Aquatic farming in the waters of Con Dao Island, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The potentialresources in Vietnam’s coastal zones are believed to be significant, playing animportant role in national development.
A coastal zone, the interface betweenland and water, is affected by sea waves, currents and tides, other naturalimpacts, local residents’ daily activities, and resource users.
Coastal zone resources are major“real estate” reserves, of which ecosystems are a critical infrastructure factorin coastal zones.
About 35 minerals with varyingreserves, including fuel, metals, construction materials, precious andsemi-precious gemstones, and liquid minerals have been discovered in thecountry’s coastal zones.
These zones also contain mineralsands and heavy minerals with rare elements like titanium (which has an annualoutput of 220,000 tonnes), zirconium and cerium (1,500 tonnes a year), and60,000 hectares of salt fields.
Some sand mines with reserves ofmore than 100 billion tonnes have recently been discovered in seabeds near themainland. Van Hai and Vinh Thuc are famous silica mines with respectivereserves of 7 billion tonnes and 20,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, there is a quartzsandbar that boasts a reserve of almost 9 billion tonnes in the coastal seabedof northern Quang Ninh province.
Coastal zones of Vietnam are home tomore than 20 ecosystems of which submerged forests, coral reefs and seagrassbeds are most typical. About 800,000 hectares of intertidal zones, lagoons andbays are also favourable for farming aquatic species that could be valuablewhen exported.
More than 100 locations can be usedto build ports, many of which can serve as international points of transit.Many islands also have conditions for constructing logistics centres to serveoffshore fishing.
Among more than 125 beaches of allsizes, 20 beaches are internationally qualified for sea tourism.
At present, more than 50 percent ofbig cities in Vietnam are located along the coast, which also accommodates thenorthern, central and southern key economic regions, nearly 30 exportprocessing and industrial zones, and over 80 seaports able to handle 100million tonnes of goods every year.
The country’s sea tourism alsoattracts nearly 15 million visitors a year, including 3 million foreigners,posting an average annual growth rate of 13 percent.
Oil and gas extraction is conductedin six fields in the southern continental shelf.
While about 80 percent of Vietnam’sannual fish haul comes from inshore shallow waters, about 90 percent of shrimpoutput is farmed in the coastal brackish water areas, according to the Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development.
The scale of Vietnam’s sea-based andcoastal economy between 2000 and 2005 is estimated at 30 percent of GDP. Economicsectors that directly relate to the exploitation of marine resources such asshipbuilding and repair, oil and gas processing, aquatic product processing,and communications have made progress. However, their scale remains modest,about 2 percent of the sea-based economy and 0.4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Fifteen economic zones have beencreated along the coast of Vietnam. They act as sea-oriented economicdevelopment centres that foster sea-related activities like fishery logistics,seaport and shipping, marine tourism, and marine scientific research.
In addition, 13 of the 28 nationalparks, 22 of the 55 nature reserves and 17 of the 34 forests with cultural,historical and environmental importance are located in coastal areas andinshore islands. Outstanding world biosphere reserves in Vietnam’s coastalzones include the Can Gio submerged forest, the area of Cat Ba archipelago, andthe river mouth areas of the Red and Mekong rivers.
In the planning of a system of 16marine protected areas that was signed off by the Government in 2010, 14 areasare in coastal zones.
In 1994, Ha Long Bay of northernQuang Ninh province was named a world natural heritage. Nha Trang Bay of thesouth central province of Khanh Hoa and Lang Co Bay in central Thua Thien-Hueprovince were recognised as beautiful bays of the world.
Hoi An Ancient Town, the Complex ofHue Monuments, My Son Sanctuary and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, which areworld cultural and natural heritage sites, are all located in coastal areas.
However, strong socio-economicdevelopment in coastal zones has been putting pressure on ecosystemconservation there. Those development activities are out of control of thelocal communities. Therefore, it is a must to soon have synchronous managementpolicies for coastal zones.-VNA
VNA
