Nestled in the heart of Phan Thiet city is a 32 ha natural wetland flora. It has a diverse ecosystem, like a green lung of the city.
At nearly 11 pm, inside the “mangrove forest” near Hung Vuong Bridge (Phan Thiet City) there was still a flash of flashlight. Everyone here is familiar with the image of a lonely man rowing a basket boat, pulling a net in the night. Every day, Mr. Tran Van Phuong regularly casts nets to catch shrimp and fish in this mangrove flora. In the afternoon, taking advantage of the big water, Mr. Phuong dropped more than 50 nets, waiting for a bountiful evening. At night, the sound of frogs intermingled with the buzzing sound of mosquitoes. “If there is no incense, the mosquitoes will cover your face”, said Mr. Phuong while pushing the oars and bringing the basket into the deep creek. 
Making a living in the “mangrove” Mr. Tran Van Phuong (53 years old, Phu Hai ward) was born and raised in Phan Thiet. He has witnessed the rapid change of the city in the past few years. In his youth, Mr. Phuong followed the boat to the sea. At one point he gathered enough capital to build his own boat. However, later, he was not strong enough, fishing less and less, so this fisherman sold the boat and returned with a basket on the river. 
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Phuong and his basket boat have been visiting every corner of the mangrove flora. Every day, he gets a few pounds of crabs, fish, and shrimps… He brings them all to the market and sells them for about 300,000-500,000 VND. 
The 53-year-old man worked hard to remove some fish from the net. Late at night, the space is quieter, only the sound of the nets being pulled up. “Every day, it is 3-4 am to come back, in time for the housewife to bring shrimp and fish to the market to sell,” Mr. Phuong said. The basket boat and the other pile of nets are the means by which Mr. Phuong makes a living and feeds his two school-age children. For a coastal resident like Mr. Phuong, the basket is associated with a lifetime. 
The next morning, he returned to the work of washing, washing and arranging the nets to take advantage of 15:00 to go to the “forest” to drop the nets. Mr. Phuong recalls that in the past, this “forest” was just a shrimp pond, a salt marsh, after many people failed to do business, they left it. Over time, mangroves and cork trees grow thicker and taller. For nearly 20 years, this place has formed a green “mangrove forest” surrounded by Cau Ke river. From there, birds and storks fly home. 
In the early morning of the end of April, taking advantage of the water in the river along the “forest” to almost dry up, Mr. Truong Van Ty (Thanh Hai ward) and some fishermen in the area brought tools to find snails. Tying a series of plastic basins to his body, Mr. Ty waded into the river, using a homemade net to pull the brass to be the surface of the water. Continuously like that for about 2-3 hours, the plastic bowls are full of small and long snails. 
Every year, from about after Tet to the end of the third lunar month, people around Cau Ke River take advantage of raking snails. Snail is an aquatic species with long body, pointed tail, living in brackish coastal waters. In the past few years, they have been bought by many lobster farms as food for shrimp. The closer to noon, the bigger the tide, the water in the middle of the river rose above the head, that’s when Mr. Ty finished his work of scratching snails. On average, Mr. Ty rakes 7-8 sacks of snails every day. 
“This job is also easy, every 3 hours of continuous work also earns 700,000-800,000 VND for snails,” said Mr. Ty. Like Mr. Phuong, Mr. Truong Van Ty is one of many workers in Phan Thiet who live on this “mangrove”. 
Retain the entire submerged flora Many people in Phan Thiet city shared that when the Hung Vuong road (the route connecting the center of Phan Thiet city with Mui Ne tourist area) was widened, the new “mangrove forest” was revealed and known to many people. This wetland flora is surrounded by Cau Ke river, located in 3 wards of Phu Thuy, Phu Hai and Thanh Hai, creating a green patch and a unique ecosystem in the heart of Phan Thiet city. 
The “mangrove” area, also known as project area 5 (Hung Vuong Park), covers an area of more than 32 hectares, which was planned as a park, green tree and sports area. However, in 2009, this place was adjusted to the planning, about 12 hectares used to build residential areas, trade and services, traffic and the park part is about 20 hectares. The separation of 12 hectares for residential, commercial and service areas for the province to organize land auctions for money to build the park. After the inspection trip in April 2021, Binh Thuan Provincial Party Secretary Duong Van An said that it is necessary to keep the entire area of this wetland with regenerated trees as a green park, developing a special ecosystem. this, keep the green lung for Phan Thiet city. 
Share with Zing Secretary Duong Van An said that the land fund to develop residential areas or commercial services in Phan Thiet City is still very much, it is possible to organize land auctions in other places. “Many places people spend money to plant more mangroves, while here there is a rare population of regenerative wetland plants that need to be kept. If you build a residential area here, Phan Thiet will lose it. part of the flooded ecological zone cannot be regenerated,” said Mr. An. “The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee has concluded and assigned the Provincial People’s Committee to study and propose solutions to protect and develop the wetland ecosystem in this land, and report to the Provincial People’s Council to adjust the planning in the direction of retaining all this land to make ecological park and some suitable public works”, Party Secretary Duong Van An added. 
That means no more “cutting” of land for residential areas. According to Mr. Duong Van An, the province will renovate this place into a flooded ecological park, based on the existing space and population of trees, creeks and lakes. “The outside of the canal will be built embankments to protect, prevent erosion, landslides, create pedestrian and bicycle paths around the area. Inside, the creeks connect to the flood drainage channel to get water and create conditions. For aquatic species to develop, it is possible to build a pedestrian bridge system, create a walkway under the trees for people to walk, exercise… or build mounds of land for young people to come and live activities. picnic”, Mr. An said about the idea of preserving and developing a population of submerged plants in the heart of Phan Thiet.
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