This study aims to investigate the diversity of mangrove species and their soil erosion mitigation performance in Hung Hoa Mangrove Forest, Vinh City, Vietnam. Under high rainfall climatic condition, the mangrove plants were found to reduce soil erosion due to storm runoff during dry season. The soil organic matter in the covered and uncovered part by species of the mangrove forest was 141.1 ± 37.6 g/kg and 95.2 ± 19.2 g/kg, respectively. The percentage of clay and silt in the mangrove forest, covered and uncovered by mangrove species were found to be 55.7 ± 2.4% and 45.5 ± 2.2%, respectively. The increase in distance from 10,045 to 14,378 m was correlated to the decrease in soil salinity from 5.9 ± 0.8 to 3.8 ± 0.5 ppt (r2 = 0.546; P < 0.05). A total of 11 mangrove species were detected in the mangrove forest. The number of species ascribed to dicotyledons, monocotyledons and pteridophytes in the mangrove forest community were 17, 12 and 3, respectively. Based on the result obtained from this field study, it was observed that the mangrove forest plays an important role to provide growth and reproduction habitat for the local flora and protect the land from the effects of high precipitation. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V.