One of those concerns is related to coastal construction projects in Ha Long City that risk affecting the globally exceptional landscape value of Ha Long Bay.
Accordingly, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee expressed concern about new multi-purpose tourism development projects and urban residential areas along the coast of Ha Long City that have been approved and implemented but have not yet assessed the impacts on the exceptional global value of the heritage as prescribed.
The World Heritage Committee requests local authorities to provide information on all planned development projects within the buffer zone of the Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site or more broadly that may affect the outstanding universal value of the property and to ensure that all risks of direct and indirect impacts on the outstanding values of the property are assessed using the tools and procedures of the World Heritage Committee.
It is recommended that the World Heritage Center, through the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), provide comprehensive information on development projects that have been and are being implemented around Ha Long Bay, including 8 projects mentioned by the locality in the August 2023 report.
While appreciating the measures taken by Quang Ninh province to deal with waste and other environmental pollution issues in recent times, the World Heritage Committee also expressed concern that the World Heritage Centre continues to receive information on water pollution from third parties.
The World Heritage Committee recommends the use of SEA (strategic environmental assessment tool) to assess the multidimensional impacts on the outstanding universal value of heritage from industrial and tourism development projects.
The World Heritage Committee once again requested the provision of a detailed map of the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago, showing land use and coordination mechanisms for heritage management within the UNESCO World Natural Heritage area as well as within the buffer zone and more broadly to the World Heritage Centre.
UNESCO is expected to send a team of experts to assess possible risks to the conservation of Ha Long Bay in early 2025.
