Heritage conservation and economic development of Ha Long Bay: Need for specific regulations

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ha Long Bay being recognized as a World Natural Heritage, Nhan Dan Newspaper reporters interviewed Mr. Vu Kien Cuong, Head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, about heritage management, opening up great prospects for socio -economic development of Quang Ninh province.

Over the past 30 years, Ha Long Bay has been recognized as a World Natural Heritage. With efforts in managing, preserving and promoting the value of the heritage, Ha Long Bay has become a bright spot on the national and international tourism map.
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MR. VU KIEN CUONG,
HEAD OF HALONG BAY MANAGEMENT BOARD.

Preserving the original state and promoting heritage values

Reporter: Ha Long Bay has been recognized twice by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage for its unique, exceptional and distinctive values. Overall assessment of the journey over the past 30 years, could you please tell us what Quang Ninh has done to preserve and promote the heritage values worthy of the title and achieve the current achievements?

Mr. Vu Kien Cuong: Over the past three decades, since Ha Long Bay was recognized as a world natural heritage, we have always received close attention and direction from the Government, ministries and central branches, the active coordination of localities, domestic and international organizations and individuals, and the consensus and cooperation of the entire community in the management, conservation and promotion of the values of Ha Long Bay heritage.

With the motto of closely following the viewpoints and orientations of UNESCO, the World Heritage Convention and Vietnam's legal documents in heritage management, over the years, Quang Ninh province has always prioritized resources for the management, conservation and promotion of the heritage value of Ha Long Bay.

The management policy mechanism of Ha Long Bay is increasingly focused on reviewing, supplementing and perfecting to ensure it is suitable for the practical situation; the outstanding global values and other typical values of Ha Long Bay are regularly investigated and clarified; socio-economic activities taking place on the bay are strictly managed; environmental management and protection are implemented drastically and synchronously; international cooperation is maintained and expanded; infrastructure at tourist attractions and overnight accommodations on the bay is renovated, restored and embellished to create favorable conditions for visitors; tourism services are strictly managed, improving the quality of experience for visitors; propaganda, promotion and community education activities are enhanced; the development of tourism products and services on the bay is promoted, meeting the needs of visitors; the reception of visitors is increasingly civilized, professional, ensuring safety and thoughtfulness; Disaster prevention, fire prevention and search and rescue work are given attention...

With these efforts, the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay is increasingly becoming an attractive destination, attracting domestic and international tourists, opening up great prospects for socio-economic development of Quang Ninh province.

We are extremely honored and proud that over the past 30 years, along with the title of World Heritage, Ha Long Bay has also continuously received many other noble titles such as: Special National Monument, New Natural Wonder of the World, International Geological Heritage of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, Vietnam's Leading Tourist Area, Vietnam's Leading Tourist Destination, and most recently - in 2023, the World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay was approved by the World Heritage Committee to adjust the boundary to include Cat Ba Archipelago of Hai Phong city, becoming the first inter-provincial World Heritage of Vietnam.

Some of the province's outstanding achievements in managing, preserving and promoting the heritage value of Ha Long Bay include the following:

Firstly , regularly review, update and perfect the management policy mechanism of Ha Long Bay in accordance with the reality of management, conservation and sustainable promotion of the heritage value of Ha Long Bay such as: developing a detailed plan to conserve and promote the value of Ha Long Bay, an environmental plan for Ha Long Bay, regulations on management, protection and promotion of the value of the World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay, and a comprehensive management plan for Ha Long Bay Heritage built in 5-year stages...

Second , focus on investigating, researching and clarifying the values of the world natural heritage of Ha Long Bay as a basis for proposing management and protection solutions to prevent risks of damage to the heritage. Some typical activities include: organizing periodic monitoring of the conservation status of Ha Long Bay heritage to count, control, evaluate, promptly detect risks affecting the value of the heritage site and take timely management and response actions; implementing zoning of the entire area of forests on limestone mountains and mangrove forests in the world heritage site of Ha Long Bay to recognize them as special-use forests for landscape protection in order to protect the ecological environment, create landscapes, preserve rare genetic resources, and preserve biodiversity in accordance with the provisions of law.

