2 tons of garbage removed from Con Dao coral reefs
Divers have removed 2.1 tons of trash, including fishing nets and used packaging, from coral reefs and mangrove areas around Con Dao Islands off Vietnam’s southern coast.
The cleanup of the archipelago has been going on for over two weeks, the Con Dao National Park Management Board said last Friday.
Diving teams of six to eight people were hired to descend to depths of five to seven meters, and there they also found buoy stakes, ropes, beer cans, and scissors used to cut fishing nets tangled in the coral reefs and vegetation on the seabed.
The trash has been brought to ships, sorted, packed, and transported ashore to be handed over for recycling.
The waste left afterward is sent to the province’s waste treatment plant for incineration.
The government has provided VND1 billion (US$40,000) for the cleanup to protect the living environment for marine plants and animals, preserve biodiversity, and support sustainable economic and social development in the archipelago, and the task is managed by the Con Dao National Park Management Board.
Surveys indicate that around 600 hectares of coral reefs are covered in trash, while ocean debris affects over 17 hectares of beaches and mangrove forests.
Cao Dao District consists of 16 large and small islands off the coast of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province that are spread over 76 square kilometers and have a population of 12,000.
In the first half of 2024 some 396,350 tourists visited Con Dao, a 2.74% increase year-on-year.
Foreign visitors accounted for 14,760, a 50.3% increase.
Tourism revenues increased by 4.72% to VND1.45 trillion
By Truong Ha – VnExpress.net – August 11, 2024