The central province of Khanh Hoa will inspect the purchasing andharvesting of coral in Van Ninh District to curb the illegal activitiesin the are deputy chief inspector Le Van Dung has said.
Dung, from the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment said the interdisciplinary inspecting team includes hisdepartment's inspectors, environmental police, border guards and localauthorities. They will focus on the inspection of the illegal harvestingand purchasing of coral from June.
Dung said recently,the exploitation and transportation of coral have been very complicatedin the coastal communes of Van Ninh District. Exploiters do not only getcorals illegally with simple tools, they even use excavators, airscoops, and automobiles to get and transport the corals at a maximumvolume.
Many of the exploiters even fight against the authorities if they are asked for a check, the inspector added.
According to local information, illegal coral exploiting has boomed inrecent years from an increasing demand from coral traders who hire localpeople to exploit coral for their production purposes. Coral can beprocessed as lime, fine art, garment materials or lobster traps. Theyalso report that the price for it is high, ranging from for300,000-600,000 VND (15-30 USD) per cu.m of coral.
NguyenVan Loc, vice chairman of Van Hung Commune, said though they regularlycheck the operation in the commune, they can not yet fix the problem asmost of the exploiters are poor villagers and can not be treated as thetraders from HCM City.
Loc added that most of theprovincial coastal areas have the same problem. The exploiters even setup markets for trading the coral in the communes of Van Hung, Thanh Vanand Ninh Hai.
Besides strict inspection and punishment ofviolators, inspector Dung said they will promote education in communesand open training courses.
According to research, coralreefs in Khanh Hoa Province with most of the best beaches inVietnam are the habitat for flora and aquatic plants. They play animportant role in the protection against seawater intrusion. If they aredestroyed, increased sea water erosion hazards and degraded aquaticresources are likely.-VNA
Dung, from the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment said the interdisciplinary inspecting team includes hisdepartment's inspectors, environmental police, border guards and localauthorities. They will focus on the inspection of the illegal harvestingand purchasing of coral from June.
Dung said recently,the exploitation and transportation of coral have been very complicatedin the coastal communes of Van Ninh District. Exploiters do not only getcorals illegally with simple tools, they even use excavators, airscoops, and automobiles to get and transport the corals at a maximumvolume.
Many of the exploiters even fight against the authorities if they are asked for a check, the inspector added.
According to local information, illegal coral exploiting has boomed inrecent years from an increasing demand from coral traders who hire localpeople to exploit coral for their production purposes. Coral can beprocessed as lime, fine art, garment materials or lobster traps. Theyalso report that the price for it is high, ranging from for300,000-600,000 VND (15-30 USD) per cu.m of coral.
NguyenVan Loc, vice chairman of Van Hung Commune, said though they regularlycheck the operation in the commune, they can not yet fix the problem asmost of the exploiters are poor villagers and can not be treated as thetraders from HCM City.
Loc added that most of theprovincial coastal areas have the same problem. The exploiters even setup markets for trading the coral in the communes of Van Hung, Thanh Vanand Ninh Hai.
Besides strict inspection and punishment ofviolators, inspector Dung said they will promote education in communesand open training courses.
According to research, coralreefs in Khanh Hoa Province with most of the best beaches inVietnam are the habitat for flora and aquatic plants. They play animportant role in the protection against seawater intrusion. If they aredestroyed, increased sea water erosion hazards and degraded aquaticresources are likely.-VNA
