The impact of solid waste on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay has been discussed at a meeting held by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and sponsored by the USAID on January 9.

Solid waste on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay

According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 80% of the rubbish collected in 2017 were styrofoam buoys, 5% were unidentified plastic objects and the rest were plastic bottles, nylon bags and ropes. 

In 2018, the number of styrofoam buoys decreased to 70% while plastic bottles increased to 11%.

In 2017, 112 volunteers of the IUCN collected nearly 2.5 tonnes of rubbish in just 3.5 hours. 

Despite the amount of rubbish in Ha Long Bay, most of which cannot be recycled.

The styrofoam buoys are actually swept to Ha Long Bay from Cat Ba District. 

Hoang Trung Cuong, vice chairman of Cat Hai District in Hai Phong City, said there were a large number of fish farms in the areas. 

Many of the farmers set up their farms randomly and do not follow any scientific processes and that can cause pollution.

The Ha Long Bay Management Board also said that when the tides rose and winds blew from Cat Ba to Ha Long, a huge amount of styrofoam buoys could be seen being swept to the bay. 

Nguyen Thi Huyen Anh, deputy head of the management boat suggested using plastic ones instead.

Even though the geological values of the bay haven't been damaged, the increasing number of visitors and weak rubbish managing system has badly affected the image of the bay.

The authorities of Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh Province must work together to come up with a suitable solution for wastewater and solid waste. 

It's best to start a rubbish classification programme at homes and sell recyclable rubbish to private firms to reduce the amount of solid waste at local dumping sites. 

The use of nylon bags at supermarkets, stores and flea markets must be controlled.

Lao Dong/Dtinews