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Tourism projects gnaw on forests in central Vietnam

Tourism projects gnaw on forests in central Vietnam

Sunday, October 16, 2016, 10:15 GMT+7

A forest considered the ‘lungs’ of the central city of Da Nang has significantly reduced in size due to the aggressive expansion of tourism projects in the area.

Seven kilometers from Da Nang on the central Vietnamese coast, Son Tra Peninsula has become increasingly known as an alluring tourist retreat.

The forest, dubbed the city’s lungs, is indispensable in terms of being a shield from typhoons, eco-tourism growth and national defense.

The boom in tourism services, however, has taken a severe toll on the forest.

The road leading to the special-use Son Tra Forest receives approximately one thousand visitors on average per day.

Forestland offering the perfect retreat from the daily hustle and bustle of the city is only a few minutes by bike from the city’s downtown areas, currently fetching high property prices.

A large number of trees have been felled to make room for a mushrooming number of construction projects in the vicinity.  

An increasing number of local households are running farms and offering eco-tourism services without the permission of authorities, instead of growing trees on their assigned land.

As observed by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters, the special-use Son Tra Forest is riddled with unfinished tourism projects which lie ‘dormant for years, leaving the wooded area looking unsightly.

The peninsula’s eastern coast, which should be dotted with luxuriant coconut and Casuarina trees, now looks unkempt.

Forest patches that are bare of trees expose rocks like a shaved head.

At the foot of Son Tra Mountain is the unfinished construction site of Bai But Bay Resort, which occupies up to 30 hectares of wooded land.

In 2005 Hai Duy JSC and Invesco, two companies based in Ho Chi Minh City, were licensed to break ground on their Bai But Bay Resort in Son Tra.

The mammoth project, with registered capital of US$30 million, was expected to grow into a paradise getaway for tourists. However the best the developers could do is the current block of houses and an artificial lake behind a dull brick wall.

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Many locals do not fulfill their forestation tasks and open pubs or eco-tourism sites within Son Tra Forest instead. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Da Nang authorities have issued many ‘ultimatums,’ threatening to revoke the investment license for the project, but the developers have made no progress in their building work.

Other resort projects, including Sontra Travel and Son Tra Resort, also look forlorn with dismal-looking fences and incomplete blocks, all stark reminders of the previously lush forest.

The Tuoi Tre reporters also noticed that the forested strips along Hoang Sa Beach and right beneath Tien Sa Port had been converted into dozens of farms, restaurants and eco-tourism complexes.

Along the mountain slope on Le Duc Tho Street, lots assigned to locals have turned into spacious cafés and pubs.

Most café shops and eateries are built sturdily to facilitate business.

Around one kilometer from the local forest ranger station, residents have chopped down eucalyptus trees in the wooded area, and built a 300m-long road on which trucks can travel back and forth to transport timber.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, a resident in Tho Quang Ward who worked for a forest land owner for several years, recalled that she and others had always steered clear of the area, which was held in great reverence, around 10 years ago.

Later these patches of forest changed, leaving no one responsible.

Land lots of Son Tra Forest are currently available for sale for VND300 million ($13,260) per hectare.

Advantageous spots which can offer eco-tourism services fetch considerably higher prices. 

In late February 2016, members of an animal rights group published a series of posts on Facebook revealing patches of forest illegally felled without rangers’ knowledge on Son Tra Peninsula.

The revelations caught local authorities’ attention and prompted them into action to keep similar incidents from happening again.

The municipal authorities also removed the head and deputy head of Son Tra- Ngu Hanh Son Forest Ranging Office from their posts, and disciplined three officers for their wrongdoings.

Previously, visitors would catch a good glimpse of ‘Vooc ngu sac,’ or red-shanked douc, monkeying around amidst the luxuriant foliage of Son Tra Mountain.

Considered the ‘queen’ of the primate world, the endangered douc boasts a distinctive coat of five different colors.

Though these primates are relatively shy of humans, they live in large numbers throughout the peninsula, making sightings relatively common.

Such sightings are becoming rarer, even when one ventures deep into the forest.

According to reports by the Da Nang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Son Tra Forest spans 3,600 hectares, and includes 2,500 hectares of strictly-protected special-use forest.

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A family of doucs, a primate indigenous to Son Tra Forest. Photo: Tuoi Tre       

The remaining 1,072 hectares at elevations of less than 200m is assigned to around 200 local households.

Le Van Nhi, deputy head of the municipal agriculture department, warned against purchasing forest land, which will earn land owners a mere VND20 million ($883) and saplings in compensation once the government takes the land over.

Vo Dinh Cong, chair of Tho Quang Ward People’s Committee, said Son Tra Forest is currently home to17 tourism projects.

Most of the forested land that locals have purchased is part of the zoned lots, he added.

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