Possessing the largest marine forest, the most diverse marine flora and fauna with 7 rich marine forest ecosystems, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is not only a place of spectacular beauty and landscape, but also a natural treasure at sea with immense values.
On September 16, at the 45th Session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee approved the nomination dossier, recognizing Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago (in Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city) as a World Natural Heritage.
Unique values of Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago
Panoramic view of Cat Ba from above. (Photo: Cat Ba Town Information Center) |
For any Vietnamese, Ha Long - Cat Ba has long been a familiar tourist destination with majestic sea and natural scenery, but not everyone understands all the values that this unique natural heritage possesses.
Karst terrain is common in Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago. |
The dossier proposing the inclusion of Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago in the list of World Natural Heritage for Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago by the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) stated: Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, because it contains areas of natural beauty including limestone islands covered with vegetation and limestone pinnacles rising above the sea level along with related karst features such as domes and caves. The spectacular untouched landscape of the islands covered with vegetation, salt lakes, limestone pinnacles with vertical cliffs rising above the sea.
Cat Ba archipelago is an archipelago of 367 islands, including Cat Ba island in the south of Ha Long Bay, off the coast of Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province, about 30 km from Hai Phong city center, about 25 km from Ha Long city. The archipelago belongs to Cat Hai district, Hai Phong city. This place was recognized by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve on December 2, 2004.
The total area of Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve is over 26,000 hectares, with 2 core zones (strictly preserved and without human impact), 2 buffer zones (allowing limited economic development but combined with conservation) and 2 transition zones (economic development). Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve is an area that fully converges tropical rainforest on limestone islands, mangrove forests, coral reefs, seaweed beds and especially cave systems.
With 1,133 limestone islands of various shapes and sizes (775 limestone islands in Ha Long Bay and 358 limestone islands in Cat Ba Archipelago) covered with rich vegetation on the sparkling emerald water surface, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago appears like a chessboard of precious stones; peaceful, overlapping mountains and rivers; pristine, fine white sand beaches.
Rare "geological museum" between sky and sea
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is considered a geological museum, containing heritages of outstanding global value, witnessing the characteristic changes in the history of the development of the Earth. The Ha Long - Cat Ba sea area includes many terrigenous and carbonate sedimentary systems, ranging in age from the Paleozoic to the Cenozoic. Many sedimentary systems in this area contain paleontological traces in various fossil forms, including groups of animals and plants that are extinct or nearly extinct on earth.
The presence of primary forests, bays and islands on the bays are unique evidence of the continuous movement and development of karst landforms, fengcongs (conical peak clusters) and fenglins (isolated tower features) formed over millions of years in tropical, humid conditions, progressing from high mountain ranges down to the sea, where the karst terrain finally reaches its basic level of erosion.
In Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba, the elements of rock, water, forest and sky combine to create a colorful natural world, from the gray of the mountains, the green of the forests, the transition between deep sea blue and blue in the lakes to the pines, ang (limestone island ecosystems) and hidden fjords on the sea. An interesting thing is that every time it starts to rain, the gray limestone turns a darker color due to the layer of blue-green algae on the surface being soaked with water.
Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago includes all stages of marine submergence of tropical karst as well as three main cave types (ancient marine frog-jaw caves, ancient karst-floor caves and frog-jaw caves). Ha Long Bay represents the later stages of marine submergence, while Cat Ba Archipelago adds important geological values to the heritage through examples of terrestrial and intertidal stages, some of which are rare, even unique.
Rich and rare flora and fauna
Sunrise on the bay. |
With the intersection of mountains, forests and islands, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is a typical area with a high level of diversity in Asia, possessing 7 adjacent, successively developing tropical and subtropical marine - island ecosystems, including: primary tropical rainforest ecosystem; cave ecosystem; mangrove ecosystem; tidal flat ecosystem; coral reef ecosystem; soft bottom ecosystem; saltwater lake ecosystem. These ecosystems represent ecological and biological processes that are still evolving and developing, reflected in the diversity of flora and fauna communities.
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is also home to many rare species of flora and fauna. Possessing the largest marine forest in Vietnam with an area of over 17,000 hectares and diverse ecosystems, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is home to 4,910 species of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna, of which 198 are listed in the IUCN Red List, 51 are endemic.
The area of primary forest of about 1,045.2 hectares on Cat Ba Island is one of the important factors that contribute to the ecological value and biodiversity of the heritage. In particular, the Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) is a rare species, on the list of animals at the highest risk of extinction and recorded in the World Red Book. To date, there are about 60-70 individuals distributed only on Cat Ba, this species appears nowhere else in the world.
Langurs in Cat Ba. (Photo: Cat Ba Town Information Center) |
There are nearly 60 species here that are considered endemic and rare and have been included in the Vietnam Red Book, such as animals: magpies, crows, golden-headed langurs, white-thighed langurs and plants such as Podocarpus fleurii, Ardisia spp., Chukrasia tubularis, chestnut, Chinese smilax, bamboo chopsticks, and sen mat. In addition, there are 8 species of algae and 7 species of benthic animals that also need protection.
There are many endemic plant species here, adapted to living only on limestone islands, that are found nowhere else in the world, such as: Ha Long cycad (Cycas tropophylla), Chirita drakei, Ha Long palm (Livistona halongensis), Ha Long ear nail (Impatiens verrucifera), Ha Long ivy (schefflera alongensis), yellow-flowered lady's slipper (Paphiopedilum concolor)... Succulent or rough-leaved plants such as Euphorbia antiquorum (Euphorb.) cactus, Dracaena cambodiana (Liliac.), Cycas sp. (Cycad.), and leafless vine Sarcostemma acidum (Apocyn.) give the vegetation here a drought-resistant appearance of desert plants.
Cruise ship on the bay. |
Also within Cat Ba National Park, a basin near Viet Hai pier is largely covered by a mixed-canopy freshwater marsh. Following the road into the village, the forest vegetation gives way to large fields of Phragmites karka (Poac.) reeds. Although of minor and minor economic importance, each freshwater marsh seems to have different characteristics, many are completely pristine, some are home to unique species such as Combretocarpus, which is rare in freshwater wetlands.
Trees and water at Frog Pond on Cat Ba Island. (Photo: Department of Cultural Heritage) |
Perched precariously on the top of Cat Ba National Park in the “Frog Pond” area is the appearance of a unique and quite rare type of flooded vegetation. The plant and water species usually only grow and are distributed in the Southwest, but in Vietnam, they appear in Cat Ba with an almost pure population. Although the carpet and water have a modest area, they contain a very unique source of plant genes.
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago became the first inter-provincial and municipal World Heritage Site in Vietnam, a useful lesson in combining management, protection and promotion of the value of World Heritage in particular, historical - cultural relics, and scenic spots in general in Vietnam in the coming years.
Department of Cultural Heritage
In addition, scattered throughout the area are 138 saltwater lakes formed from sinkholes, karst funnels and closed valleys. These lakes, accounting for about 1/3 of the total saltwater lakes in the world, are home to ancient, rare species of great value for conservation and scientific research, and are also a favorable environment for species to evolve.
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago was recognized by UNESCO at the 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee (September 2023), becoming the first inter-provincial and municipal World Heritage Site in Vietnam, which is a useful lesson in combining management, protection and promotion of the value of World Heritage in particular, historical - cultural relics, and scenic spots in general in Vietnam in the coming years.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/ky-quan-vinh-ha-long-quan-dao-cat-ba-ngoc-tren-bien-post774108.html
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