Coastal Livelihood Transitions: Socio‐Economic Consequences of Changing Mangrove Forest Management and Land Allocation in a Commune of Central Vietnam

This paper reviews the evolution of land use and mangrove forest management in a coastal commune in Central Vietnam from its early period of environmentally sound management under a common property regime, through State and cooperative management, to individual household allocation under the economic reforms of the 1990s. It analyses in particular the introduction of shrimp culture and its environmental and socioeconomic consequences. The case study demonstrates that, while opening up many economic opportunities, Vietnam's economic reforms have had uneven impacts on income inequality. Like many cases in Asia and Latin America, the disruption of common property resources – through the introduction of aquaculture as a livelihood opportunity and producer of an export crop – leaves farmers indebted and natural resources polluted. But, ironically, it was the financially better-off aquaculture farmers, who had more capacity for risk-taking and investing, who ended up most indebted, in comparison with poorer farmers who had already sold their ponds. The latter were less integrated into the market economy and relied more on marine product collection. This paper suggests that attention to local contexts and histories can contribute to a better understanding of the causes and consequences of environment-poverty interfaces.