– From September 10, 2023 to September 25, 2023, UNESCO organizes its 45th Session in Saudi Arabia, which reviews the nomination dossier for world natural heritage [...]
– From September 10, 2023 to September 25, 2023, UNESCO held its 45th Session in Saudi Arabia, which reviewed the nomination dossier for the world natural heritage of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.
Vietnam's delegation worked at the meeting.
The Vietnamese delegation includes: Mr. Dang Xuan Dung - Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Ms. Le Thi Hong Van - Head of the Vietnam Permanent Delegation to UNESCO; Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Mr. Le Khac Nam - Vice Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee; Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh - Vice Chairwoman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee; Professor Do Cong Thung - Head of the nomination file, along with members of the Working Group.
At the meeting, the Working Group met, discussed and discussed with the President of WHC, Director of the World Heritage Center, Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and 21 member countries of the World Heritage Committee... to mobilize and seek support for the nomination dossier.
With amazing natural beauty of outstanding global value, the final point in the karst evolution process, representing 7 adjacent ecosystems, the habitat of many rare animals, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is officially registered by UNESCO as a world natural heritage.
Vietnam's Working Delegation and Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is located in the Northeast of Vietnam, 165km from the capital Hanoi, a place known as the "pearl of the Gulf of Tonkin", a symphony of majestic mountains, forests and vast islands. Natural areas have a core area of 65,650 hectares and a buffer area of 34,140 hectares. Ha Long Bay belongs to Quang Ninh province and Cat Ba archipelago belongs to Hai Phong city. This place possesses many important national and international titles such as: Ha Long Bay Special National Monument; National special scenic spot Cat Ba Archipelago; Cat Ba National Park; Lan Ha Bay is one of the most beautiful bays in the world; marine protected areas; world biosphere reserve Cat Ba Archipelago; World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay (1994 and 2000).
The expansion of the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay to include the Cat Ba Archipelago will increase the inherent value of the heritage, evidenced by the harmony of landscape, geology, geomorphology, ecosystem and diversity of flora and fauna. The region's outstanding global values are identified as physical and biological formations, geological formations, geography and habitat for threatened flora and fauna from an aesthetic, scientific and conservation point of view.
Photo: Duc Nghia.
EXCELLENT NATURAL BEAUTY OF OUTSTANDING GLOBAL VALUE
Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago contains areas of amazing natural beauty, including vegetation-covered limestone islands and limestone pinnacles rising above the sea, along with associated karst features such as domes and caves. The breathtaking scenery remains untouched; Salt water lake, sharp limestone peak with steep cliffs rising above the sea located along the East and Southeast coast of Cat Ba Island. With 1,133 diverse shaped limestone islands covered with rich vegetation on sparkling emerald water. Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Islands appear like a chessboard made of precious stones; The water is lush and peaceful; smooth, pristine white sand beaches.
Come to Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Islands to admire and enjoy the spaciousness of the endless sea and sky, the magnificence of rocky mountains and caves. The elements of rock, water, forest and sky combine to create a colorful natural world of great beauty and appeal. The gray of the mountain rocks, the green of the forest, the transition between deep blue and blue in the lakes to the hidden pines and fjords of the sea.
Even more interestingly, the landscape changes color every time it starts to rain, the gray limestone immediately turns dark due to the blue-green algae layer on the surface being soaked by water. Far away in the bay, small, lovely white sand beaches lie under rocky mountains with the immense green color of tropical plants.
THE FINAL POINT IN KARST EVOLUTION
Karst evolution model of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is considered a geological museum, containing valuable heritage that needs to be preserved, a place to witness typical changes in the history of Earth's development. This sea area includes many terrigenous and carbonate sedimentary formations, ranging in age from the Paleozoic to the Neoproterozoic era. Many sedimentary formations in this area contain paleontological traces in the form of different fossils, including groups of animals and plants that are extinct or nearly extinct on earth. The presence of primeval forests, bays and islands on the bay are unique evidence of the continuous movement and development of karst landforms, fengcong (cone-top clusters) and fenglin (isolated tower features) formations.formed over millions of years in tropical, humid conditions, progressing from high mountain ranges down to the sea, where karst terrain eventually reaches its basic erosion level.
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago includes all stages of the sea submerging tropical karst as well as has 3 main types of caves (ancient marine frog cave, ancient karst foundation cave and frog jaw). Ha Long Bay represents later stages of marine submergence, while the Cat Ba archipelago adds important geological values to the heritage through patterns of mainland and intertidal stages, some of which are rare, even unique.
REPRESENTING 7 CONQUERING ECOSYSTEMS
Some ecosystems in Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.
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, possessing 7 adjacent and successively developed marine - island ecosystems, tropical and subtropical, including: primary tropical rainforest ecosystem; cave ecosystem; mangrove ecosystem; intertidal ecosystem; coral reef ecosystem; soft bottom ecosystem; saltwater lake ecosystem. These ecosystems represent ecological and biological processes that are still evolving and developing, as demonstrated by the diversity of plant and animal communities.
HABITAT OF MANY TYPES OF RARE ANIMALS
Possessing the largest maritime forest in Vietnam with an area of more than 17,000 hectares and diverse ecosystems, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago is also the habitat of 4,910 species of flora and fauna on land and in the sea, of which 198 species are on the IUCN Red List, 51 endemic species. The primary forest area of about 1,045.2 hectares on Cat Ba island is one of the important factors creating the ecological value and biodiversity of the nominated area. In particular, the Cat Ba langur(Trachypithecus poliocephalus)is a rare species, on the list of animals at highest risk of extinction and recorded in the world Red Book. Up to now, there are about 60-70 individuals distributed only in Cat Ba, there is no other place in the world where this species appears.
Researchers have discovered many types of endemic plants, only adapted to living on limestone islands, that are found nowhere else in the world, such as: Ha Long Cycas tropophylla, Chirita drakei, Ha Long palm (Livistona halongensis), Ha Long claw (Impatiens verrucifera), Ha Long schefflera alongensis, Paphiopedilum. concolor)... Succulent or rough-looking plants such as cactus Euphorbia antiquorum (Euphorb.), Dracaena cambodiana (Liliac.), Cycas sp. (Cycad.), and the leafless vine Sarcostemma acidum (Apocyn.) give the vegetation here the drought-resistant appearance of desert plants.
Trees and water at Frog Pond.
Also in the Cat Ba National Park area, a basin near Viet Hai wharf is largely covered by a freshwater swamp with mixed canopy trees. Following the road into the village, forest vegetation gives way to large fields withPhragmites karka(Poac.) reeds. Despite its minor and economic importance, each freshwater marsh appears to have different characteristics, many are completely pristine, some are habitats for special species such as Combretocarpus, which is a rarity in freshwater wetlands.
Salt lake.
Moreover, scattered throughout the area are 138 saltwater lakes formed from sinkholes, karst funnels and closed valleys. These lakes, accounting for about 1/3 of the total saltwater lakes in the world, are places that store ancient and rare species, are of great value for conservation and scientific research, and are also a favorable environment for organisms to evolve.
A unique ecological garden, an intact nature reserve, with a system of karst limestone mountains, rich caves, and a unique ecosystem combined with the noisy sound of waves and the rhythm of residential life, creating a magnificent landscape, full of vitality of nature and people.
Procedures
