Cat Ba must be a green tourist destination, a lever for Hai Phong's economic development.

That is the opinion of Prof. Dr. Do Cong Thung, former Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment, about the sustainable and long-term direction for Cat Ba Island to truly "transform", worthy of the "pearl" of the North.

Prof. Dr. Do Cong Thung, former Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment

Four challenges for a comprehensively green Cat Ba Cat Ba is oriented to develop into a world-class "green" tourist destination. According to him, to achieve this goal, what are the challenges and problems that Cat Ba has, is and will have to face when solving the problem of development combined with conservation? Cat Ba is an extremely important "link" to develop eco-tourism and green tourism. With all the available advantages in nature, biodiversity and landscape, Cat Ba has enough internal strength to become "an ecological paradise", "a Maldives of Vietnam". The Resolution on tasks and solutions for tourism development in Hai Phong 2017-2020, with a vision to 2030, also determined that Cat Ba Island will be built according to the model of an ecological, smart island, which is a lever for tourism and the economy of Hai Phong to develop. To achieve the above-mentioned great goal, there are many challenges for Cat Ba, especially the classic problem of development combined with environmental conservation and protection. Accordingly, the four important issues that Cat Ba needs to solve in the problem of developing green and sustainable tourism are noise (when there are many means of transport serving tourism on the island, the large number of visitors will create noise pollution); oil pollution from cars and vehicles emitting into the environment; waste, including waste from tourism activities and services; and microbial pollution emitted by tourists.

Tourists experience Lan Ha Bay, Hai Phong

According to him, to solve the above problems, what solutions should Cat Ba choose? In my opinion, the priority solution is to minimize the use of gasoline and diesel vehicles on the island. About 5 years ago, the People's Committee of Hai Phong City raised the issue of how all cars and vehicles that can emit air pollution and noise will stop at Dong Bai ferry terminal, not operate on Cat Ba island, and travel around the island will use electric cars. That is a necessary vision. Next, currently, using cable cars from Cat Hai to Cat Ba is a very good solution, overcoming many consequences of environmental pollution, limiting vehicles to the island. Regarding the problem of investing in waste and waste treatment infrastructure, Cat Ba is currently too weak. Therefore, to move towards a green, ecological tourism island, Cat Ba must definitely add this item, at least to treat the polluted waste created by tourists. No factory has enough functions and capacity to handle all types of pollution when the number of tourists increases. Therefore, the first task of Cat Ba is to determine the tourism capacity to have a suitable infrastructure investment plan. Currently, the locality has not been able to do this. Cat Ba needs to speed up the construction of waste and pollution treatment infrastructure on a large enough scale and with high technology. The driving force to make Cat Ba a worthy green tourist destination According to statistics from the International Sustainable Tourism Organization, 49% of CO2 emissions and toxic gases from global tourism come from travel activities. Can you share more clearly the "green" transportation plan, limiting carbon emissions that Cat Ba should choose? To achieve "green standards", the use of "friendly" environmental means such as cable car systems, electric cars, and bicycles is a very suitable orientation. For example, Sun Group's development of the Cat Hai - Phu Long cable car route is a good idea, but it is still not enough to meet long-term needs. Therefore, it is necessary to add routes such as from Cat Hai island to Cat Ba town center for more convenient travel. To travel on the island, all future residents and tourists will use environmentally friendly means of transport. The public electric vehicle system needs to be planned synchronously with stops, parking lots and charging stations arranged reasonably, ensuring maximum convenience for residents and tourists. In addition, the locality needs to encourage businesses to cooperate with each other, and the government and businesses must choose a unified direction. All must work together to realize the goal of making Cat Ba the first tourist island in Vietnam with no carbon emissions.

Cat Ba archipelago seen from above

So, for Cat Ba to truly become an ecological, smart island, how should the role of the tourism industry and businesses be demonstrated? Cat Ba archipelago has up to 7 ecosystems, is one of the places with the highest biodiversity in our country, and is also one of the largest biosphere reserves in the world. Possessing a "giant green lung" which is Cat Ba National Park of more than 26,000 hectares, Cat Ba "on its own" has the ability to reduce pollution and purify the air. However, that is not enough for sustainable development and reaching a higher goal of becoming an ecological, smart island. Therefore, Cat Ba needs a master plan, a standard plan for long-term and sustainable tourism development, closely linked with other industries to unify goals and common actions to reduce pollution. That is the first priority. The city also needs measures to handle waste generated by tourism. The first step could be to issue regulations for cruise ships and travel companies to properly handle waste generated by tourists. Meanwhile, local tourism businesses should allocate a portion of their revenue to join hands in regenerating the environment to ensure the island is always green. And finally, I think that, everywhere, to develop evenly, large corporations and businesses need to get involved. Without the "eagles", it is impossible to rise up, and if everyone is "poor", what will they do? Not to mention, when the economy and tourism develop, local people will also have jobs, stable incomes, and improved lives. At that time, if Hai Phong can connect the government - businesses - people, harmonize the interests of all parties, it will certainly create a big push, and can completely become "Vietnam's little Maldives". Recently, Sun Group has started the Cat Ba Central Bay Tourism and Commercial Service Project. How do you evaluate the role and contribution of these large-scale, well-invested, quality projects to the sustainable economic development of Cat Ba Island? Across the country, Sun Group has chosen to “beautify” areas that businesses with limited potential would have to “stay away from”. I think that is a bold move. Investing in Cat Ba also shows the “difference” of this group. The Cat Ba Central Bay tourism and commercial service area is planned to turn Cat Ba into “a small Maldives of Asia” with a large-scale, quality and classy entertainment space, which is a very good idea. Not to mention, developing a cable car system from Cat Hai to the center of Cat Ba town will help people and tourists travel from Hai Phong City to the center of the island quickly, conveniently, and reduce emissions. The cable car route also plays an important role in connecting the tourism infrastructure of the entire region. The project is also not located within the scope of any world natural heritage, conservation area, or special national scenic spot. So, if Sun Group meets the standards such as no plastic emissions, no pollution emissions of microorganisms, noise, gasoline, environmentally friendly, ecological..., then I think that is a bright spot that needs to be replicated and modeled. Thanks to the push from these strong potential and experienced private resources, the opportunity for Cat Ba to attract green capital flows, systematic investment, and become the eco-tourism center of Vietnam, even the region, will be closer than ever. Source: https://baodautu.vn/cat-ba-phai-la-diem-den-du-lich-xanh-don-bay-cho-kinh-te-hai-phong-phat-trien-d226868.html