Several groups have been established and dedicated to cleaning up garbage in Vietnam’s Nha Trang Bay, where rubbish from fishing, tourism, and household activities is placing enormous pressure on the natural environment.

Nha Trang covers an area of more than 500 square kilometers in the namesake beach city of Nha Trang, located in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa.

The bay consists of 19 islands, with the largest being Tre Islet, which occupies 32.5 square kilometers, and the smallest being Noc Islet, which is only four hectares in area.

It was listed among the world’s top 29 bays by the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World in June 2003.

The area, however, is being polluted by garbage, mainly plastic waste and used fishing nets, discharged by thousands of households and fishermen, as well as from tourism activities.

To curb the situation, the Nha Trang Urban Environment JSC has been operating multiple units specializing in collecting rubbish along local riverbanks, estuaries, and on all of the bay’s islands over the past few years.

The waste collected from the islets is brought to the mainland for appropriate treatment.

Two boats are tasked with scouting the islands as well as floating restaurants and aquaculture facilities for collecting waste on a daily basis, said Dinh Van Nghia, a member of the environmental unit.

This seems to be a never-ending task as a large number of people discharge a large amount of garbage every day, Nghia assessed.

Meanwhile, members of a volunteer group named Trashpackers have also been contributing to the efforts by cleaning up beaches in Nha Trang Bay.

Trashpackers consists of young people coming from Vietnam, the United Kingdom, France, Argentina, and South Africa.

Their most recent activity took place at Vinh Luong Beach.

“We all love the ocean and will do our best to keep it clean and beautiful,” said Giang Thi Kim Yen, a member of the group.

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