wetlands, freshwater wetlands and artificial wetlands. So far, Vietnam has not had any inventory document which can provide the complete information about the system and distribution of these soils. Therefore, according to experts, in the coming time, Vietnam, should study the possibility of using satellite imagery for mapping the distribution of wetland types in Vietnam in order to propose recommendations and management methods as well as rational exploitation.
Mai Chi
Đăng ký: VietNam News
