Tourists return sea rocks to Co To after reading coral planting article on VietNamNet

A tourist voluntarily returned sea rocks to Co To Island, Quang Ninh Province after reading an article in VietNamNet about a team of young people growing and breeding coral.

A tourist named VLN (residing in Ha Long ward, Quang Ninh province), after reading an article on VietNamNet about a group led by Mr. Pham Van Duc (33 years old, residing in Co To special zone, Quang Ninh province) who spent hundreds of millions of dong to plant and breed corals on the seabed, decided to return the pebbles he had previously taken while traveling on this island.

The stones were sent to the Department of Culture and Society of Co To special zone along with the tourist's apology letter.

Co To sea pebbles were packed in foam boxes by tourists and sent back to Co To island.

The letter reads: "I am a tourist who visited the island many times between 2015 and 2018. Out of curiosity and fascination with the island's beauty, especially the rocky beach, I secretly took some rocks to display.

Through information on the media, especially when reading about young people struggling to rebuild the rare coral population on the island, I felt that my previous actions had damaged the pristine and pure beauty of this island.

Today I am writing to sincerely apologize to the people of Co To Island and to return the stones I brought back. I hope these stones will be returned to the correct rock beach on the island, restoring the beauty of this place.

Once again, I would like to apologize for my actions and the inconvenience caused to your Department. Thank you very much!

14kg of pebbles returned by tourists will be brought to Mong Rong beach, Co To special zone.

On November 14, confirming with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Nguyen Hai Linh, Head of the Department of Culture and Society, Co To special zone, said that the above amount of pebbles was received that morning in a styrofoam box. Inside were 14kg of pebbles and an apology letter.

Mr. Linh also added that after reading VietNamNet 's article, tourists wanted to return the pebbles. All of the pebbles will be brought back to Mong Rong rock area on Co To island by officers from the Department of Culture and Society.

"Co To is striving to build the image of a green, safe and sustainable destination. To do that, not only infrastructure or policies are needed, but more importantly, the awareness and shared responsibility of the whole community.

I hope that every citizen, every tourist establishment and every tourist will join hands to preserve the marine environment: not taking away what belongs to nature and not leaving behind what does not belong to Co To.

A small action today will contribute to preserving its intact beauty for the future, so that Co To will always be a green, clean, beautiful and proud destination," said Mr. Linh.

For many years, Mr. Duc and his colleagues have been growing and breeding deer horn coral on Co To Island.

Previously, VietNamNet had an article "Spending hundreds of millions, a group of young people diligently 'plant forests' on the seabed of Co To" , the content mentioned that Mr. Pham Van Duc (33 years old, residing in Co To special zone, Quang Ninh province) and his team have spent many years planting and breeding deer horn coral in the Hon Chim area in Co To special zone.

Mr. Duc said that in 2023, he and his experienced diving colleagues began surveying and assessing the current situation and recorded that there are currently about 43 species of coral living in the Co To area.

However, the staghorn coral is almost extinct here - despite diving everywhere on the seabed, they only found one or two small clusters about 15cm high.

Mr. Pham Van Duc has been growing coral under the sea of ​​Co To for many years.

Since 2023, Duc and his colleagues have spent about 200 million VND each year to revive this coral species. Duc's group has chosen the Hon Chim area to set the price for coral culture.

The collected antlered coral samples were fixed to an iron frame. All steps were performed right on the seabed, at a depth of about 10m.

Currently, Mr. Duc and his colleagues have successfully planted deer horn coral on an area of ​​about 500 square meters under the seabed, and the coral clusters are growing well.

Spending hundreds of millions, a group of young people diligently 'planted forests' on the seabed of Co To. Realizing that the coral in his hometown Co To's sea gradually disappeared, Mr. Duc and his companions devoted their efforts to reviving the antlered coral reefs.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/du-khach-tra-lai-da-bien-cho-co-to-sau-khi-doc-bai-trong-san-ho-tren-vietnamnet-2462693.html