QUANG NAM, Vietnam, November 21, 2012 -- Quang Nam Province today launched a U.S.-supported project to increase the resilience of disaster-prone central coastal communities to natural hazards. Over two years, the Green Shield project ("La Chan Xanh" in Vietnamese) will directly benefit 48,000 local people in 12,000 households in Quang Nam and Binh Dinh provinces often among the most affected by heavy rains and flooding.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the project will be implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in close cooperation with authorities in Thang Binh and Nui Thanh districts in Quang Nam Province and Quy Nhon City and Tuy Phuoc District in Binh Dinh Province.

The La Chan Xanh project will strengthen commune, district and provincial abilities to prepare and respond to natural disasters through capacity building of approximately 300 provincial, district and commune-level government officials and community members.

The project, valued at over $400,000, will enhance environmental and natural resource protection through mangrove reforestation, support vulnerable communities to protect their lives and livelihoods from natural hazards, and improve use of early warning systems.

In partnership with local governments, the project will help put into action existing policies for disaster preparedness and mangrove forest management and will integrate disaster risk reduction into provincial school curricula. By the end of project, government officials and communities will have a practical, participatory model for community-based disaster risk reduction that can be replicated in communities and schools across the targeted districts and beyond.

The project complements another U.S.-funded activity announced last month. Working with the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources and Environment and relevant Government of Vietnam agencies, USAID's Forest and Deltas program will support adoption of land use practices to address deforestation and degradation of forests and other landscapes and increase resilience of people, places and livelihoods in delta areas through assistance for adaptation and disaster risk management.