An overview of Ly Son island, off Quang Ngai province coast (Photo courtesy of Bui Thanh Trung)Chairmanof the Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee Dang Van Minh has confirmedthe province was ending the recognition, stating the park, which covers4,600sq.km, would be used for various socio-economic development purposes.
Hesaid the province had a working session with the Department of Culture, Sportsand Tourism on the assessment of the park, and the provincial Party Committee’sStanding Board would give a decision on the halt of development activitiesrelated to the park later.
“Yeta final decision was made by the provincial Party Committee’s Standing Board and Ipersonally agreed to stop the park development,” Minh said.
Theprovince established the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Geopark in 2015 before preparing forglobal status recognition by UNESCO from 2017.
TheLy Son-Sa Huynh Global Geopark recognition was set to be decided upon by UNESCOat the general meeting in Jeju, the Republic of Korea, last November, but theoutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to those plans, authoritiessaid.
Theprovince suspended all field activities on the park’s file completion processand scientific research in March last year.
Accordingto the management board of the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Geo-Park, the dossier was sentlast November for official recognition by UNESCO, and an expert team wasassigned to evaluate the value of the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Geo-Park, but the planwas delayed by the pandemic.
Manypieces of scientific and geological research on the Ly Son-Sa Huynh terrain andcultural value were reported at an international conference in 2019,contributing to the dossier before it was submitted to UNESCO.
Expertsfrom the Vietnam Institute of Geo-sciences and Mineral Resources said it takesfive to seven years to complete a dossier for geopark recognition, and aboutseven parks in the world are approved by UNESCO each year.
TopVietnamese archaeologists, geologists, volcano researchers and historiansagreed that the Ly Son Islands, 30km off the coast of Quang Ngai province, wereformed by ancient volcanoes that existed more than 25 million years ago.
Anarea of 4,600sq.km, including more than 2,000sq.km of sea, covering ninedistricts and islands, was included in the area for global geoparkrecognition.
Therecognition of Ly Son-Sa Huynh as a Global Geo-Park would have promoted theunique culture, rich biodiversity and extinct volcanoes around Ly Son Islands.
Vietnamhas three global geoparks recognised by UNESCO – Dong Van Karst Plateau inthe northern province of Ha Giang (in 2010), Cao Bang Geopark (2018) and DakNong Geopark in 2020./.
VNA
