VietNamNet Bridge - In the central province of Quang Nam, protective forests have been cleared to make room for resorts, while tourism projects have blocked the way to beaches.


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Protective forests have been cleared



“There are faults which we can never correct,” said Nguyen Su, former secretary of the Hoi An City Party Committee.

Resorts eat into protective forests

Twenty years ago, the entire coastal poplar forest from Da Nang to Hoi An was felled to make room for tourism projects, a part of the ‘revolution’ in the tourism industry initiated by Quang Nam province and Da Nang City.

A multi-million dollar road with four lanes, called the ‘5-star road’ linking Da Nang and Hoi An was built. The coastal land area, which was protective forest, was allocated to investors to build resorts.

Twenty years ago, the entire coastal poplar forest from Da Nang to Hoi An was felled to make room for tourism projects, a part of the ‘revolution’ in the tourism industry initiated by Quang Nam province and Da Nang City.

The poplar forest, which prevented wind, sand and sea wave attacks for many generations, no longer exists. It has been replaced with 5-star resorts. The fishing villages have relocated to resettlement areas, while the paths to the sea have been blocked.

Nguyen Van Nam, 90, a fisherman in Cua Dai fishing village, said he has never before in his life witnessed such serious devastation by the sea. The concrete embankments worth hundreds of billions of dong have been devastated by sea waves. 

Nam said that the poplar forest was friendly to people as it protected them from sand, wind and sea waves, giving them a peaceful life in the coastal land area with severe weather conditions.

“Even if hundreds of billions of dong or trillions of dong are spent, it would be impossible to protect the coastline because the forest has been lost,” Nam said.  

Nguyen Thi Lan, who lives near Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An City, complained that the beautiful view into the sea has been hidden by resorts and resorts, and that locals have to take a roundabout to the beaches because resorts have blocked the direct ways.

A local resident of Cua Dai Ward in Hoi An City said some beautiful public beaches in the locality have become private. The investor of Sunrise Hoi An Beach Resort has blocked the way to the beach and ‘appropriated’ the beach outside the project’s fence.

Other investors have had land allocated, but have not implemented their projects after many delays. Vina Capital Hoi An, an ecotourism project licensed 10 years ago, has not been implemented.


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