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| A procession of the traditional Whale Worship Festival in Mân Thái fishing community of Đà Nẵng. The Sơn Trà Ward’s people’s committee has launched a project to collect information and database related to the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve and Peninsula for education, preservation and tourism development. VNS Photo Công Thành |
ĐÀ NẴNG — A new project is casting a wide net for memories and knowledge of the Sơn Trà Peninsula, launching a collection of documents, photos, stories and research to build a valuable archive of the area’s natural and cultural heritage.
A collection project on documents, photos, stories and knowledge related to the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve and Sơn Trà Peninsula has been launched, drawing mass participation from cultural researchers, the local community, photographers, journalists and collectors in building a precious database and an archive store of nature and cultural value for education and tourism.
The project, which was initiated by the Sơn Trà Ward’s People’s Committee and relevant agencies as well as freelance researchers and photographers, aims to collect material and information from intellectuals and cultural researchers sharing their stories on fishing culture and the natural landscape of the centuries-built fishing villages and communities on the peninsula.
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| A 1,000-year-old banyan tree is conserved in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve of Đà Nẵng City. The site is a rich biodiversity value and the most favourite eco-tour destination of Đà Nẵng. VNS Photo Công Thành |
“The project will be a journey linking community knowledge and memories of history and culture that have been stored and preserved by local communities and researchers. The collection will help build a study database for education at local schools and tourism services,” said chairman of the Sơn Trà Ward, Đinh Vui.
“We plan to publish books and photos on the Sơn Trà Peninsula in building the brand of the peninsula, a favourite destination of Đà Nẵng and a rich biodiversity conservation area, and a rendezvous of the past and present in promoting the unique value of the fishing community and tourism.”
The project will collect material from March to June 2027 before publishing books or photo books on the development of Sơn Trà, Vui added.
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| A mother of the red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus), an endangered primates living in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve, holding her baby, takes a jump from a tree to another tree in the reserve. Photo courtesy of Bùi Thanh Lang |
Hồ Trung Tú, a cultural researcher of Đà Nẵng, said Sơn Trà was formerly isolated from the city’s downtown for centuries but has still preserved precious values of culture, crafts, history and nature conservation.
Local fishing communities have maintained the typical Whale Worship Festival, which was recognised as National Intangible Heritage, and tombs of whale skeletons that had been buried centuries ago, cultural researcher Huỳnh Hùng shared.
Hùng warned that the cultural heritage and old crafts of fishing communities in Sơn Trà could disappear amid the boom of urbanisation and real estate speculation.
He said conservation of nature and protection of culture need urgent activities to revive the old lifestyle and unique biodiversity value of the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve and peninsula.
The ward’s party secretary, Hoàng Sơn Trà, stressed that the project will help restore historical values and data that have yet to be collected.
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| A local fisherman shows a giant squid caught at sea. Sơn Trà peninsula was home of fishing communities from previous centuries, and it now promotes eco-tour service. Photo courtesy of Đinh Dũng |
The project will set the first stones in building a rich house and a precious database on the historical development of the Sơn Trà Peninsula for long-term sustainable growth in the coming decades.
Last year, a photobook on Đà Nẵng City, Treasure, was released to promote the unique landscape and the existence of the red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus), an endangered primate living in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve.
Sơn Trà Peninsula conserves the 4,400ha Sơn Trà Reserve, 10km from Đà Nẵng, a unique biodiversity conservation site with more than 1,010 plant and 370 animal species.
The reserve is home to 1,300 red-shanked douc langurs, which were declared Critically Endangered (CR), nearly extinct, by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013, and more than 1,000 monkeys living in the reserve.
More than 10,000 tourists visit the site each month by motorbike, car and track, and it has been designed as a must-visit destination when visiting Đà Nẵng City.
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| A new recognition logo of the Sơn Trà. The image will be used for all tourism and craft products in serving for socio-economic development of the Sơn Trà Peninsula of Đà Nẵng City. Photo courtesy of Lê Lâm |
Earlier, the Sơn Trà-based Centre of Biodiversity Conservation (GreenViet) reissued 5,000 copies of the book The World of Wildlife in Sơn Trà Forest to provide free of charge to 150 libraries at primary and junior high schools in Đà Nẵng, promoting nature and wildlife conservation in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve.
The Sơn Trà Ward has also introduced its newest recognition logo to serve tourism and socio-economic development in the rising era. — VNS
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