Many scientific research topics related to the fields of geology-geomorphology, biodiversity, culture-history, and tourism have been implemented. The research results of these topics have been and are being applied in practice in the management, conservation, and promotion of Heritage values.

Third , focus on managing the landscape environment and ecological environment of Ha Long Bay in the direction of controlling waste sources well; collecting floating waste and waste at tourist attractions in Ha Long Bay is increased; Styrofoam buoys at floating structures on the bay are replaced with sustainable floating materials; implementing the program "Ha Long Bay without plastic waste"; wastewater and waste at tourist boats, tourist attractions on the bay, and residential areas along the shore of Ha Long Bay are gradually collected and treated; implementing domestic and international cooperation activities in environmental protection and conservation of heritage values such as: developing sets of criteria to periodically monitor the conservation status of heritage values, installing additional wastewater treatment systems using Jokaso technology on Dau Go Island, organizing mangrove planting campaigns, collecting waste along the shore and at the foot of the island, etc.

Strictly manage socio-economic activities in Ha Long Bay, improve the tourism business environment. Direct the functional forces to strengthen measures to manage socio-economic activities on and near the bay. Violations in Ha Long Bay are strengthened to be inspected and promptly handled.

Cruise ships operating in Ha Long Bay are managed to reduce quantity, increase quality, safety, environmental protection, exploitation efficiency and monitoring through modern equipment such as GPS, cameras...

Tourists kayaking on Lan Ha Bay.

Tourism business activities in Ha Long Bay are strictly controlled, each type of tourism service has its operating area regulated and a management plan developed. Regulations on not fishing in the World Natural Heritage area. Require ships operating in Ha Long Bay to sign operating contracts with the heritage management agency.

Fourth , focus on investing and attracting investment in tourism infrastructure to develop heritage tourism in a sustainable, professional and modern direction: Along with opening a 176km long expressway along the province, the province has mobilized non-budgetary capital to invest in a system of tourist ports, especially Tuan Chau International Passenger Port, Ha Long International Passenger Port, Ao Tien International Passenger Port, meeting the need for easy access for domestic and international tourists when visiting Ha Long Bay.

In addition, we also pay attention to the renovation, repair and enhancement of infrastructure at tourist attractions and overnight accommodations in Ha Long Bay in accordance with the Planning and related regulations to ensure safety, aesthetics and bring satisfaction to tourists, focusing on upgrading and renovating infrastructure at main tourist attractions; regularly maintaining and repairing the buoy system, signal buoys at routes, tourist attractions, accommodation and signal systems connecting tourist attractions and overnight accommodations with inland waterways.

Enterprises are encouraged and supported to participate in investing in infrastructure to serve tourism development in Ha Long Bay. Thereby, forming a synchronous infrastructure, creating a new look for Ha Long tourism, increasing the attractiveness of the heritage destination of Ha Long Bay, bringing the best experiences and extending the visiting time of tourists when coming to Ha Long. The application of science and technology to improve the efficiency of management work is gradually focused on implementation (investing in microwave signal transmission systems, surveillance cameras at some tourist attractions in Ha Long Bay...).

A corner of Ha Long at night.

Fifth , diversify and expand the tourism space on Ha Long Bay in a sustainable direction, increasing the experience for visitors. In addition to continuing to deploy and improve the quality of existing tourism products and services such as cave tours, mountain climbing, swimming, kayaking, rowing boats, speedboats, overnight stays... on Ha Long Bay, new routes, destinations and tourism products and services have been developed: 8 sightseeing and tourism itineraries and 5 clusters and overnight stays; pilot activities of discovery cruises with 3 separate sightseeing routes; Night Cruise Street products with culinary experiences combined with enjoying music and visiting the beauty of Ha Long city at night; expanding tourism products based on preserving and promoting the historical and cultural values of fishing villages, archaeological culture, and biodiversity on Ha Long Bay.

Focus on expanding tourism space to increase experiences, prolong tourists' vacation time, reduce pressure on heritage areas, and at the same time meet the goal of connecting and linking regions in developing the cultural industry.

