The Sơn Trà Nature Reserve – the
green lung of Đà Nẵng - will turn into a desert, and the world’s biggest
population of red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) will become extinct
unless rapid development of hotels and resorts there is not stopped. The
warning was issued by the head of the representative office of the Frankfurt
Zoological Society (FZS) in Viet Nam, Dr Hà Thăng Long, who spoke to Viet Nam
News about the poor management and planning of the Sơn Trà Peninsula that has
shrunk wildlife and primate habitats. Red-shanked douc langurs have been
declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN). “Stop construction. Do not build any hotels in the reserve. The Sơn Trà
Nature Reserve, which was partly hurt by unaware human activities, should be
conserved in a special regime,” Long said in an interview. “Sơn Trà Mountain,
included in the Nature Reserve, is vulnerable to human activities that cannot
be tolerated as it was in past decades,” Long explained. He said the 4,300ha
Nature Reserve occupies a precious and rare biodiversity of mountain, forest,
streams and ocean (sea and coral reefs) and a 30km-long beautiful pristine
beach. “The reserve could absorb 4,500 tonnes of carbon to emit more than 3,200
tonnes of fresh oxygen. It supplies enough oxygen demand for 4.3 million people
each day, and tourists always feel pure and clean air when visiting Đà Nẵng and
Sơn Trà Peninsula,” he explained.
Unique Sơn Trà Reserve under threat
Posted by Focus on Arts and Ecology on
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Careless actions
Biologist Trần Hữu Vỹ, who
conducted decade-long research of biodiversity in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve,
said an estimated 30 per cent of the habitat of fauna and flora species has
been damaged due to mass construction of resorts and buildings. “More than 71km
of concrete roads have been built in the area to serve tourism, while 17 hotels
and resorts were completed and 14 other projects are planned,” Vỹ said. “Mass
construction of hotels and resorts has driven away the primate species and
wildlife from their habitat and isolated flocks from natural food chains that
are available throughout the 4,300ha forest.” According to GreenViet’s latest
survey, over 20 streams in the reserve have dried up – the worst in 20 years,
while hunting and illegal logging have seen increasing in recent years. Poor
management and lack of environmental protection awareness also results in
visitors and builders leaving waste, he added. Vỹ, who was director of the
Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (GreenViet), an NGO working on Sơn Trà
biodiversity protection, said the reserve hosts around 10,000 visitors each
month. He said noisy vehicles (motorbikes, coaches) also disturb the habitat of
primates and wildlife. He said noise has a harmful impact on the existence of
the endangered red-shanked douc langurs, increasing their stress levels. According
to latest report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), the population of the red-shanked douc langurs is declining at over 80
per cent in the entire distribution range - mostly in Laos, Cambodia and Việt
Nam - due to several threats. The decline is predicted to continue at the same
rate or slightly higher in the next 30-36 years (approximately three
generations). At a meeting last year, biologists and biodiversity researchers
agreed to list the endangered langur as Critically Endangered, near extinction.
Poor management
The city recently decided to
suspend illegal construction of an eco-tourism project in the reserve - but
only a year after it began. A large area of trees and bushes were already
cleared for 40 foundations, columns and inner roads for the construction of 40
villas. Local officials explained that the project owner intentionally started
construction when the infrastructure construction licence for the project had
not been approved yet by the city. Local authorities also found 68 houses,
villas and restaurants illegally built in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve. A biology
lecturer at Đà Nẵng’s Teachers’ Training College, Võ Văn Minh, said
environmental impact assessments of projects in Sơn Trà Peninsula was approved
carelessly. He said environmental assessment is an effective technical barrier
in dealing with polluted projects, but it has been administrated poorly by some
agencies.
SOS
The chairman of the city’s
tourism association, Huỳnh Tấn Vinh, who supports conservation of the Sơn Trà
Nature Reserve for sustainable tourism development, said the city had built 600
hotels and resorts with a total of 22,000 rooms to host 15 million tourists
each year. He said, however, only 50 per cent of the room capacity was used
when the city only hosted 5.6 million tourists last year, while two and
three-star hotels are still developing in the city. Vinh had sent petitions to
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc asking for an adjustment of the Sơn Trà Master
Plan.
National tourism plan
Under a Government plan, Sơn Trà
Mountain on the Sơn Trà Peninsula is planned as a national tourism site and a
top luxury eco-tour resort complex in 2030, to accommodate 300,000 tourists
staying in 1,600 luxury hotel rooms.
It means that the 4,300ha reserve, which has shrunk from more than
4,400ha to 2,500ha to make room for dozens of other resorts and hotels in the
area, is now reserving more than 1,000ha for the national tourism site. Sơn Trà
Nature Reserve, which is 600m above sea level, is known for its rich
biodiversity, with 287 animal species and 985 plant species. The development of
resorts in the reserve actually conflicts with the city’s plan on the
protection of biodiversity in Sơn Trà Nature Reserve through 2030. Vỹ, from
GreenViet, said the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve was the most favourite site that
tourists could see the red-shanked douc langur from a close range. Last year,
the city agreed to make the red-shanked douc langur its symbol of biodiversity.
But that symbol may also become extinct unless action is taken to preserve the
critically endangered primates.
Viet Nam News p5
– March 24 - http://vietnamnews.vn/society/373431/unique-son-tra-reserve-under-threat.html#v1RfZrTw0MKPiu3p.99
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