A group of youngsters from many cities and provinces made an appointment at Ha Long Bay this weekend, not to have fun, but to collect waste on the bay.
600kg of waste a day
Two boats carrying over ten young people departed from the tourist wharf in Ha Long city to go to two fishing villages, Cong Dam and Vung Vieng, which are approximately one hour, by boat, from the tourist areas. These people met online and have been gathering in Ha Long City on weekends to collect waste at fishing villages on the bay for nearly one year.
Volunteer Lan Phuong, 21, from the northern province of Ninh Binh, said: “When I knew about this useful activity, I registered to join. Many people just know of Ha Long Bay as a natural world heritage site, not a Ha Long Bay with rubbish. I think, along with voting Ha Long as a new natural world wonder, each person needs to do useful activities to show their love to this invaluable heritage.” Lan Phuong began hearing about the group of volunteers in March 2008 through an online forum. She immediately joined this group, which is named “For a Green Ha Long.”
The tools of the waste collecting volunteers are very simple: a small fishing boat, a basket, and a bin. Kids from fishing villages are voluntary rowers to help waste collectors. After one day, rubbish is burnt or buried under sand at a nearby mountain.
The leader of “For a Green Ha Long,” Doan Van Dung, said: “We are very surprised about the results. Initially, we collected 500-600kg of rubbish per day. Most of the waste was disintegrated and discharged by fishing villagers and tourist boats.”
Enhancing fishermen’s awareness of environmental protection
According to Dung, at the beginning, local villagers did not support volunteers and they still discharged waste to the bay. However, after a short period of time, they changed their behavior and positively joined the group’s activity.
Vong Vieng and Cong Dam are two fishing villages located on Ha Long Bay for hundreds of years. Their life is closely linked to the sea. Before the “For a Green Ha Long” group came, villagers directly discharged waste into the sea, where they live.
The Director of the Centre for Sea Preservation, Entertainment, Development of Quang Ninh province, Nguyen Viet Duong, said that villagers use coal as major fuel. On average, each family uses six pieces of coal. Only the volume of coal residues can pollute the sea.
Besides collecting waste, volunteers tried to persuade local people not to throw waste into the sea and presented waste bins to them.
This group of volunteers is working by their own funds. After this project, the group will work to save salt-marsh forest to preserve the bay’s landscape.
