Lying in the East Asian monsoon zone, Vietnam experiences two monsoons every year. Majority of Vietnam’s coastlines face the South China Sea, making the coastlines vulnerable to strong currents.

Marine areas, that are being managed in Vietnam, are called Locally Managed Marine Reserves (LMMA). Their first LMMA was launched in 2001, under the support of Denmark’s development cooperation (DANIDA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), World Bank & formerly Ministry of Fisheries. In 2007, 16 more were created and all were projected to be achieved by 2015. At the moment, 6 LMMAs are being developed and managed at the national level, while 3 are being managed at the local level.