The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) will solicit opinions from relevant ministries and sectors to complete the contents of the national master plan on the environment and natural resources monitoring network to submit to the Government in August 2015, said Deputy Minister of MONRE Chu Pham Ngoc Hien.

The master plan was approved by the Prime Minister in 2007 to make effective use of natural resources to better serve the country’s sustainable development and national defence for the period of 2016-2025, with a vision through 2030.

However, after seven years of implementation, the plan has exposed some shortcomings such as failing to anticipate the rapid urbanisation and its effects on the operation of monitoring stations.

Furthermore, the environment and natural resources monitoring system was built to serve separate fields and at different periods, resulting in overlaps in monitoring the environment, hydrometeorology and water resources.

Factors that need to be measured, such as rainfall estimation, water reservoirs regulations and cross-border water resources control are excluded in the plan.

Hydrometeorology monitoring systems in natural disaster-prone areas, key economic zones and highly polluted urban areas and craft villages are ineffective, which are becoming more worrisome in light of climate change.

The building of a national environment and natural resources monitoring network is based on the maximum integration of various fields such as hydrometeorology, water resources, environment, seas and islands, satellite global positioning and earthquake monitoring.

Experts suggested speeding up the modernisation of information monitoring and analysing equipment, and developing human resources.

From 2016-2020, current environment and natural resources monitoring stations will be upgraded and modernised while new facilities will be built and commissioned, prioritising areas that are vulnerable to natural calamities.