Experts have voiced their concern about a plan to build a road across Can Gio bio-reserve, warning that it would damage the mangrove forest and spoil the ecosystem.
“It is dangerous to open a road 17 meters in width and 3.5 kilometers in length which would run across the Can Gio mangrove forest, a world biosphere reserve,” said Dr. Le Huy Ba, former head of the Institute for Science, Technology and Environmental Management.
Ba was one of several scientists who took a fact-finding trip to Can Gio and suggested planting a mangrove forest.
“HCM City has to spend money and resources to develop the forest. It will be a big waste to fell 18,700 trees in the forest just to open a road to develop ecotourism,” he said.
Ba said that the new road should not be opened for many reasons.
First, there exists a Rung Sac route running across Can Gio Forest. The route once raised controversy, but the city’s authorities still decided to sacrifice a large forest area for economic development of the Can Gio district. Rung Sac has helped improve the traffic situation and there is no need to open one more road.
Second, if HCM City wants to develop ecotourism, it should preserve the forest instead of damaging it.
For mangroves, water circulation is like human blood vessels. A road across the forest will make it difficult for water to circulate. And once the Can Gio mangrove forest is harmed, the ecosystem will also be influenced
Dr. Pham Trong Thinh from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also warned that if “the water cannot circulate, the trees’ metabolic process will get interrupted, and trees will die.”
Thinh went on to say that it is necessary to consider economic development and Can Gio forest protection together, especially when Can Gio is recognized by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve.
Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi, chair of the Society for Nature and Sea Environment, commented that local authorities need to be cautious when opening a road through the core area.
Hoi said there are many other solutions for the city to develop ecotourism, such as building suspension bridges or using waterways instead of opening a road for vehicles.
Ba emphasized that Can Gio forest is on acid sulphate soil (ASS), on which the city’s authorities had tried and failed to grow coconuts. if a big road is open there, it would affect the soil quality, and forest development.
Source: vietnamnet.vn