Cruise ships operating in the Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago area. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+)
According to information from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Monitoring Delegation responding to the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature on the conservation and promotion of the values of the World Heritage Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh Province - Cat Ba Archipelago, Hai Phong City (WHC-IUCN) has just finished a working trip in Vietnam from March 10-16.
Notably, after the working program, the delegation had many practical recommendations for this first inter-provincial world heritage destination in Vietnam.
Opportunity to promote Global Outstanding Value
In fact, although the heritage of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago is a complex, for many years there has been a management boundary between Quang Ninh and Hai Phong, causing difficulties for cruise tourism activities and tourists. To "break the ice" of this paradox, help the two localities soon "unite" and promote the value of the World Heritage, experts say the fundamental solution is to unify management - a shortcoming that has existed for more than ten years in the heritage.
Regarding this issue, after nearly a week of working with agencies, organizations, and localities, the representative of the World Heritage Center (WHC), Ms. Luba Janikova, said that the Monitoring Delegation recognized the difficulties and complexities in coordinating the management of the first inter-provincial world heritage site in Vietnam, as well as the challenges in ensuring the balance and harmony between conservation and development. Ms. Luba Janikova affirmed that this is a difficult problem not only for Vietnam but for all heritage sites in the world in general.
Agreeing with the opinions of Ms. Luba Janikova, representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mr. Amran Hamzah commented that although the coordination between localities and agencies to preserve and promote the value of world heritage faces many difficulties and challenges, this is a good opportunity for Vietnam to demonstrate its international obligations and responsibilities in the process of implementing the World Heritage Convention, including preserving and effectively promoting the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of this inter-provincial heritage.
Mr. Amran Hamzah recommended that Vietnam should regularly inform and update the World Heritage Center and UNESCO's competent agencies about development projects that have been, are being or are planned to be implemented in the areas of the World Heritage Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago; pay attention to applying relevant regulations and guidelines of UNESCO in the process of planning and implementing projects.
The International Passenger Port is a stopover for a large number of foreign visitors to Quang Ninh. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+)
IUCN representatives also recommended that localities pay attention to and apply important tools such as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) not only during the planning and implementation process but also after the project is completed to assess the overall impact on heritage...
Regarding the assessment of tourist carrying capacity, the Monitoring Team responded to the recommendation that Vietnam pay attention to and build an assessment of tourist carrying capacity for the entire heritage area, including attention to both tangible and intangible assessments that affect tourists when choosing to visit the heritage site in order to have appropriate solutions.
No trade-off between economy and environment and heritage
In response to the opinions of experts from the Supervisory Delegation, leaders of functional agencies of Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city, leaders of the Department of Cultural Heritage affirmed to comply with the guidelines of the World Heritage Convention; to perfect the legal system of Vietnam, especially the new Law on Cultural Heritage passed by the National Assembly, as well as sub-law documents under construction and will be issued in the near future.
In addition, localities also confirmed compliance with environmental protection work; collection and treatment of wastewater; development and implementation of strategies and plans for sustainable tourism development; expansion of research and assessment of tourist capacity of the entire heritage site, which is the basis for decisions in the process of conservation and promotion of values; promotion of scientific research on the value of world heritage; ensuring apparatus and resources for conservation and promotion of the value of World Heritage...
The wild beauty of small islands. (Photo: Contributor/Vietnam+)
Acknowledging the assessments and recommendations of the Feedback Monitoring Team, and affirming that these are important contents, contributing to the process of completing the work of preserving and promoting the values of cultural heritage, especially the world heritages recognized by UNESCO in Vietnam, including the World Heritage of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong requested Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province to continue to closely coordinate and support the Feedback Monitoring Team to complete related reports to send to the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the coming time.
To enhance and spread the brand of the World Heritage destination Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago, experts say that the first thing to do is to remove "river barriers and market bans" and unify management.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to work and request localities to seriously implement the regulations of the World Heritage Convention and the Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, especially in the process of implementing development projects.
In particular, industry leaders affirmed that the Vietnamese Government always pays attention to the socio-economic development process. Although it sets high development goals and double-digit growth in the near future, it does not trade economic development for environmental protection, conservation, and promotion of heritage values, especially UNESCO-recognized world heritages./.
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