A corner of Chàm Island, off the coast of Hội An City. The world biosphere reserve site has been struggling to balance tourism growth with nature conservation. — VNS Photo Công Thành |
CHÀM ISLANDS — A large area of sea grass on the Chàm Islands, off the coast of Hội An, have been damaged due to the rapid increase in speed boats over the past several decades—another sign that mass tourism and unsustainable development threaten the rich ecosystem on the islands, said Director of the Chàm Islands-Hội An Marine Protected Area (MPA) Centre Trần Thị Hồng Thúy.
Speaking at a conference on the sustainable development and conservation of the
“The excessive speed boats have caused mass damage over a large area of sea-grass off the island and also destroyed safe shelter for marine species and fish. Meanwhile, the number of tourists visiting the islands has increased by a factor of 20 since 2009,” Thúy said.
She said the
Thúy said over-fishing as a result of the mass tourism boom also caused serious degradation to the marine environment and a reduction in biodiversity.
“More than 100 restaurants, shops, seafood agents and home-stay services have been built on the islands. Mass buildings and concrete roads had cleared 102ha of special use forest (out of a total 1,500ha forest area) over the past 10 years,” she reported.
A report from the MPA warned that fresh water resources would be depleted soon due to salinisation and over-exploitation from households in the dry season. Meanwhile, an 85,000cu.m reservoir could only be reserved for local residents’ use.
Despite the economic benefits of tourism services, which has brought income per capita to VNĐ37 million (US$1,600), islanders only took home about a third of tourism revenues, while most profits went into the pockets of businesses from the mainland.
The construction of buildings and resorts has damaged natural beauty at the Chàm Islands, a world biosphere reserve site in central Việt Nam. — VNS Photo Công Thành |
Trần Lê Trà, an expert from the German development agency GIZ said the
“The islands have been seen as an ideal site for people escaping the concrete jungle in mainland cities, and tourism has changed the economic structure of the islands as 70 per cent of the population has turned from fishing to tourism services,” Trà said.
“With 35 home-stays, the islands only earned VNĐ728 million ($32,000) from providing services for 12,000 tourists in 2017, meaning that each tourist spent only VNĐ60,000 for their stay on average,” he explained. That figure is extraordinarily low compared to the amount tourists spend to stay at other national reserve areas, he added.
Trà said it seems that the
He suggested that the MPA management board should be empowered to deal with environmentally damaging businesses.
“The
Director of Quảng Nam Province’s Department of Science and Technology Phạm Viết Tích said the i
He said it needs to limit the number of tourists visiting the islands each day to ease the burden of supplying fresh water and seafood for numerous of tourists.
Bùi Thị Thu Hiền from the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) said that the
The Chàm Islands-Hội An World Biosphere Reserve on over 33,000ha was recognised by UNESCO in 2009. It has 1,500ha of tropical forests and 6,700ha of sea featuring a wide range of marine fauna and flora.
The islands are the only location in Việt
The islands, which include eight islets with 3,000 inhabitants, are seen as the top site in