In 2017, Omar Trujillo Santos was sitting in a small wooden boat holding a crocodile, its skin soft like a snake. He helped untie the reptile, a juvenile Morelet’s crocodile, and carefully guided it…

This is a part of project Scaling up NbS through mangrove restoration in Ca Mau Province, approved by the Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee under Decision No. 446/QD-UBND dated 9 February 2026. Implemented by IUCN from 2023 to 2027, the project is funded by Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) and Good Neighbors International (GNI). Developing livelihood models in integrated mangrove-aquaculture systems is an NbS that can both encourage community participation and restore mangrove ecosystems. This simple yet important principle has been applied in the project’s approach. At the training, Dr. Trương Minh Út, Deputy Director of the Ca Mau Provincial Agricultural Extension Centre, presented the three basic shrimp farm types: extensive shrimp (nuôi quảng canh), improved extensive (nuôi quảng canh cải tiến) and farming in mangrove forest (nuôi tôm sinh thái dưới tán rừng ngập mặn).Participants discussed practical methods, including pond preparation, seed selection and stocking density, water management, use of natural food sources, and shrimp health management and biosecurity. The discussion coveredlivelihood and market development. Dr. Trần Minh Hải, Vice Rector of the School of Public Policy and Agricultural Development, addressed livelihood diversification under mangrove forests, market information and forecasting, product quality standards, and options for developing farmer groups and...