Quang Ninh province has also issued a Plan and Project, which specifically orients tourism development in Ha Long Bay with typical tourism products to attract tourists, such as: eco-tourism, community tourism, tourism to experience and explore the culture of Ha Long coastal residents, tourism associated with sports...;

In addition, expand the tourism space in the direction of developing typical regional products to increase connectivity in Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay, Van Don and Co To; allow pilot operations of coastal restaurant tourism routes and other cruise routes to reduce the number of visitors in some areas showing signs of local overload in the core heritage area; open a sightseeing route connecting Ha Long Bay with bays in Cat Ba archipelago (route 5) to promote regional connectivity; complete related procedures to open additional new routes connecting from Ha Long Bay to Bai Tu Long Bay, from Ha Long Bay to Gia Luan (Hai Phong)...

To meet the needs of the high-spending tourist market, Quang Ninh province has resolutely directed relevant departments and agencies to research and advise on the development of a number of new tourism products in Ha Long Bay: large and small-scale beaches; put into tourism services new caves, areas with beautiful and safe landscapes; organize short-term art performances in caves and beaches; build unique souvenir products with the bay's own identity...

Sixth , step by step innovating the work of promoting and advertising Ha Long Bay tourism: communication activities, promoting tourism products and services on Ha Long Bay on social networks are focused on promoting (Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Zalo, ...); expanding the scope of activities to promote and advertise Ha Long Bay tourism in key domestic and international tourist markets through many rich and diverse activities such as: Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival, VITM Hanoi, Dubai World Exhibition EXPO, "Vietnam - Complete Experience" program, Sea Games 31 event, East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) event, sports sailing event...; actively cooperating in communication with radio stations, newspapers, magazines to publish topics, write in-depth articles about Ha Long Bay Heritage; promoting cooperation with domestic and international media agencies and filmmakers to promote the majestic natural landscape of Ha Long Bay through the field of cinema; Strengthening links with the World Heritage Club in Vietnam to connect information and promote the values and potential of Ha Long Bay heritage, including publishing the publication "World Heritage in Vietnam - outstanding global values", contributing to promoting Ha Long Bay heritage, spreading the image of "Ha Long Bay - a safe, friendly and attractive destination".

Seventh , continue to maintain and expand, maintain close relationships with international organizations (World Heritage Center, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Network of Marine World Heritage Managers, UNESCO Hanoi Office...) and international experts and scientists to exchange, propose support in experience, finance, and techniques for heritage management, environmental protection, sustainable tourism development, and training, improving heritage management capacity.

At the same time, promote the role well in organizations, clubs, forums that Ha Long Bay participates in and is a member of such as: Network of World Marine Heritage Managers, Association of the World's Most Beautiful Bays, G20 Network of countries with wonders recognized as one of the 7 wonders of the world (New7Wonders).... From the above relationships, many exchange activities with countries in and outside the region on economy and culture, many programs and projects on heritage conservation are sponsored by international organizations.

Eighth , the province strictly manages financial management and collection of entrance fees. The method of selling and controlling entrance tickets to Ha Long Bay has been changed to a centralized and professional manner to strictly manage and minimize losses. From 1996 to November 2024, Ha Long Bay has welcomed over 56.7 million visitors, of which over 26 million were Vietnamese visitors and 30.7 million were foreign visitors; entrance fees have reached over VND 8,551.4 billion. This is a very large number to show that, in addition to preserving the original state of the heritage according to UNESCO regulations, the work of promoting the heritage to bring socio-economic values to Ha Long in particular and Quang Ninh in general is very effective.

From 1996 to November 2024, Ha Long Bay welcomed over 56.7 million visitors, of which over 26 million were Vietnamese visitors and 30.7 million were foreign visitors; the total entrance fee revenue reached over VND 8,551.4 billion.

This is a very large number to show that, in addition to preserving the original state of the heritage according to UNESCO regulations, the work of promoting the heritage to bring socio-economic values to Ha Long in particular and Quang Ninh in general is very effective.

Reporter: The journey of heritage conservation in the context of facing many challenges, both objective and subjective factors. In the face of development needs, what are the challenges that the Ha Long Bay Management Board clearly identifies and what are the difficulties of the unit in particular and Quang Ninh province in general in the work of protecting and preserving heritage?

