Every year around October - November, in the middle of the Tropical Monsoon season, central Vietnam and especially Thua Thien Hue Province has to cope with some serious floods. Fisheries, aquaculture and many other activities are paralysed for some weeks. In most years some damage is caused to fishery equipment and the existing aquaculture ponds in the lagoon. However, the floods are some years worse than in others. In 1999 and 2001, various serious floods hit the coastal provinces in central Vietnam. Damage to arable crops, fishing equipment and infrastructure was considerable.

In July-August 2002, hundreds of shrimp farmers active in and around the lagoon lost large parts and sometimes even their complete production as a result of the drought. Hundreds of tons of shrimps were lost due to the increased salinity that came with the drought and the sector asked government assistance to rehabilitate and restart.

The recent floods and droughts in the province have highlighted the vulnerability of people living around the lagoon and the need for urgent action in order to cope with contingent present-day situation and prepare for improved planning in the future. The consequences of not taking further action would be an overall deterioration of the biodiversity in the lagoon sub-environments, with repercussions on the natural coastal environment as a whole and this would translate in further lowering of the quality of people's livelihoods and hydro-biological resources in the lagoon in the long run.

The Provincial authorities of Thua Thien Hue and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam recognise the need of effective formulation and implementation of a management strategy. The IMOLA Project has been conceived and designed to assit the GoV in implementation of such a strategy with all its complexities in the way of improving education on environmental and biodiversity issues, raising awareness for natural resources conservation, promoting scientific investigation on the coastal environment and investments for monitoring.

The IMOLA Project is assisting the Provincial People's Committee (PPC) and especially the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in developing and implementing management strategies and action plans for the lagoon, based on the understanding of its current status, its complex ecological and physical characteristics, and livelihoods of people living along its shores.