The Quang Binh Province’s Industry and Trade Department is designing an industrial project which would destroy dozens of hectares of forest in the core area of the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park. It has not consulted with any nature conservation organizations about the plan.

 

An electricity grid development project has been drawn up, under which electricity transmission lines would go through the core area of the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, a world natural heritage site.

The electricity grid project is expected to cover the same area previously reserved for Vietnam’s largest solar energy plant, the fate of which remains unclear as it faces strong opposition from the public.

If the project is implemented, tens of hectares of forests in the core area of the natural heritage would be cleared. 

Meanwhile, the project designer has not consulted with any conservation organizations. And the investor has not spoken with relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Environmentalists, who learned about the project from different sources, discovered that the electricity transmission line system to Tan Trach and Thuong Trach Communes programmed by the local authorities would have a total length of 60 kilometers.

The area is rich in rare and precious wood with thousands of ancient trees 10-30 meters tall, which conservationists consider a rare primeval area of special-use forests in Vietnam.

There is not much information about the project under which tens of hectares of forests would be cleared. 

The Quang Binh provincial People’s Committee Office has released a dispatch saying that the provincial chair assigned the local industry and trade department to supervise the design.

The document also pointed out the cable system along Highway No 20 should be coated to avoid problems caused by site clearance.

The local authorities hoped that the number of trees to be chopped down and the number of electricity poles to be installed would be the lowest possible so as to ensure the original landscape.

An expert, noting that the project could affect a world natural heritage site, said the decision must be determined by the provincial chair, who should consult first with nature conservation organizations, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In 2012, when the Quang Binh provincial Transport Department implemented the project on upgrading the Highway 20 – Quyet Thang, UNESCO, IUCN and FFI, all of them recommended not to fell any trees. They said the leaf canopies on the highway serve as a “green bridge” that helps migrants evacuate.

PL TPHCM