Preserving and promoting the value of Phong Nha-Ke Bang World Natural Heritage

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Quang Binh) has been honored as a World Natural Heritage twice - a testament to Vietnam's outstanding global values ​​and efforts in the trend of international integration. Over the past 20 years and in the new journey, Quang Binh province has respected and preserved intact those outstanding values ​​for the goal of sustainable development.

Tourists explore Phong Nha Cave by kayak (Photo: Phong Nha)

On July 3, 2003, at the 27th session, the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) approved Vietnam's application to recognize Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park as a World Natural Heritage with the criteria of outstanding global value in geology and geomorphology. With the efforts of the Vietnamese Government and the support of international organizations, this National Park was expanded to more than 123 thousand hectares to preserve intact the largest ancient limestone mountain range in Southeast Asia. On July 3, 2015, UNESCO members agreed to add the criteria of outstanding values ​​representing the evolutionary and developmental processes of terrestrial ecosystems, possessing the most significant natural habitat for biodiversity conservation.

The recognition of the World Natural Heritage is an important milestone not only recognizing the outstanding global value but also evaluating Vietnam's efforts in preserving the intact values ​​of resources; it is the basis for sustainable development based on the principle of harmony between promoting values ​​and preserving the intact resources. Therefore, over the past 20 years, the Park Management Board has taken conservation management as the foundation, scientific research as the core, and promoting heritage values ​​as the driving force. Pham Hong Thai, Director of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Management Board

Over the years, the Park Management Board has proactively cooperated with domestic and foreign organizations to carry out scientific topics and tasks in the fields of environment, geology-geomorphology, biodiversity, culture-history, on that basis to preserve and promote the resource values ​​of the heritage to serve the socio-economic development of the locality.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang is home to nearly 1,400 animal species and nearly 3,000 plant species, many of which are listed in the Vietnam and World Red Book. In particular, the distribution of a population of 500-year-old green stone cypresses living on limestone mountains at an altitude of over 600 m is recorded.

Since 2003, experts from the British Royal Cave Association have surveyed and discovered 425 caves in 7 areas and systems, of which 389 caves have been mapped with a total length of 243 km. The most notable is the discovery of Son Doong - the world's largest cave, which is of great significance in cave exploration research in the region, contributing greatly to promoting the image of Vietnam, Quang Binh and Phong Nha-Ke Bang to the world. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has gradually diversified its tourism products, proactively and synchronously implementing all 3 forms of tourism exploitation: self-implementation, joint ventures and leasing of forest environmental services. Up to now, this World Natural Heritage has had 15 tourist routes and destinations in operation with many rich and diverse types of tourism, such as: nature exploration, caves, camping, walking, ziplining... The development of tourism services has attracted an increasing number of visitors to the heritage. To ensure both sustainable tourism development and heritage conservation, the Park Management Board always focuses on monitoring and assessing the level of impact and influence of tourism activities on caves to have appropriate conservation directions to limit negative impacts on the heritage. According to Mr. Pham Hong Thai, in the coming time, the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Management Board will continue to identify forest management, protection and conservation of natural resource values ​​and heritage values ​​as the foundation and top priority task; At the same time, continue to improve the management, conservation, scientific research, and rescue of wild animals and plants to preserve the outstanding global values ​​of the heritage. Along with that, effectively and sustainably promote the value of resources and heritage to serve the management, conservation of heritage and socio-economic development.

Quang Binh is seeking the help of central ministries and branches, the support of scientists and international organizations to soon complete the scientific dossier to submit to UNESCO for recognition of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park as a heritage for the third time according to the criteria of natural landscape and strive to make Phong Nha-Ke Bang the first heritage site to meet 4/4 criteria of World Natural Heritage. Tran Thang, Chairman of Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee

According to the assessment of the UNESCO National Commission (Ministry of Foreign Affairs ), the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a typical example of the geological process of the Karst genre, a testament to different tectonic cycles in the history of the formation of the earth's crust. The geology and geomorphology of Phong Nha-Ke Bang create a system of extremely majestic and magnificent caves famous worldwide, becoming a priceless gift that nature has bestowed upon Quang Binh. In addition, this National Park is considered a model of "Ecosystem and Biodiversity" with a unique population not found anywhere else on earth, which is an evergreen tropical forest with the advantage of the more than 500-year-old Green Stone Cypress species. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park borders with Hin Nam No National Park of Laos. In line with UNESCO's goal of expanding cooperation in preserving and maintaining heritage with many common characteristics, Vietnam and Laos are working together to build the first transnational heritage dossier in Southeast Asia and the largest continuous cross-border heritage in the world. This work is expected to be submitted to UNESCO in 2024. Source: https://nhandan.vn/bao-ton-va-phat-huy-gia-tri-di-san-thien-nhien-the-gioi-phong-nha-ke-bang-post763066.html