Mr. Vu Kien Cuong: Over the past 30 years, Ha Long Bay has been recognized as a World Natural Heritage, with efforts in managing, preserving and promoting the value of the heritage, Ha Long Bay has become a bright spot on the national and international tourism map. However, the management, preservation and promotion of the heritage value of Ha Long Bay also faces challenges and difficulties:

Firstly, the environment and heritage values of Ha Long Bay are under increasing multi-dimensional pressure from urbanization and socio-economic activities on and along the bay. Specifically, the bay is where many complex socio-economic activities take place, related to many industries and fields such as: tourism; aquaculture, fisheries exploitation; seaport traffic. The bay coastal area is adjacent to many localities with strong urbanization rates (petroleum business, coal mining, seaports, etc.) ... potentially causing water pollution and negative impacts on the ecosystems of Ha Long Bay.

Second, the number of tourists visiting Ha Long Bay increases year by year, leading to an increased demand for technical facilities and services for tourists such as restaurants, hotels, entertainment areas, ports, etc., which potentially poses a risk of negative impacts on the ecological environment, depleting tourism resources and affecting the quality of tourists' experiences.

Third, the system of legal documents related to the management, conservation and promotion of the value of the World Natural Heritage and the Special National Monument of Ha Long Bay is still lacking, not keeping up with the practical needs of development, there are no specific regulations and instructions on: land allocation, forest allocation, sea area allocation in the World Heritage area, Special National Monument; on the mechanism for managing and protecting inter-provincial world heritage; on the establishment of a general plan for inter-provincial heritage; has not "internalized" the process of implementing Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for project proposals related to Ha Long Bay... causing many difficulties and shortcomings in the work of advising on solutions for economic development of heritage...

Fourth, heritage management and conservation also face non-traditional security challenges, such as climate change, rising sea levels, natural disasters, and epidemics. This phenomenon has been and is present, leading to a number of rocky islands and caves with aesthetic and geological-geomorphological values that are at risk of landslides and collapse, such as Thien Nga island (which has collapsed), But island, Dinh Huong island, Trong Mai island, etc. Climate change and rising sea levels also pose a potential risk of submerging beautiful pines and pines, causing the disappearance of tidal flat ecosystems, mangrove forests, and vegetation on limestone mountains, indirectly causing the loss of habitat for a number of species that live directly in these ecosystems.

Fifth, the awareness of protecting and preserving the heritage values and the environmental protection of Ha Long Bay of a part of the community participating in socio-economic activities in the area above and along the shore of Ha Long Bay is not adequate, there is still the situation of direct discharge of untreated waste into Ha Long Bay, and there is still the situation of illegal fishing...

Sustainable tourism development in Ha Long Bay

Reporter: With the important task of managing, preserving and promoting the value of Ha Long Bay, focusing on the UNESCO-recognized World Natural Heritage area, in your opinion, what is Quang Ninh's strategy for promoting the heritage in the coming period, to both preserve the heritage and develop the socio-economy, harmoniously solving the livelihood of local people?

Mr. Vu Kien Cuong: Based on a full assessment of the potential and strengths of Ha Long Bay heritage, and at the same time forecasting and identifying the difficulties and challenges in the next phase for the management, conservation and promotion of the value of Ha Long Bay heritage, we propose some orientations as follows:

Firstly, we continue to strictly comply with the Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, UNESCO recommendations, and Vietnamese laws, while closely following and effectively implementing the planning and directives of the Central and the province in the management, conservation and exploitation of heritage values. Continue to manage the World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay according to the integrated management approach.

Second, improve governance efficiency, continue to review and perfect heritage management mechanisms to ensure authority according to regulations; complete and implement heritage management plans, regulations, plans, and sustainable tourism development plans for Ha Long Bay based on the results of tourism capacity assessment of the Ha Long Bay World Natural Heritage Site; effectively develop and implement inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination mechanisms in the management of Ha Long Bay Heritage - Cat Ba Archipelago.

Develop a long-term strategy for promoting and developing tourism in Ha Long Bay and a human resource training plan, focusing on in-depth training in research, conservation, and promotion of heritage, environmental, cultural, and tourism values; gradually implement digital transformation and apply digital technology in managing, preserving, and promoting heritage values.

