REFINING THE IUCN GLOBAL STANDARD THROUGH EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS IN EVALUATING NATURE-BASED RIVERBANK PROTECTION SOLUTIONS IN AN GIANG PROVINCE

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the applicability of the IUCN Global Standard when applied to three riverbank protection solutions in An Giang province, including tire revetments, geotextile sandbag revetments and Melaleuca pile revetments. Survey data were analyzed using Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The results show that the tire revetment achieved the highest reliability, with seven out of eight criteria exceeding the Alpha threshold of 0.7; the Melaleuca pile revetment reached a moderate level; while the geotextile sandbag revetment exhibited instability across several criteria. After removing weak indicators, the EFA reduced the initial 28 indicators to 13 valid ones, which were categorized into three main factors: (i) Governance - Trade-offs - Policy Integration, (ii) Social and Design-at-Scale and (iii) Financial and Ecological Resources, explaining a total variance of 61.2%. These findings suggest that the IUCN framework should be refined to better reflect the practical conditions of the Mekong Delta, while reaffirming the critical importance of governance, finance and socio-ecological balance in implementing nature-based riverbank protection solutions.