The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) com-prises extensive river and canal networks, both naturaland man-made, and has a history of extensive land usechange and development. The delta’s wetlands are underconsiderable ecological stress because of hydrologicalchanges, agricultural and aquaculture development, ur-ban and industrial pollution, climate change, and up-stream water resource development. In this paper, wereview the current threats and challenges to the conser-vation and management of the wetlands in the VMD.We recommend that the current water managementpractices of the Ramsar-listed Lang Sen Wetland Re-serve are changed so that the natural flood regimes arereinstated and the risks to the community from forestfires are managed. Ongoing investment is needed tosupport further research, set up long-term monitoring,and to develop hydrodynamic models for the Lang SenWetland Reserve so that management and conservationefforts can achieve the specific objectives for the wetland.This approach may be useful for managing other wet-lands across the VMD.

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• Conservation of the Mekong Delta wetlands through hydrological management