Third, strengthen the management and sustainable protection of heritage resources and environment: Promote research and build a digital database on resources and heritage values of Ha Long Bay; deploy tasks of periodically monitoring the status of heritage conservation; effectively manage special-use forests of Ha Long Bay; manage and minimize waste and wastewater; strengthen water quality monitoring, warn and take measures to manage and respond to risks of negative impacts on the environment of Ha Long Bay; use resources sustainably and economically; encourage organizations and individuals to use clean energy in tourism activities; manage environmental risks and adapt to climate change.

Propagating and raising awareness about heritage protection, resource and environmental protection in the community on the basis of innovation in thinking, changing behavior, sense of responsibility towards nature and environment, towards a green lifestyle.

Fourth, develop tourism in a professional, modern, and effective direction, ensuring sustainable development: Control and ensure a safe, civilized, and friendly tourism business environment; manage and operate tourism activities on Ha Long Bay according to the carrying capacity of the heritage site to control impacts on heritage values and enhance visitors' experiences; strengthen public-private cooperation in tourism development.

Focus on eco-tourism, cultural tourism, community tourism products associated with night-time economy, smart tourism, high-quality tourism such as eco-tourism products of pine and ang, cultural tourism of fishermen in fishing villages, coastal tourism products of Ha Long Bay, discovery cruises...; link to build tourism products connecting regions and areas and connecting with other heritages such as connecting Ha Long Bay with Bai Tu Long Bay, Van Don, Co To, Cat Ba... Diversify and improve the effectiveness of providing information about heritage sites and tourism activities for visitors.

Fifth, promote community participation, contributing to sustainable socio-cultural development: Strengthen the role and participation of local people, communities and stakeholders in heritage conservation and protection activities through a network of collaborators to protect Ha Long Bay heritage, collect waste, join hands to implement the Ha Long Bay program without plastic waste...; cooperate between the state and tourism businesses in building and developing eco-tourism, cultural tourism and community tourism products such as entertainment services on the bay, tourism services associated with music... to create job opportunities and increase income from tourism activities for local people and businesses.

Promote international cooperation on heritage, especially with organizations such as UNESCO, IUCN, JICA, etc. to attract support in terms of experts, techniques and economic resources in heritage management, especially in the fields of heritage conservation, environmental protection, sustainable tourism development, and improving the quality of human resources.

Reporter: In recent times, Quang Ninh has also achieved many good results in preserving, promoting, exploiting and promoting the values of the heritage. As the agency managing the Ha Long Bay heritage, has the Ha Long Bay Management Board advised the leaders of Quang Ninh province to make recommendations to the Government, ministries, branches and other localities to join hands to preserve and promote the Ha Long Bay Heritage forever worthy of its exceptional, unique and distinctive values of Vietnam?

Mr. Vu Kien Cuong: To continue to manage, preserve and promote the value of the World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay in the next stages, we respectfully request the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to study and "internalize" the heritage impact assessment process according to the Guidelines and Toolkit for Impact Assessment within the scope of UNESCO's World Heritage into legal documents on heritage management in Vietnam, because currently in the process of negotiating socio-economic development project dossiers in the Ha Long Bay heritage area, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has requested investors to carry out the Heritage impact assessment process, however, there are no specific regulations and instructions for implementing this process.

In addition, Ha Long Bay heritage has special characteristics, not only as a scenic spot but also as an area where many socio-economic activities take place, so it is necessary to integrate regulations to manage specific activities at natural heritage in the Law on Heritage Protection.

Therefore, we propose that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism provide guidance and support to Quang Ninh province in the management of world heritage sites in the two localities of Quang Ninh and Hai Phong.

We also need to support resources, experts, training of heritage management staff and support the province in proactively determining the form of policy development and solutions for sustainable tourism development in Ha Long Bay to ensure effectiveness and suitability for the locality.

Thank you Mr. Vu Kien Cuong!

Source: https://special.nhandan.vn/Bao-ton-di-san-va-phat-trien-kinh-te-Vinh-Ha-Long/index.html