Is it true that Vietnam has only 3,260 km of coast? Given the new standpoint that the sea is a living environment rather than an environment to earn living, the length of Vietnamese coasts from Quang Ninh to Ca Mau and islands possibly doubles or trebles the currently defined one.
In 2004, the United States earned nearly US$23 billion from export of ornamental fish in coral reefs and recreational fisheries while Vietnam raked in just US$4.5 billion from export of all kind of aquatic products in 2010.
Better late than never
Waiting from 1998 till May 2010, Dr Nguyen Chu Hoi, Deputy General Director of Sea and Island Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, only felt rewarded when the planning for Vietnam maritime protected area system through 2020 was approved the Prime Minister.
As the lead of this planning project, he directly travelled with colleagues and specialists from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to survey 15 sites proposed for the formation of national marine protected areas. Since he was the head of the Oceanography Unit in Hai Phong City (now the Institute of Sea Resources and Environment, Mr Hoi had felt regretful because the 20 years-late planning missed a lot of opportunities to catch the attention and interest of international donors (now they have shifted the focus to climate change). Besides, when the planning was being carried out, resources of maritime protected sites also declined. For example, coral coverage shrank from 70 percent to 30 percent as a result of overexploitation.
However, the associate professor still felt very happy as the Government approved the planning. In other words, protected spaces would be zoned to manage and prevent from external intrusion. And over time, maritime protected areas will gradually recover and this process requires active human intervention to be quickened.
He said as much as 70 percent of the value of marine protected areas is coral reefs known as pioneering ecosystems which are combined with other ecosystems to be called habitats and homes for living species to reside. “Therefore, we can restore coral reefs by creating artificial reefs by using different methods like cement substrates, sinking old ships, etc.”
The idea of sinking old ships was introduced by Mr Hoi in 2005 and this is now being supported by many people, particularly foreign specialists. Nonetheless, this has not been done in Vietnam. Sinking old ships is a long-standing practice in some countries. In early 2010, Australia sank a USA warship manufactured in 1936 to create artificial coral reefs. France reported to design maritime protected areas along the coast of the Mediterranean where lied a sunk ship since the 18th century. This is now an interesting diving site for tourists who have to pay US$10 for each time of diving. “If Vietnam can do this, old ships will be purchased and sunk into the sea to create coral reefs. It can exploit marine resources and develop tourism there,” he added.
For example, we can instruct fishermen to develop tourism services like fishing or other sea-friendly businesses in the Co To marine protected area (Quang Ninh province) instead of using dynamites and chemicals to catch fish. In 2004, the United States of America earned nearly US$23 billion from export of ornamental fish in coral reefs and recreational fisheries while Vietnam raked in just US$4.5 billion from export of all kind of aquatic products in 2010. Probably, developing marine ecological tourism, raising ornamental fish in coral reefs or developing and recreational fishery in marine protected areas is a form of ‘blue’ economic development, not simply ‘green’ economic development.
Spill-over effect
Notably, with effective conservation, resources in marine protected areas will be recovered after 3 to 5 years and spread to surrounding areas (this development is called spill-over effect). For that reason, marine protected areas will help disperse living creatures, larvae, eggs and baby fish and provide nutrients for marine species. This explains why a coral reef is a favourite habitat for 3,000 species. With good management, marine protected areas will help shape and develop sustainable fisheries.
The Nha Trang marine protected area is a famous tourist attraction in Vietnam but, according to Mr Truong Kinh - director of the protected site, this place has not had ecotourism activities. In 2008, the management board an ecotourism development scheme to competent authorities but it has not been approved. The board will continue pursuing this.
According to Mr Hoi, to develop marine protected areas, we must have an appropriate mechanism. He explained that we can create peculiar mechanisms for marine protected areas like the way we do with open economic zones in order to attract foreign investors, motivate local people to pursue new careers, etc. This will in turn help protect valuable resources.
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