Proposal to adjust the boundary and area of Hon Cau Marine Reserve

Overlapping area

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, in the context of local socio -economic development, Hon Cau Marine Reserve has overlapping areas with key national economic projects, especially Vinh Tan Power Center, Vinh Tan International Port, and the Dredged Material Storage Project of the Vinh Tan International Power and Port Project Cluster. For a long time, the overlapping problem at Hon Cau Marine Reserve has not been resolved. This not only affects the function of the Marine Reserve, making it difficult to meet the proposed conservation goals, but also affects the implementation of socio-economic development projects.

In 2019, the Government issued a Decree related to the Fisheries Law. In particular, the regulations on functional subdivisions of marine protected areas and management regulations in each functional subdivision have been adjusted compared to the previous Decree 57/2008/ND-CP. Specifically, marine protected areas are divided into 3 functional subdivisions: strictly protected subdivision; ecological restoration subdivision; service - administrative subdivision and buffer zone. At the same time, it is stipulated that previously established marine protected areas must review, supplement and complete management regulations.

Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan province has previously advised the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province to approve the outline of the tasks and budget estimates for the project "Review and adjustment of functional zoning and boundaries of Hon Cau Marine Protected Area" in 2020 (project). The goal is to improve the effectiveness of management, conservation and rational use of biodiversity resources, identify and minimize factors that negatively impact the marine ecosystem, and harmonize the goal of marine conservation with the socio-economic development of the locality in a sustainable manner.

Accordingly, the content of the project proposes a plan to adjust the Hon Cau Marine Protected Area with a total area of 15,707.3 hectares (including 15,639.3 hectares of sea and 68 hectares of land), an increase of 3,279.3 hectares of sea and a decrease of 72 hectares of land compared to the previously approved status. In which, the key marine conservation area is basically kept intact. At the same time, only the northern coastal sea area, where the current status overlaps national sectoral planning and key economic development projects of the country and the province and shows signs of biodiversity degradation, is adjusted out of the marine protected area. Along with that, the boundary of the marine protected area is expanded to the south, the area that meets the criteria for marine conservation; the coastal boundary is adjusted to be further away from the shore (from 300 - 1,100 m from the shore) to limit the impact on the existing activities of local fishermen and economic activities.

However, between the project and the Planning for the protection and exploitation of aquatic resources for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister in 2024 (Plan 389/TTg), there is a difference in the area and boundaries of Hon Cau Marine Reserve (Hon Cau Island's land area is 68 hectares).

Proposed solution

Recently, the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting to listen to the Department of Agriculture and Environment report on Hon Cau Marine Protected Area. Accordingly, up to now, the implementation of the project has completed all steps according to the process and procedures for adjusting the boundary and area of the Marine Protected Area. However, the problem is that the scale and area of the Marine Protected Area of Hon Cau according to Planning 389/TTg is 12,500 hectares. Meanwhile, the consulting unit has proposed to adjust the boundary of the Marine Protected Area on the coastal side from 300 - 500 meters away from the shore, the area of the Marine Protected Area of Hon Cau is 11,950 hectares, a reduction of about 550 hectares compared to the planned area of the Marine Protected Area approved by the Prime Minister (not yet guaranteed in terms of area).

Therefore, to solve the difficulties and problems, the project owner and the consulting unit proposed 2 options to adjust the boundaries and areas of the functional zones of Hon Cau Marine Reserve. In which, the Department of Agriculture and Environment chose option 1, with the area of Hon Cau Marine Reserve after adjustment being 12,500 hectares; of which, the sea area is 12,432 hectares, the land area (Hon Cau) is 68 hectares. Regarding the functional zones according to option 1: Strictly protected zone with 455.99 hectares, including 417 hectares of sea and 38.99 hectares of land (area I, area III) on Hon Cau island. Ecological restoration zone of 859.9 hectares of sea, including 3 areas: Vinh Tan - Vinh Hao ecological restoration (418 hectares); Phuoc The ecological restoration (273 hectares); La Gan ecological restoration (168.9 hectares).

The service - administrative subdivision has an area of 11,184.11 hectares, including 11,155.1 hectares of sea (including 6 areas outside the strictly protected subdivisions and ecological restoration subdivisions) and 29.01 hectares of land (area II) on Hon Cau island.

Comparing option 1 with the current status shows that the total area of Hon Cau Marine Reserve after adjustment remains unchanged (12,500 ha) but reduces 72 ha of land on Hon Cau Island (due to updating the current land area status according to the 2022 land statistics of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee). The boundary of the Marine Reserve has changed, adjusted to move out of the North and expand to the South and Southwest with an area of 8,446.6 ha. The option also adjusts the boundary and area in all functional subdivisions. Specifically, in the strictly protected subdivision: adjust to expand 207 ha of Hon Cau and reduce 900 ha at Breda shoal. With the ecological restoration subdivision, reduce 900 ha in Vinh Tan - Vinh Hao and at the same time, establish 2 new areas in Phuoc The (273 ha) and La Gan (168.9 ha). The administrative service subdivision has an additional area of 1,925.1 ha of sea and 29.01 hectares of land in Hon Cau (received from strictly protected area).

It is known that currently the Provincial People's Committee basically agrees with the proposal of the Department of Agriculture and Environment in option 1. At the same time, there will be some more specific instructions in reviewing related planning.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/e-xuat-dieu-chinh-ranh-gioi-dien-tich-khu-bao-ton-bien-hon-cau-396056.html