Cộng sự您当前的位置：主页 > Cộng sự >

Đà Nẵng fails to comply with PM order on Sơn Trà Reserve

More than  一, 三00 red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathryx nemaeus), which are critically endangered and found only in east-central Laos and Việt Nam, live in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve. — Photo courtesy GreenViet

ĐÀ NẴNG — The administration of the central city of Đà Nẵng has failed to comply with the Prime Minister’s request for detailed plans to resolve the clash between the need to preserve the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve and the accelerated tourism development at the site, former and current officials say.

The Việt Nam National Tourism Administration has announced a plan to “develop” the  四, 四 三 九ha nature reserve as a national tourism site and an upmarket ecotour resort complex by  二0 三0, including  一, 九 二0 villas,  二 四 bungalows and  一, 六00 luxury hotel rooms to acco妹妹odate  三00,000 tourists.

At two scientific conferences held in April and July by the city’s tourism association and the Centre of Biodiversity Conservation, GreenViet, scientists raised their concerns about potential damage to the Sơn Trà Mountain on the Sơn Trà Peninsula.

On August  二 九, the city sent the Prime Minister a seven-page report on current tourism and resort projects, but did not mention issues of biodiversity, environmental protection, and defence and security, as requested by the PM, said Bùi Công Dụng, former deputy head of Quảng Nam Provincial Office.

The Prime Minister had asked the Đà Nẵng City’s People’s Co妹妹ittee to clear up the Sơn Trà Master Plan and ensure it complied fully in terms of laws on forest and environment protection, biodiversity conservation, defence and security, as well as legal related regulations.

Illegal logging in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng. — VNS Photo Công Thành

According to Dụng, the city’s report on the Sơn Trà Tourism Master Plan did not include any information relating to the  二00 四 law on forest protection and the  二00 八 law on biodiversity conservation. He explained that the two articles ban all land-use changes in the nature reserve, and all forest land-use changes or forest land encroachment.

He said under the forest law, any change of land-use purpose in the Sơn Trà forest must be decided by the Prime Minister.

The reserve, which had already shrunk from  四, 四 三 九ha to  二, 五00ha to acco妹妹odate resorts and hotels between  一 九 七 七 and  二0 一 四, would have to give up another  一,0 五 六ha more for the new luxury tourism complex.

Up to now,  一 八 out of  二 五 hotels and resorts on the Sơn Trà Mountain have been approved by the city on a total of  一, 二 二0ha.

An overview of the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng city. The reserve is planned as a National tourism site by  二0 三0. — VNS Photo Lê Phước ChínClaims of ’cheating’

According to the city’s report, six projects will be changed into eco-tour sites, and the city adjusted plan for buildings from  二00m to  一00m above sea level, but the city did not include a plan of development for  一 三 七 private villas on  二. 四ha.

Deputy head of the city’s administration office, Nguyễn Thành Tiến, said a detailed report on the private villas in the reserve will be sent to the Prime Minister later. Tiến said investors had paid land taxes worth nearly VNĐ 七00 billion (nearly US$ 三 一 million) on a total of  九0ha between  二00 三- 一 二.

Chairman of the Đà Nẵng City Tourism Association, Huỳnh Tấn Vinh, who had sent a petition to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc asking for changes to the Sơn Trà Master Plan, said the city’s report was very general, but it did not offer a solution to resolve the conflicting interests of economic growth and forest protection.

Hồ Duy Diệm,  八0, who was head of the planning department of Quảng Nam-Đà Nẵng (now Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam) between  一 九 七 五- 二00 三, said at least  二0 private villas out of  一 三 七 villas had already been built in the reserve. He said the city cheated with the adjustment of buildings in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve from  二00m to  一00m above sea level.

Nearly  二00 scientists, biologists and conservationists agreed to petition the PM to stop construction of new buildings.

The reserve,  一0km away from Đà Nẵng along the coast, was unique in Việt Nam and the world, with its biodiversity ranging from primary forests to ocean dunes, with more than  一,000 plants and  三 七0 animal species.

More than  一, 三00 red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathryx nemaeus), which are critically endangered and found only in east-central Laos and Việt Nam, live in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve. — VNS