¡¡¡¡HANOI, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Tropical mangrove forests, a large proportion of which were once found in Vietnam, are under threat from extinction in Vietnam, a top biologist has warned.

¡¡¡¡Aprilani Soegiarto, president of the International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME) blamed the mangrove decline on coastal communities for exploiting marine resources, and industries for dumping toxic waste in the sea.

¡¡¡¡Vietnam's case is unique as the Can Gio mangrove forest was massively reduced during the Vietnamese war. Although the government has been taking steps to restore it, the forest currently covers little more than 40,000 hectares.

¡¡¡¡The world contains 23 million hectares of such forests, most ofwhich are situated in Brazil, Indonesia and Ghana.

¡¡¡¡Soegiarto said that governments and non-governmental organizations all over the world are calling for drastic measures to be taken to protect the forests, as their existence is considered crutial to the global environment, the Vietnam News Agency reported Friday. Enditem

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