Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago recognized as World Natural Heritage

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee recognized Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago as a World Natural Heritage on September 16.

Responding to VnExpress, Mr. Tran Dinh Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) confirmed that this decision was made at the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the afternoon of September 16.

According to the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site because it contains many areas of natural beauty, including limestone islands covered with vegetation and limestone pinnacles rising above the sea, along with related karst features such as domes and caves. The spectacular untouched landscape of the vegetation-covered islands, salt lakes, limestone pinnacles with steep cliffs rising above the sea is also part of the reason.

Ha Long Bay Cat Ba archipelago recognized as World Natural Heritage — ***A corner of Cat Ba Island.*** Photo: Tran Dat

With 1,133 limestone islands of various shapes (775 limestone islands in Ha Long Bay and 358 limestone islands in Ca Ba archipelago) covered with rich vegetation on the sparkling emerald water, this complex appears like a chessboard of precious stones, with peaceful mountains and rivers, and fine, pristine white sand beaches.

"Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago is considered a geological museum, containing heritages with outstanding global values. This place witnessed the characteristic changes in the history of the development of the Earth," commented the Department of Cultural Heritage.

From the capital Riyadh, Vice Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee Le Khac Nam expressed his joy because this is also "the first inter-regional heritage between two provinces and cities in Vietnam".

Cat Ba archipelago in Hai Phong city has 367 islands, ranked as a special national scenic spot in 2013. Ha Long Bay was recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage for the second time in 2020 (first time in 2000). These two areas are adjacent to each other, with similar natural landscapes.

In 2013, the Hai Phong People's Committee prepared a dossier to nominate the Cat Ba archipelago as a world natural heritage site based on biodiversity criteria. However, UNESCO recommended extending the Cat Ba archipelago with Ha Long Bay to form a heritage complex. In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued a document affirming the necessity of extending Ha Long Bay with the Cat Ba archipelago to build a dossier to nominate it as a world heritage site.

In 2021, the Government assigned the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to carry out the necessary procedures to submit the nomination dossier for Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago heritage to UNESCO.

Tu Nguyen/VnE

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