US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius joins the event. (Source: VNA) Quang Ninh (VNA) – More than 100volunteers including students, office workers and representatives from businessesand Vietnamese and international NGOs participated in a coastal clean-up inVung Ha area, Ha Long city, the northern province of Quang Ninh on January 10.
US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius also joined the event, which wasco-organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and theHa Long city People’s Committee, and funded by the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID).
“Millions of tourists visit Ha Long Bay every year. It is Vietnam’s top touristdestination. This is an opportunity and a challenge. Tourism adds to the localeconomy but can also have negative environmental impacts. We must act togetherto preserve and protect the bay,” said Ted Osius.
The event aimed to raise awareness of the vital need of improving environmentalprotection in Vietnam in general and in the world heritage site Ha Long Bay inparticular, in order to maintain the quality of tourist destinations that generatejobs and significant state revenue and to promote green practices frombusinesses, according to IUCN.
The results from the clean-up will be posted on the International CoastalCleanup (ICC) website and serve as data for environment research institutes,said IUCN.
Pham Thi Thuy Duong, a final year student at the University of Social Sciencesand Humanities, said “I was shocked to see the huge amount of trash on thebeach, given that it didn’t look bad while we were travelling by boat to thearea. I wondered how we could deal with that but eventually with the jointeffort, we made it.”
Duong also hoped she would have more opportunities like this to contribute tothe clean-up of not only Ha Long but also other areas.
Volunteers collected a total of about 400 kg of trash, with the majoritycomprising foam pieces and plastic bags and bottles. This is the secondclean-up held by IUCN. The first one was held in July last year, resulting in acollection of more than 700 kg of trash.
Regarding the harm that foam waste causes to the environment, the localauthority banned the use of foam in aquaculture and more than 90 percent ofhouseholds in the area have stopped using this, Le Lam Tuan from the Ha Longsite management board.-VNA
US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius also joined the event, which wasco-organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and theHa Long city People’s Committee, and funded by the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID).
“Millions of tourists visit Ha Long Bay every year. It is Vietnam’s top touristdestination. This is an opportunity and a challenge. Tourism adds to the localeconomy but can also have negative environmental impacts. We must act togetherto preserve and protect the bay,” said Ted Osius.
The event aimed to raise awareness of the vital need of improving environmentalprotection in Vietnam in general and in the world heritage site Ha Long Bay inparticular, in order to maintain the quality of tourist destinations that generatejobs and significant state revenue and to promote green practices frombusinesses, according to IUCN.
The results from the clean-up will be posted on the International CoastalCleanup (ICC) website and serve as data for environment research institutes,said IUCN.
Pham Thi Thuy Duong, a final year student at the University of Social Sciencesand Humanities, said “I was shocked to see the huge amount of trash on thebeach, given that it didn’t look bad while we were travelling by boat to thearea. I wondered how we could deal with that but eventually with the jointeffort, we made it.”
Duong also hoped she would have more opportunities like this to contribute tothe clean-up of not only Ha Long but also other areas.
Volunteers collected a total of about 400 kg of trash, with the majoritycomprising foam pieces and plastic bags and bottles. This is the secondclean-up held by IUCN. The first one was held in July last year, resulting in acollection of more than 700 kg of trash.
Regarding the harm that foam waste causes to the environment, the localauthority banned the use of foam in aquaculture and more than 90 percent ofhouseholds in the area have stopped using this, Le Lam Tuan from the Ha Longsite management board.-VNA
VNA
