Da Nang (VNA) - Protectedmarine areas (MPAs) in the country face the serious threats of pollution,dynamite and electric shock fishing and haphazard infrastructure constructionfor tourism.

These threats are exacerbated by poor co-coordination between State agenciesand local administrations.

This critical situation was highlighted at the National Seminar on ManagementEffectiveness Evaluation held in the central city of Da Nang on July 14.

Representatives from 16 MPAs and several NGOs attended the seminar.

“Only 0.17 percent of total sea area (1 million square kilometres) has beentargeted for strict conservation, and we target increasing this to 0.24 percentin the coming years,” said Nguyen Thanh Binh, deputy head of Department ofConservation and Aquatic Resources Development.

There is almost no area in MPAs that have been declared off limits to fishing,he said.

Binh said slow planning and a weak legal framework have been identified ashurdles to strengthening enforcement at MPAs.

He said more effective measures have been planned for the 2016-2020 period,including expanding the MPAs, biodiversity supervision and communitymanagement.

Deputy head of the Directorate of Fisheries Le Tran Nguyen Hung, said a policywas needed for communities to shift to other vocations to ease pressure onMPAs, given that most people living in their vicinity were poor.

“Many local administrations have focusedexclusively on tourism development in the MPAs, and some of them have evenreserved core zones for this purpose,” Hung said.

He said inadequate funding, redundant legal documents as well as poor cooperationbetween central agencies and local administrations have to be dealt with in aclear and transparent manner.

According to the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture andRural development, Hon Me Island, Nam Yet, Phu Quy and Hai Van-Son Tra are setto become MPAs in the future.

Bui Thi Thu Hien, Marine & Coastal Programme Coordinator for the InternationalUnion for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), said MPAs inVietnam should strongly punish violations of the environment.

“Fishing with electric shock and over-fishing are still happening in MPAsnationwide, while construction of infrastructure for tourism services have beenstepped up by local administrations,” Hien said, adding that there was still amisunderstanding that MPAs have only been established for the purpose ofserving tourism.

“Coral reefs and seaweed beds have been degraded, thus fish and marine speciesliving in coral reefs have reduced. Meanwhile, poor sea water quality and heavypollution from coastal lines have worsened the situation,” she said.

Hien said not much research is being done on biodiversity and coral reefsdevelopment in MPAs.

She suggested that MPAs reserve part of their tourism service proceeds toenhance management and protection of the nation’s marine environment.

According to latest reports, the Ha Long Bay Heritage Management Board earned 783billion VND (35 million USD) from tourism services last year and 18 percent ofthis revenue was returned to MPAs for conservation activities.

Cham Island in Hoi An – a world biosphere reserve recognised by UNESCO in 2009– has been seen as good example in management and conservation.

The Cham Island MPA management board has successfully carried out ‘No PlasticBag’ and ‘No Fishing’ campaigns.

The Cham Island has banned fishing on 0.5 percent of the total 6,716ha seaarea, and will increase this to 10 percent in coming years.

It has reserved 50 percent of the total 650,000 USD in revenues forconservation and protection of the MPA.-VNA