IUCN Holds 7th Meeting of USAID-funded Ha Long-Cat Ba Alliance in Vietnam

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held the seventh Leadership Committee meeting of the Ha Long-Cat Ba Alliance funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh on September 25, state media reported. The event’s participants reviewed the outcomes of the five-year implementation of the project, especially action plans and policies by authorities in Quang Ninh and Haiphong City to reduce waste in Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Bay, including a ban of disposable plastic things, requiring tourism ship owners to install wastewater treatment systems, and building biodiversity supervision programs. However, there remained shortcomings, including the incomplete documents for the re-nomination of the Ha Long Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site to include the Cat Ba Archipelago. IUCN Program Coordinator in Vietnam Jake Brunner urged further cooperation between Quang Ninh and Haiphong City to soon perfect documents for submission to the UNESCO. The Ha Long-Cat Ba Alliance was established in 2014 with the support of the USAID. In 2015, the alliance formed a business-led Leadership Committee, which works to address environmental challenges and provide technical advice to the UNESCO on the management of Ha Long Bay. (VOV, VOV, InfoNet, baotainguyenmoitruong, MSN, baoquangninh)