In recent days, some domestic news sites have shared, citing a Reuters article, that “UNESCO will deploy a team of experts to assess possible risks to the conservation of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, due to concerns about development projects that could threaten the conservation of the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay”. At the same time, social networks have been abuzz with the information “UNESCO is considering removing Ha Long Bay from the list of World Heritage Sites”. Accordingly, the above information is completely baseless and inaccurate.
Press conference scene.
According to UNESCO's regulations on the procedure for removing a heritage from the World Heritage List and the Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, a heritage to be removed from the World Heritage List must have been previously included in the List of Heritage in Danger by the World Heritage Committee. Regulations on listing world heritage on the List of Danger The Committee may list a heritage on the List of World Heritage in Danger in the following cases: the heritage has been listed on the World Heritage List; the heritage is threatened by specific and serious risks; major activities are needed to preserve the heritage; (d) a request for aid under the Convention has been sent to the heritage.
In the case of natural heritage, a World Heritage Site may be inscribed by the Committee on the List of World Heritage in Danger when the Committee finds that the status of the property meets at least one of the following criteria: Serious decline of endangered species or other species of Outstanding Universal Value that are legally protected, due to natural factors such as disease or man-made factors such as hunting; Serious degradation of the natural beauty or scientific value of the property, such as due to human habitation, construction of reservoirs that flood important parts of the property, industrial and agricultural development, including the use of pesticides, fertilizers, major public works, mining, pollution, logging, firewood collection, etc., or there is a risk that human encroachment on the boundaries or in upstream areas threatens the integrity of the property; change in the legally protected status of the area; planned resettlement projects or development projects within or in a location that may threaten the property; the outbreak or threat of armed conflict; inadequate or incomplete management plans or systems, or those not fully implemented; threatening effects of geological, climatic or other environmental factors.
| The World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site under criterion (vii) on aesthetic landscape in 1994. Up to now, the World Natural Heritage of Ha Long Bay has never been on the List of World Heritage Committee for consideration and inclusion in the List of Heritage in Danger. Therefore, the information "UNESCO considers removing Ha Long Bay from the World Heritage List" is baseless and inaccurate. |
According to the guidelines for implementing the World Heritage Convention, the World Heritage Committee will consider and remove heritages from the World Heritage List in the following cases: Heritages are degraded to the point of losing the characteristics that determine the inclusion of the heritage in the World Heritage List; The intrinsic qualities of the World Heritage were threatened at the time of nomination by human actions and necessary remedial measures have not been implemented according to the proposed plan and time.
Regarding the procedure for considering and deleting: when a property on the World Heritage List has been seriously degraded, or when the necessary remedial measures have not been taken within the timeframe foreseen, the State Party on whose territory the property is located shall notify the Secretariat; the Secretariat, having received this information from a source other than the State Party concerned, shall, to the extent possible, verify the source of the information and its contents through consultation with the State Party concerned and request its comments; the Secretariat shall request the relevant Advisory Bodies to comment on the information received; the Committee shall consider all available information and take a decision. Such decisions, in accordance with Article 13(8) of the Convention, shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. The Committee shall not decide to remove any property from the List without the State Party having been consulted on the matter; The Committee shall notify the State Party and promptly publicize its decision. If the Committee's decision results in changes to the World Heritage List, these changes will be reflected in the updated List that is published.
Information on the working program of the Response Monitoring Team of the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to periodically monitor the conservation status of the Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago Extended World Heritage Site.
Accordingly, each year, at its annual sessions, the World Heritage Committee requests Member States to report on the state of conservation of the World Heritage property in order to coordinate with States in the implementation of administrative monitoring of heritage sites and to help identify and indicate major threats or improvements in the conservation of the property since the last report to the World Heritage Committee; information on the results of the implementation of previous decisions of the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of the property; c) information on threats or losses that impair the Outstanding Universal Value, integrity and/or authenticity for which the property has been inscribed on the World Heritage List.
At the 46th session (July 2024), the World Heritage Committee reviewed 130 reports on the status of heritage conservation, including the report of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago. The Committee approved Decision No. 46 COM 7B.67 on the management and protection of the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, in which it commended the efforts and responsibilities of Member States Vietnam, Quang Ninh Province, and Hai Phong City in the management and protection of the World Heritage Site such as assessing the carrying capacity of the heritage, developing an outline of the Sustainable Tourism Management Strategy, an integrated tourist management system; recognizing and appreciating Quang Ninh Province in implementing synchronous measures to address the issue of waste and environmental pollution to maintain air and water quality within permissible limits...
The Committee also noted that the State Party should control the implementation of projects in coastal areas, conduct heritage impact assessments on approved projects, taking into account the Outstanding Universal Value of the heritage; control water pollution; submit to the World Heritage Center a detailed zoning map of the Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago World Heritage Site after the Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site is expanded to include the Cat Ba Archipelago.
At the same time, the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) invited the Response Monitoring Team to assess and advise on the expanded World Heritage site in the following areas: heritage management, management structure, conservation work and heritage boundaries. This is a periodic inspection and monitoring by the World Heritage Center and IUCN in conjunction with the regulations in the Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention for a UNESCO-listed Heritage Site.
To implement the above Decision, the Ha Long Bay Management Board has sent a document to the Provincial People's Committee to advise on the organization and implementation of the contents of the Decision under the responsibility of Quang Ninh province; request the Secretariat of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to support sending a Note inviting the Monitoring Team to periodically respond to the assessment of the heritage site; Preside and coordinate with relevant departments, branches and localities of the province to advise on the development of a Report on the implementation results of Decision No. 46 COM 7B.67 of the World Heritage Committee as a basis for the working program with the Monitoring Team to respond.
According to information exchanged by the World Heritage Center, the working trip will be carried out around the beginning of March 2025; The Terms of Reference for the working trip are being drafted by the UNESCO World Heritage Center and will be sent to Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city to coordinate in preparing content and documents to work with the Working Group.
The Ha Long Bay Management Board is closely coordinating with the Secretariat of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to update information and advise the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province to coordinate with the People's Committee of Hai Phong city to prepare to welcome and work with the Working Group to ensure thoughtfulness, respect and efficiency in order to receive the best advice from the Working Group on the task of managing, protecting and sustainably promoting the World Natural Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.
Vietnam.vn
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