October 15, 2020
In our project on local pilot measures to raise awareness of climate change in Central Vietnam, which is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office’s Climate Fund, UfU is encouraging four young Vietnamese project teams to develop and implement their own project ideas. Despite the current challenges posed by the pandemic, the projects are progressing successfully. The project teams have written news to inform about the status and recent successes of their projects. Below you can read the news from the mangrove and biochar project teams.
Volunteer summer campaign 2020 and tree planting ceremony in Tan Ninh commune (written by Hoang Anh Vu)
On August 2, 2020, the Communist Youth Union HoChiMinh of Quang Binh University and the Youth Union of Quang Ninh District organized a tree planting ceremony for the local population. The event is part of a small-scale project on climate change sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU, Berlin) and the Mientrung Institute for Scientific Research (MISR, Hue City). Speaking at the tree planting ceremony, Mr. Hoang Anh Vu (project manager) explained that restoring the area along the Kien Giang River in Tan Ninh commune with mangrove trees will create new scenic value and thus serve local ecotourism. As the local people will recognize the value of the mangrove forest, they will plant more trees to further increase the forest’s expansion and permanence. The event was attended by about 250 volunteers, including local residents, members of the HoChiMinh Communist Youth Union of Quang Binh University and members of the Quang Ninh District Youth Union. During the event, the volunteers planted a total of 1000 mangroves along the Kien Giang River in Tan Ninh commune, Quang Ninh district. The organizers would like to thank all the volunteers who participated in the planting. Our special thanks go to the German Federal Foreign Office, the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU, Berlin) and the Mientrung Institute for Scientific Research (MISR, Hue City) for supporting this event. We hope to plant more trees in the future to further strengthen the community’s resilience to climate change.
Stove construction and biochar production in Krong Klang village in Quang Tri province (written by Nguyen Van Ky Truong)
On July 22, 2020, the project “Pilot project for the conversion of agricultural waste products into biochar to reduce greenhouse gases and increase crop yields” was officially launched with the construction of the kiln for the production of biochar. The kiln consists of a 200-liter oil container with a small lid at the front and a metal chimney at the back. A metal grid inside the container allows for ventilation. The stove was placed on a concrete base and covered with bricks and mortar to protect it from severe weather conditions and heat loss. Five types of local agricultural waste products were used to make biochar, including kajeput, lemongrass, basil, ginger and turmeric, all in the form of softwood. It is estimated that 25 tons of this waste is dumped into the environment every month in the project area, polluting local air and water resources. From July 22 to August 6, we produced the biochar, but the amount produced did not meet expectations due to bad weather and difficulties with the combustion process in the kiln. Fortunately, such an initial challenge was soon over after the team gained experience in working with a new technology. The team then decided to use the social distancing phase to start cultivation trials with the produced biochar as fertilizer. We started with 4 different samples of peanut plants (a soil-only sample, a 2% biochar-soil mix, a 2% biochar-7% compost-soil mix, and a 7% compost-soil mix). The project team plans to continue with a total of 24 plant samples testing all 4 ratios of the biochar mix on a larger scale for three plant species (basil, ginger and peanut). Growth testing will be conducted twice a month based on plant growth criteria such as stem strength, plant height and number of leaves.
