4:22 am | August 6, 2024

At 05:40 PM on September 16, 2023 local time (ie 09:40 PM on September 16, 2023 Vietnam time) in Riyadh, the capital of the Republic of Saudi Arabia, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially hammered to recognize Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago as a World Natural Heritage.

This is the first time that two World Natural Heritages have been recognized as World Heritage Sites in two provinces and cities of Vietnam. The moment when the Chairman of the 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee (Dr. Abdulelad Al Tokhais – Saudi Arabia) gave the hammer to approve the dossier of Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago at 17:39 on September 16, 2023 (local time).

Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, because it contains areas of natural beauty including limestone islands covered with vegetation and limestone pinnacles rising above the sea along with related karst features such as domes and caves. The spectacular untouched landscape of the islands covered with vegetation, saltwater lakes, limestone pinnacles with vertical cliffs rising above the sea. With 1,133 limestone islands of various shapes and sizes (775 limestone islands in Ha Long Bay and 358 limestone islands in Ca Ba Archipelago) covered with rich vegetation on the sparkling emerald water surface, Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago appears like a chessboard of precious stones; peaceful, overlapping mountains and rivers; pristine, fine white sand beaches. With the intersection of mountains, forests and islands, Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago is a typical area with a high level of diversity in Asia when possessing 7 adjacent, successively developing tropical and subtropical marine – island ecosystems including: primary tropical rainforest ecosystem; cave ecosystem; mangrove forest ecosystem; tidal flat ecosystem; coral reef ecosystem; soft bottom ecosystem; saltwater lake ecosystem. These ecosystems represent ecological and biological processes that are still evolving and developing, reflected in the diversity of flora and fauna communities.

Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago is also home to many rare species of flora and fauna. Possessing the largest marine forest in Vietnam with an area of ​​over 17,000 hectares and diverse ecosystems, Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago is home to 4,910 species of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna, of which 198 species are listed in the IUCN Red List, 51 are endemic. The area of ​​approximately 1,045.2 hectares of primary forest on Cat Ba Island is one of the important factors contributing to the ecological value and biodiversity of the heritage. In particular, the Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) is a rare species, listed as one of the most endangered animals and listed in the World Red Book. To date, there are only about 60-70 individuals distributed in Cat Ba, and this species appears nowhere else in the world.

Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago was recognized by UNESCO at the 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee (September 2023), becoming the first inter-provincial and municipal World Heritage Site in Vietnam, which is a useful lesson in combining management, protection and promotion of the value of World Heritage in particular, historical – cultural relics, and scenic spots in general in Vietnam in the coming years.

Edited by Sonny Bui