An bird's eye view of Ly Son Islands, off the coast of Quang Ngai Province. (Photo courtesy of Bui Thanh Trung)Thefuture development of the islands was discussed at a recent onlinetalk among more than 100 Vietnamese archaeologists, geologists, volcanoresearchers, historians, conservationists and experts in education, tourism andplanning.
Theparticipants agreed that overloaded infrastructure projects in the future willdestroy the geological structure and ecosystem on the islands.
Researchersraised concerns as local authorities recently proposed development plansincluding an international airport and expanding the island area.
“LySon Islands, which were naturally formed over millions of years, are anoutpost of the country’s defence and security in the East Sea. Theyhave cemented the country’s sovereignty on the sea and islands includingTruong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos,” said Vo Van Minh fromDa Nang University of Education.
“Thesea expansion will surely damage coral reefs, seagrass beds andbiodiversity in waters off the islands. It will erode the islands’ foundationand risk collapse,” he explained.
Theislands still hold the Hoang Sa festival, recognised as an intangiblecultural heritage, that has been observed for hundreds of years bylocal fishing families.
Thefestival pays tribute to local men who enlisted in the Hoang Sa Flotilla. Thisgroup was organised to patrol the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos in orderto mine resources and defend the nation's sovereignty over the territorialwaters.
Centuries-oldhouses are still preserved, as is Am Linh Pagoda, built to worship thesouls of sailors who died during long, regular patrols of Hoang Sa and TruongSa islands in the Nguyen Dynasty (in the 17th century).
Alocal museum displays over 200 ancient documents and 100 exhibits that provethat Hoang Sa and Truong Sa islands belong to Vietnam.
Formerdirector of the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources, Tran TanVan, said the recognition of the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Global Geo-Park will helpQuang Ngai preserve its heritage and contribute to economic growth.
Hesaid the dossier for the recognition had passed the initial assessment byexperts from the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) on theinternational geological heritage value, and it needs a field survey forrevaluation of the islands’ heritage.
LySon Islands were formed by five mountains, of which four are dormant volcanoes.
NguyenVan Long, from the Institute of Oceanography, under the Vietnam Academy forScience and Technology, said Ly Son Islands have one of the largest areas ofcoral reef on 1,706ha, and 116ha of seagrass bed in Vietnam.
Hesaid the seas off the islands has huge seafood resources with more than 1,200tonnes being caught, bringing an income of 212 billion VND (9.2 million USD) peryear.
Longsaid field assessments reported that human activities in recent years haddamaged the ecological system off the islands.
“Over-fishing,or fishing by explosives, plastic waste pollution and climate change havebleached coral reefs and sea anemone in the area,” Long said.
Hesaid the islands, which have high biodiversity with 768 species, need tobe urgently protected and conserved.
Seniorlecturer of the HCM City-based Marketing and Finance University, Dang Van My,said Ly Son Islands had not yet taken advantage of its tourism potential.
Touristscould visit the islands in the six months of the dry season (between April andOctober), while boat trips to the islands in the off-season were limited,he added.
“Investorscould not get back their investments in resorts and hotels fromsix months of tourism service annually. So, property speculationfollows the tourism investors,” he warned.
BuiThi Thu Hien, marine and coastal resource programme co-ordinator from theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said a ‘blue sea’economy should be planned for Ly Son Islands, but this would require ahuge fund for conservation activities.
Shesaid the World Economic Forum 2020 reported that for every dollar spent onnature restoration, at least 9 USD of economic benefits can be expected.
TheIUNC launched a communication campaign to promote the non-use of plastic bagsas a prelude to its sea turtle conservation programme on Ly Son from 2017-2018.
Hiensaid it would be impossible for Ly Son to host 4 million touristswhen the islands’ underground water reserve can barely supply enoughfor islanders during the dry season.
Shesaid the islands could not boost their ‘blue sea’ economy withoutfurther research on biodiversity and ecology.
DrChu Manh Trinh, a nature conservationist from the Cham Islands Marine ProtectedArea, suggested Ly Son promote its prosperity from nature conservation.
“LySon Islands could be a large ‘school’ and an ‘outdoor museum’ for researchersand students in exploring the geological heritage from ancientvolcanoes and archaeology as well as fishing communities,” he said.
PhamVan Cong, founder and CEO of Dori company, said the islands’ economy, which isbased on agriculture, fishing and tourism, hadnot benefited islanders, only tourism investors and service suppliersfrom the mainland.
“Tourismproperties occupy a third of the total area on the islands, while half of theislands’ population make their living from growing garlic and purple onion,” Congsaid.
“Mostyoung men leave the islands after high school, causing a serious lack of humanresources. Only low-educated adults remain and source an income fromfishing and farming.”
VoMinh Tuan, a member of the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Global Geo-Park management board,said underground water sources had been polluted by the over-use of 2,000wells on the islands.
“Poorquality water would lead to rising health problems in the community. Wastetreatment and afforestation plans have not yet been developed,” Tuan said.
Anexpert who wished to remain anonymous said building an internationalairport on the islands was unfeasible.
“Theisland, just 1.3km in length, is too short to the standard 3.5km runaway forhosting Airbus aircrafts. At least 288ha, or a third of the island will bereserved for infrastructure of the airport. It means that farming land, theport and a vast water area will be cleared for the airport,” he said.
Theislands are accessible by a 30-minute speed-boat trip, while Chu Laiairport in Quang Nam is 30km away, and Da Nang International airport isa 90-minute bus ride.
Speakingat a press conference in April, Chairman of the Quang Ngai provincialPeople’s Committee Dang Van Minh said the dossier for UNESCOrecognition of the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Global Geo-Park had been halted.
Hesaid the park, which covers 4,600sq.km including 2,000sq.km of sea, willnot reserve lands for economic plans.
However,General Decretary of the Global Geoparks Network and Chairperson of the UNESCOGlobal Geoparks Council, Guy Martini, said the Quang Ngai People’s Committeesaid the park could not limit industrial zones or urban zones if these projectsare legal and follow Vietnamese environmental legislation.
Theislands host around 200,000 tourists annually, with 18 hotels and 56homestay facilities built to accommodate 1,000 tourists.
A‘Non-carbon Island Initiative’ project including reverse osmosis (RO)desalination plants, wave-to-energy technology and battery-poweredvehicles was planned for the islands, but was postponed due to COVID-19pandemic./.
VNA
