At the recent meeting chaired by Mr. Ho Van Mung, Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Standing Committee of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of Nha Trang City, the Standing Committee of Nha Trang City Party Committee listened to a report on the progress of implementing the Master Plan for Restoring Nha Trang Bay to 2030. The meeting was attended by leaders of the People's Committee, leaders of units, the Urban Management Department and the Nha Trang Bay Management Board.
The Standing Committee of the City Party Committee acknowledged that the Nha Trang City People's Committee and the Nha Trang Bay Management Board have made great efforts in implementing their tasks and achieved many positive results in implementing the Master Plan for the Restoration of Nha Trang Bay by 2030. However, in the process of implementing the tasks, there are still some difficulties and problems such as: Some tasks in the approval process need to ensure procedures during appraisal, so they have not met the set schedule in time; some tasks have been implemented but have not received feedback from the sectors; the development of public-private governance solutions for the conservation and exploitation of Nha Trang Bay values has not been implemented; the project to develop artificial coral reefs is still waiting for appraisal by the Department of Science and Technology...
The Standing Committee of the City Party Committee proposed that in the coming time, the People's Committee of Nha Trang City, the Nha Trang Bay Management Board, and relevant units focus on disseminating, raising awareness and support from the community in protecting resources, the ecosystem of Nha Trang Bay, especially protecting coral reefs according to the Master Plan for Restoring Nha Trang Bay to 2030; increase penalties for violations of environmental and ecosystem protection; and address environmental pollution issues on the city's rivers.
The Nha Trang City People's Committee report said: In recent years, the coral reef ecosystem in Nha Trang Bay has declined. Research results in 1994 showed that the average coral coverage in Nha Trang Bay was about 30%, but now it is only 22.8%; the coral reef area in the period 2002-2015 decreased by 117.5 hectares. Some areas with hard coral coverage have declined significantly, such as: Hon Tam from 56.8% (in 2017) decreased to 12.5%, San beach decreased by more than 70%. Results published in 2020 showed that the rate of bleached hard coral was up to 39.5%. In many areas in Hon Mun and some other locations in Nha Trang Bay, dead and broken corals were washed ashore in thick layers by waves; observed from a glass-bottomed boat, it can be seen that in the core area of Hon Mun, many coral reefs were broken and dead, scattered on the seabed.
According to Mr. Huynh Binh Thai, Head of Nha Trang Bay Management Board, in recent times, the unit has focused on implementing many measures such as: Temporarily suspending diving activities that pose a risk of harming the environment and coral reefs; temporarily zoning off areas to protect areas that are recovering from coral, breeding grounds, and spawning grounds that are at risk of encroachment such as Hon Mun, Hon Chong - Vinh Hoa, Vinh Hai; enhancing the effectiveness of inspection and supervision by the interdisciplinary working group on the bay to handle violations...
“The unit has been testing coral restoration in the Hon Mun area using the Ribbon substrate method; applying coral restoration using Biorock technology in Nha Trang Bay, implementing measures to protect environmental quality to restore degraded corals using natural restoration methods,” Mr. Thai shared.
In addition to the above solutions, Nha Trang City People's Committee proposed long-term solutions such as: Building and perfecting legal documents suitable for the conservation of Nha Trang Bay marine environment; protecting and monitoring the bay environment; developing livelihoods for people in and around Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area; improving the capacity of Nha Trang Bay Management Board.
According to Mr. Tran Hoa Nam, Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, the conservation of heritages and marine reserves in Khanh Hoa Provincial Planning has been specifically decided and approved by the National Appraisal Council and the Prime Minister. The goal is to increase the area of natural ecosystems that are protected, restored and ensure integrity and connectivity; biodiversity is preserved and used sustainably to contribute to socio-economic development in the direction of a green economy, proactively adapting to climate change. On January 28, 2022, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 149/QD-TTg approving the National Strategy on Biodiversity to 2030, with a vision to 2050 with the following viewpoints: Biodiversity is an important natural capital for green economic development; Biodiversity conservation is both an immediate and a long-term, sustainable solution to protect the environment, prevent natural disasters and adapt to climate change.
Biodiversity conservation combined with sustainable use of ecosystem services and biodiversity contributes to socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and improvement of people's quality of life; implementing an ecosystem approach in biodiversity conservation and use.
According to Mr. Tran Hoa Nam, Nha Trang Bay is the 29th member of the World's Most Beautiful Bays Club, containing global and national values; is the first marine reserve in Vietnam, and is also one of 16 national marine reserves that must be effectively protected. In recent times, the environment of Nha Trang Bay in general, and coral reefs in the Hon Mun sea area in particular, have shown signs of degradation due to many different causes, both objective and subjective. Therefore, preserving and restoring coral reefs in Nha Trang Bay, including the Hon Mun sea area, is one of the important, urgent and long-term tasks of Khanh Hoa province.
Currently, the restoration of Nha Trang Bay and coral reefs in the Hon Mun sea area requires the mobilization of various resources; coordination of departments and branches in the province; support from central ministries and branches; cooperation of businesses and people; and companionship of domestic and foreign scientific organizations.
On November 7, 2022, Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee approved Decision No. 3028/QD-UBND promulgating the Master Plan for Restoration of Nha Trang Bay to 2030. Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Nha Trang City to call on the community, businesses and tourists to raise awareness of nature protection, wildlife protection, and build a culture of friendly behavior towards nature and the environment of Nha Trang Bay. Organizations and individuals must strictly comply with the provisions of the law, fulfill social responsibilities in nature conservation and biodiversity, especially marine ecosystem conservation.
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