UNESCO will send a team of experts to Vietnam to assess potential risks to the conservation of Ha Long Bay amid concerns that development projects may threaten the heritage site, according to Reuters.
Aerial view of Ha Long Bay. Photo: Precious Memories Vietnam.
Ha Long Bay and the Cat Ba Archipelago are celebrating 30 years since being inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The site is famous as “the most outstanding example of a karst tower landscape invaded by the sea.”
UNESCO recognition has significantly boosted Ha Long Bay’s profile as a major tourist destination, drawing millions of visitors annually and generating substantial revenue for Vietnam’s tourism sector.
However, in a statement from UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, the organization expressed long-standing concerns that “numerous new tourism and coastal residential projects in Ha Long City have been approved and implemented” without adequate assessment of their impacts on the heritage site.
Ha Long attracts tourists with cruises on the bay. Photo: Filipe Freitas.
If the upcoming evaluation results in sanctions or even removal from the heritage list, it could have profound consequences for Vietnam’s tourism industry, which contributes an estimated 8% to the country’s GDP in 2023.
UNESCO stated: “If threats are identified that jeopardize the integrity of the site and the reasons for its inclusion on the World Heritage List, the Committee may request remedial measures to strengthen the site’s protection.”
The assessment team, composed of experts from UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is expected to carry out their mission in the coming months.
Nuno Ribeiro, a senior lecturer in tourism at RMIT University Vietnam, remarked that overdevelopment “threatens the unique natural beauty, biodiversity, and ecological balance of the bay—key factors for its UNESCO recognition.”
“The warning about remedial measures should not be taken lightly,” he added.
Currently, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. The Quang Ninh provincial government, which oversees Ha Long Bay, has also yet to issue an official statement.
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Source: Vietnam Insider