The authorities works with two tourists who vandalised coral in Nha Trang. — Photo thanhnien.vn

KHÁNH HOÀ — Two tourists who break off branches of coral in a protected zone in Nha Trang to take home as souvenirs has been fined a total of VNĐ50 million (US$1,900), after a video recording of the act circulated on the social network Facebook, the Bắc Nha Trang Ward People's Committee declared on Sunday afternoon.

The two male tourists, both from the southern city of Đồng Nai, were fined for illegally exploiting a species of aquatic life listed in Group II of the catalogue of endangered, precious and rare aquatic species, or listed in Appendix II of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Convention.

Earlier that morning, the Bắc Nha Trang Ward People's Committee in Khánh Hoà Province, in coordination with the Nha Trang Bay Management Board and relevant units, met with the two tourists to clarify the incident of breaking coral in Nha Trang as shown in the video.

At the meeting, the two said they had travelled with a group of about 10 people from Đồng Nai to Nha Trang for tourism and were staying at a hotel on Bắc Sơn Street.

On Saturday afternoon, the group swam at the Hòn Chồng area. During this time, the two broke off branches of coral to take home as souvenirs, claiming they did not know the area was part of a marine protected zone.

Residents recorded the group taking the coral and uploaded the footage to social media, attracting public attention.

Following inspection of the scene and the seized items, the Nha Trang Bay Management Board determined that about 10.5kg of small staghorn coral (Acropora coral) had been removed from the reef. This species is a hard, reef-building coral with branching structures resembling deer antlers and plays an important role in forming and maintaining coral reef ecosystems.

According to the Nha Trang Bay Management Board, the sea area near Hòn Chồng currently contains about 11ha of coral reef, including reefs that are recovering and reefs aged between five and ten years.

To protect the marine ecosystem, from May until the end of next month, the authority has temporarily zoned off the Hòn Chồng–Đặng Tất sea area to allow reef restoration.

The board regularly installs warning signs, conducts outreach and reminds visitors, especially those who kayak, not to enter protected reef areas. It also advises against any activities likely to harm the marine ecosystem.

Under current regulations, any intrusion into areas containing coral reefs or seagrass beds to exploit aquatic resources or carry out activities that destroy the ecosystem is strictly prohibited and will be dealt with severely under the law. — VNS