Cù Lao
Cham (cham islands), a world biosphere reserve in Quang Nam province is famous not only for
its wild beauty but also for being an area which has drawn the special
attention of scientists because it possesses species of corals first found in
Vietnam.
Although
situated less than 20 miles from Hoi An Ancient Town, a world heritage site, in
the past Cu Lao Cham was fairly wild. In 2009, it was recognized as a world
biosphere reserve by UNESCO and soon became a famous tourism destination in
central Viet Nam and attracted the scientists’ interest.
In the summer of 2010, as we followed a
group of Japanese tourists who participated in a competition to swim across the
sea from Cu Lao Cham to Cua Dai, we had an opportunity to learn about the
impressive beauty of these pristine islands. At that time, Le Vinh Thuan, Head
of the Communications Department of Cu Lao Cham Marine Protected Area (MPA)
said the city of Hoi An and MPA had devised a plan to build Cu Lao Cham into an
ideal marine tourism destination in the renowned tourist triangle of Quang
area, My Son Sanctuary and Hoi An Ancient Town .
Therefore, the local
authorities opened training courses on tourist professional skills, such as
cooking, accommodation services, transporting tourists by boat and guiding
tourists for snorkeling for nearly 3,000 people living on the islands to earn
their living instead of doing the work of marine resource exploitation.
In early 2014, we returned to Cu Lao Cham
and met Thuan again. He cheerfully said that Cu Lao Cham had successfully built
the green island into a fascinating tourism destination with various forms,
such as snorkeling to contemplate the coral, swimming, enjoying the local food
and discovering the wild beauty of the natural beaches.
Huynh Duc, an MPA cadre, led us to visit the
island. Duc was once a fisherman specializing in diving to catch lobster and
abalone and collecting coral to make lime for construction. He said: “On the
initial days of the establishment of the marine protected area the islanders
were very anxious because the management board zoned a protected area and
prohibited fishing in the coral reefs. For years, we were only accustomed to
using small boats to catch sea creatures in the coral reefs along the island,
could we survive by working in tourist services instead of fishing?
Now, there is an answer for Duc’s anxiety
because Cu Lao Cham is famous for visitors far and near and has become a
well-known marine tourism destination in Central Viet Nam. All members of Duc’s
family are working in tourist services. His wife left her job of catching fish
and shifted to cooking for visitors. His son is transporting tourists to visit
the island by boat and guiding tourists for snorkeling in the coral area.
In summer, there are days that over 3,500
foreign tourists go to Cu Lao Cham a day to swim and snorkel. According to
Duc’s simple calculation, each islander serves more than one tourist, which
brings him/her a much higher income compared with fishing.
We followed a group of French tourists to
Huong Beach to swim. There, we met Nguyen Quang, Nguyen Tung, Tran Cuc and some
islanders who were guiding the tourists to cast a net like the fishermen. Many
foreign tourists were very excited because it was the first time they tried
fishing like the fishermen on the island. Quang said: “Formerly these nets were
tools for fishing offshore. Now they are used for tourist purposes. Foreign
visitors are very interested in rowing the basket boats, angling and catching
fish with us.”
Huynh Duc took us on a boat equipped with professional
diving devices to Mui Da Trang, which is dubbed the “undersea paradise” on Cu
Lao Cham, to see the magnificent beauty of the coral reefs. The coral reefs
here over about 30ha and are the most ideal attraction for snorkeling in Cu Lao
Cham. At the depth of about five meters, through their diving masks tourists
can see a colorful world of marine plants and animals in the clear, blue water,
which looks like a mysterious aquarium.
After the snorkeling tour, Huynh Duc took us
to see the beaches with pristine beauty, such as Bai Lang, Bai Chong and Bai
Huong. These beaches are always crowded with boats transporting the visitors to
see the coral.
While sitting on the boat and looking at the
coral in the clear blue sea water, Huynh Duc said: “Leaving the job of
exploiting coral to make lime and shifting to marine conservation I seem to
have paid the debt to the sea of my homeland. In the marine protected area we
have revived the beautiful coral reefs and helped to make Cu Lao Cham become
the most attractive place for snorkeling in Viet Nam.”
Tran Thi Hong Thuy, Director of Cu Lao Cham
Marine Protected Area said that in 1996 scientists conducted a survey in this
area and found 135 species of coral with 35 varieties, including six new
species first found in the waters of Viet Nam. Results of the survey also
showed that there were also 202 species of aquatic creatures and four species
of lobster. The coral reefs in Cu Lao Cham were concentrated mainly in the west
and southwest of Hon Lao Island and around small islands, with a total area of
about 165ha of water surface, but they were damaged because they were exploited
to make lime. In this situation the MPA collaborated with the experts of Nha
Trang Institute of Oceanography to implement the project on cultivation and
restoration of coral reefs to serve tourist activities and preserve the rare
and precious genetic resources in the water areas.
However, the cultivation of the coral in the
sea bed in Cu Lao Cham had untold difficulties. In 2006, when starting the
project on planting the coral, the cadres of Cu Lao Cham Marine Protected Are
suffered many failures. At that time, Huynh Duc, Tran Gion and Vo Huu Sinh were
diving into the sea to take the coral samples and replanted them in the areas
where the coral had been exploited, but after a period of time these species of
coral died or were swept away by the sea. Not discouraged, they continued
replanting the coral many times, but their efforts were in vain due to big
waves. Then Huynh Duc thought that growing the coral in the sea was like
growing the trees on the mainland, so healthy seedlings had to be developed
before they were cultivated on a large scale.
Huynh Duc pht forward his idea and received
the approval of the MPA leaders for an experimental cultivation. Duc and his
colleagues chose the water areas in Ran Me, Bai Tra and Bai Man where the sea
is calm and is shielded from the wind, which is favorable for making a nursery.
With the support of the experts from Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, they
designed the coral cultivation farms to grow more coral. The result was
surprising. The seedlings grew very well.
By the end of 2013, the MPA developed 30
coral cultivation farms and successfully restored 165ha of damaged coral reefs.
From the successful restoration of the coral reefs, the cadres and scientists
of the MPA successfully planted 146 hectares of coral in Cu Lao, increasing the
total area of coral reefs here to 311ha of water surface.
Tran Thi Hong Thuy said that the restoration
and development of the coral reefs, created a favorable environment for many
aquatic species, including rare and precious species like abalone and green
lobster to grow and develop.
This is a great success for Viet Nam in
marine conservation. From these results the scientists will apply the model in
other marine protected areas in Viet Nam such as Nha Trang, Kien Giang, Bai Tu
Long National Park (in Quang Ninh Province) and Nui Chua National Park (in Ninh
Thuan Province)./.
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