Acting together for clean ocean

Under the Prime Minister’s direction dated February 12, 2020, Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee has issued Decision No. 362 on promulgating an action plan on ocean plastic waste management to 2030 in the province. After more than 5 years of implementation, departments, agencies and coastal localities in the province have been taking effective measures to manage ocean plastic waste.

Practical activities

In recent times, the waste management on the islands of Nha Trang Bay has been well controlled. Household waste on Tri Nguyen, Bich Dam, Vung Ngan and from tourist areas on the islands, aquaculture cages, restaurants on Nha Trang Bay has been collected and transported to the shore for proper treatment by Nha Trang Urban Environment Joint Stock Company with an average 7 tons collected a day.

According to Dam Hai Van, Deputy Head of Nha Trang Bay Management Board, to achieve that result, the province and city have strengthened cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Vietnam to implement a program to monitor plastic waste on Nha Trang Bay beaches and a community-based program to reduce plastic waste at sea in Nha Trang.

The beach clean-up with the message "Spreading love for the sea and islands" at Hon Do (Nha Trang City) is part of the Nha Trang Night Run Sanvinest - Khanh Hoa Newspaper 2024.

The Provincial Women's Union has carried out some project activities to promote cooperation between the community and the private sector with State agencies in coral reef conservation and sustainable development of Hon Mun waters, Nha Trang Bay; promoted environmental propaganda in an effort to reduce the use of disposable plastic products and protect biodiversity in Bich Dam Residential Group and students on Tri Nguyen Island.

According to Hoang Anh Hao, Deputy Director in charge of the Marine and Islands Division, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in the period of 2020 - 2023, all levels of socio-political organizations, border guards... in the province have launched more than 302 clean-up operations to tidy up more than 1,021km of coastline; collected nearly 4,000 tons of garbage; planted 3,095 trees and more than 6,000 mangrove trees in coastal areas.

Typically, women's associations at all levels implemented a program to exchange plastic waste for gifts, medical masks, and soap (55 gifts, 500kg of soap, 500 medical masks; 410kg of waste paper, nearly 300kg of used plastic bottles); Van Thanh Commune (Van Ninh District) together with Dam Mon Border Guard Station have implemented a community-based model for removing waste from the sea.

According to Nguyen Minh Thu, Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Decision No. 362 of the Provincial People's Committee defines a goal of reducing 75% of plastic waste in the sea and ocean by 2030; 100% of discarded fishing gear will be collected towards ending the disposal of fishing gear directly into the sea; 100% of tourist areas along the coast will reduce the use of disposable plastic products and non-degradable plastic bags.

To achieve that, it is necessary for all socio-political organizations, businesses and people to join hands and take action. 4 to 5-star tourist accommodation establishments and resorts in the province have gradually replaced single-use plastic products with environmentally friendly alternatives, such as paper straws, paper cups, and glass water bottles.

Continuing to keep the sea clean

According to Vu Ngoc Huan, Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nha Trang City, besides the encouraging results in marine environmental protection, the city is still facing challenges, such as ineffective propaganda in some localities, which has not reached 100% of the population, and the ongoing issue of littering.

Therefore, the city is continuing to direct the People's Committees of coastal communes and wards and related agencies to promote propaganda and inspection and supervision to deal with any environmental violations; focus on implementing solutions to prevent and minimize the impacts of plastic waste on the environment of Nha Trang Bay.

According to Cung Quynh Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism, one key focus for Vietnam's tourism is to create "a hygienic, green, and safe environment." To achieve this goal, the department has been implementing solutions such as developing a set of criteria for evaluating and ranking green tourism businesses and tourist destinations and implementing green labeling for tourism businesses; raising public awareness of plastic waste; replacing plastic products with environmentally friendly materials; applying technology and digital transformation in management, investing in advanced recycling technologies to help transform plastic waste into other useful materials or products, etc.

T.Thinh

Translated by N.T