Da Nang to review tourism-service projects to protect peninsula

An adjustment to its general planning for until 2030 the city released last month says Son Tra would be developed into a "high-class national ecotourism area" with projects that would make it a world-class tourist area together with nature conservation and biodiversity.

Son Tra Peninsula, which spreads over more than 4,400 hectares (10,880 acres) and rises to 700 meters at its highest point, acts as a natural shield for the central city.

It is around 10 kilometers to the northeast of Da Nang.

Phung Phu Phong, deputy director of the city Department of Construction, said at a meeting on Monday the amendments to the plans are based on the Government Inspectorate’s conclusions in 2019.

"The city will not allow new accommodation projects on the peninsula."

The Government Inspectorate had found a series of violations in setting land prices and handing over lands for 18 projects, most of them tourism-related, on the peninsula.

Of the 18, nine were allotted more than 163 hectares (403 acres) of natural forests without being required to manage and protect them.

The city had only sought approval from the Ministry of National Defense for two projects, and the ministry had given the nod to just one. But Da Nang granted a license to the other projects as well.

Phong said all projects on the peninsula would be freshly evaluated based on three criteria: national security, protection of forests and conservation of biodiversity.

People’s committee chairman Le Trung Chinh said the city has made a report related to forest protection and national security with respect to 17 projects and submitted to the Ministries of National Defense and Agriculture and Rural Development.

"The city will make a final call based on the two ministries' feedback as to which projects will remain and which will be scrapped."

Vu Ngoc Long, a former director of the Southern Institute of Ecology who spent many years studying Son Tra, refers to it as a "treasure" with a closed ecosystem ranging from tropical rainforests to coastal reefs.

"Without protection, its ecology, coral reefs and seafood resources will all be hit as well as the sand quality on Da Nang beaches," he told VnExpress in 2017.

Studies show that the peninsula can generate enough oxygen for more than four million people.