Vietnam is one of the few tropical countries that has increased its forest cover over the past several years, so it plays a unique and important role in global discussions on the importance of forests in combating climate change, sustaining people’s livelihoods and safeguarding biodiversity. Vietnam is also one of five countries expected to be most affected by climate change, due to its long coastline and stretched natural resources. CIFOR scientist Daniel Murdiyarso gave this presentation on the importance of mangroves for climate change mitigation and adaptation at a journalist training workshop on ‘Investing in coastal ecosystems’ held on 27–29 March 2012 in Da Nang City, Vietnam. Media plays a critical role in informing and influencing public perception, as well as informing policymakers. But aside from limited coverage, most environmental articles, and those on climate change and REDD in particular, are of low quality in Vietnam, most notably in objective reporting of scientific findings. To address these gaps and in response to requests, CIFOR organised a series of media trainings in Vietnam in association with Transparency International, IUCN, UN-REDD and the National Journalism Association.