Fighting Climate Change with Mangroves
Tam Giang Commune, Ca Mau Province, Vietnam | Fighting Climate Change with Mangroves - Tam Giang Core Youth Group | 2025
Xin chào!
We are the Tam Giang Core Youth Group, a dedicated team of young environmental advocates protecting our coastal community's future. In 2025, we launched "Mangroves: Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change" to address the critical loss of mangrove forests in our commune and help our community understand that protecting mangroves isn't just about trees, it's about protecting our homes, our livelihoods, and our children's future.
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9 to 30 years old
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The Right-Sized Problem
Driven by short-term economic benefits, some households have cut and exploited mangrove forests, leading to a gradual decline in forest cover. This unsustainable harvesting weakens our coastal protection, increases climate risks, and undermines the very livelihoods it's meant to support. Without proper understanding of the environmental, economic, and social values of mangroves, our community faces growing vulnerability to climate disasters.
What We Did
Over one year, we built a youth-led movement that brought vital climate knowledge to every corner of our fragmented riverine commune through grassroots communication and hands-on training.
Offline Impact
Skills Training for Core Groups: Organized comprehensive training sessions for 59 youth and student core group members on essential skills including action planning, communication, public speaking, community facilitation, and media content development.
Community Awareness-Raising Activities: Conducted 17 communication sessions across all hamlets in the commune, educating households on the role of mangrove forests in climate protection and the long-term consequences of deforestation.
School-Based Communication Events: Organized 10 communication sessions across 6 schools, engaging students in environmental education and mangrove conservation awareness.
Communication Materials Distribution: Printed 900 communication materials including cotton bags, reusable bottles, and T-shirts with messages on mangrove protection and plastic waste reduction.
Online & Media Impact
Television Coverage: Produced communication video featuring project activities, scheduled for broadcast on Ca Mau Television (CTV) in January 2026, amplifying our message across the province.
Campaign Impact
952 households participated in hamlet-level communication events, gaining critical understanding of mangrove protection.
890 students engaged in community-based communication events across 6 schools.
59 youth and students joined core groups, becoming trained leaders in community and school-based communication.
27 total sessions delivered (17 in communities + 10 in schools) despite challenging riverine terrain.
12 teachers joined the campaign, expanding our reach and credibility.
Strong partnerships forged with Ca Mau Union of Friendship Organizations Project Management Board, Tam Giang Commune leadership, and all 17 hamlets.
900 sustainable materials distributed promoting mangrove protection and plastic waste awareness.
One of our greatest successes was witnessing the transformation of our core youth group members. Despite the geographical challenges of Tam Giang which is a riverine region with fragmented terrain making travel difficult and time-consuming, our SHIFT group remained proactive in bringing vital knowledge about climate change and mangroves to every household and child.
"After this journey, my feelings can be summed up in one word: Wonderful! Although I was initially hesitant and didn't have a deep grasp of all the project details, what makes me proudest is overcoming my fear of standing confidently before a crowd. Seeing the enthusiastic response and lively interaction from the local people gave me a huge boost in motivation and self-confidence.
Even though I still struggle with my words sometimes and need time to improve, these experiences are priceless. Witnessing the positive interaction from the community, I believe I will do even better in the journeys ahead!"
~ Dan Nhat, Leader of the Core Youth Group
The most profound achievement was building deep trust and support from both the community and Tam Giang local authorities. Through regular interaction and public presentations, our members became vital bridges, delivering project messages in ways that are relatable and culturally appropriate for our local community. By collaborating with the Communications team to create campaign materials featuring community-friendly imagery and localised messages, we proved that technical information about mangroves, carbon credits, and sustainable livelihoods becomes accessible when conveyed through creative visuals tailored to local culture.
Follow our journey:
This story was lovingly curated by the SHIFT team with the help of Claude (Anthropic) based on submitted source materials from our Fun Adults and Shifters.
