Although a booming tourism industry hasturned Vietnam into one of the hottest destination in all of Asia ,rampant waste by the same industry is destroying the country’s charmingcoasts and waterways.
According to the Nha Trang Bay Reserve,every day nearly 10 tonnes of waste water are let into the sea bytourism facilities and locals in Nha Trang City .
Stastictics from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Tourism Department showed thatonly 300cu.m of more than 1,600 cu.m of waste water discarded fromhotels and resorts were treated each day.
As forecast by the department, the amount of nitrogen discarded intothe sea from waste water will be between 26 and 52 tonnes per day bythe year 2020.
Research done by the HCM City Institute for Environmental and NaturalResources showed that sea pollution in tourist areas had become moreserious in recent years. The level of Total Suspended Solid (TSS)content in beaches like Do Son, Hai Phong, Binh Dinh, Quy Nhon and VungTau was normally two to four times higher than the country’s standardlevel of 25 g per cubic metre.
The head of the Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources,Nguyen Van Phuoc, said that construction projects in tourist areas weremessy and destroying nearby ocean ecosystems.
Negligence in regards to waste water treatment in tourist areas hadresulted in higher lefels of organic pollution in the country’s coastalareas, while fishing and sourvenir hunting were also harmingunderweater environments.
The research showed that a lack of awareness on enviornment protectionhad made the situaiton much worse. Along the beaches of Binh Dinh, NhaTrang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, waste water from urban and tourist areas wasbeing discarded into the sea without any treatment.
A report, the Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Vietnam 2008 by theWorld Bank, said that about 8.8 percent of the nation’s total economiccosts was a direct result of tourism, with an absolute value of 69million USD.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) was now buildinga framework for a national action programme for the tourism industry.The programme will aim to communicate with hotel and resort owners toraise their awareness of sustainable development.
The Department of Hotels under VNAT was now working with the Ministryof Natural Resources and Environment to build up one set of criteria,giving specific instructions on how to effectively manage energy, waterand waste treatments.
The director of the Hotel Department, Nguyen Phuong Anh, said, “It’snot easy to make everyone comply with these standards, as someenviornmentally-friendly facilities will require large investment.”
The department will first focus on education to raise awareness amonghotel and resort owners, and then gradually create a set ofrequirements for all newly-established companies.
With support from the Energy Conservation Research and DevelopmentCentre and the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, thedepartment was working on the Eco-label Programme in the hotel sectorand across ISO 14000, on environmental management standards, to helporganisations minimise their operations’ negative effect on theenvironment.
“This professional working environment in hotels will effectsuppliers, who will in turn also have to prove themselves as friendlyto the environment.”
The department also helps hotels and resorts promote their own imagesoverseas by nominating their models as international competitions ontourism and environmental programmes.
“Overseas tourists, especially from European countries, are very pickyand tend to choose environmentally-friendly services,” said Anh.
According to Anh, the Committee for Standards Reviews will soon be setup, after the department finishes working on a set of environmentallyfriendly criteria and labelling satisfied units.
Recognising the vital role tourism was playing in saving theenvironment, businesses have begun their own programmes. The Sai GonTourist Company, for example, now uses recycled products in their 15member hotels. The Victoria Chau Doc Company launched their own GreenLogo Programme, which cooperates with local authorities and students toclean up surrounding areas each quarter.
“This is an investment in the future. Vietnam attracts touristswith its wild and beautiful landscapes, but we won’t be able to survivein the long term if the environment is destroyed,” said Trinh QuangMan, Director of the Victoria Chau Doc Company./.
According to the Nha Trang Bay Reserve,every day nearly 10 tonnes of waste water are let into the sea bytourism facilities and locals in Nha Trang City .
Stastictics from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Tourism Department showed thatonly 300cu.m of more than 1,600 cu.m of waste water discarded fromhotels and resorts were treated each day.
As forecast by the department, the amount of nitrogen discarded intothe sea from waste water will be between 26 and 52 tonnes per day bythe year 2020.
Research done by the HCM City Institute for Environmental and NaturalResources showed that sea pollution in tourist areas had become moreserious in recent years. The level of Total Suspended Solid (TSS)content in beaches like Do Son, Hai Phong, Binh Dinh, Quy Nhon and VungTau was normally two to four times higher than the country’s standardlevel of 25 g per cubic metre.
The head of the Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources,Nguyen Van Phuoc, said that construction projects in tourist areas weremessy and destroying nearby ocean ecosystems.
Negligence in regards to waste water treatment in tourist areas hadresulted in higher lefels of organic pollution in the country’s coastalareas, while fishing and sourvenir hunting were also harmingunderweater environments.
The research showed that a lack of awareness on enviornment protectionhad made the situaiton much worse. Along the beaches of Binh Dinh, NhaTrang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, waste water from urban and tourist areas wasbeing discarded into the sea without any treatment.
A report, the Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Vietnam 2008 by theWorld Bank, said that about 8.8 percent of the nation’s total economiccosts was a direct result of tourism, with an absolute value of 69million USD.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) was now buildinga framework for a national action programme for the tourism industry.The programme will aim to communicate with hotel and resort owners toraise their awareness of sustainable development.
The Department of Hotels under VNAT was now working with the Ministryof Natural Resources and Environment to build up one set of criteria,giving specific instructions on how to effectively manage energy, waterand waste treatments.
The director of the Hotel Department, Nguyen Phuong Anh, said, “It’snot easy to make everyone comply with these standards, as someenviornmentally-friendly facilities will require large investment.”
The department will first focus on education to raise awareness amonghotel and resort owners, and then gradually create a set ofrequirements for all newly-established companies.
With support from the Energy Conservation Research and DevelopmentCentre and the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, thedepartment was working on the Eco-label Programme in the hotel sectorand across ISO 14000, on environmental management standards, to helporganisations minimise their operations’ negative effect on theenvironment.
“This professional working environment in hotels will effectsuppliers, who will in turn also have to prove themselves as friendlyto the environment.”
The department also helps hotels and resorts promote their own imagesoverseas by nominating their models as international competitions ontourism and environmental programmes.
“Overseas tourists, especially from European countries, are very pickyand tend to choose environmentally-friendly services,” said Anh.
According to Anh, the Committee for Standards Reviews will soon be setup, after the department finishes working on a set of environmentallyfriendly criteria and labelling satisfied units.
Recognising the vital role tourism was playing in saving theenvironment, businesses have begun their own programmes. The Sai GonTourist Company, for example, now uses recycled products in their 15member hotels. The Victoria Chau Doc Company launched their own GreenLogo Programme, which cooperates with local authorities and students toclean up surrounding areas each quarter.
“This is an investment in the future. Vietnam attracts touristswith its wild and beautiful landscapes, but we won’t be able to survivein the long term if the environment is destroyed,” said Trinh QuangMan, Director of the Victoria Chau Doc Company./.
