Attending the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, France, the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism led by Dr. Architect Hoang Dao Cuong - Deputy Minister, Associate Professor Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim - Vice Chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council, Dr. Nguyen Viet Cuong - Chief of Office of the Department of Cultural Heritage coordinated with the delegation of experts from the Lao People's Democratic Republic (led by the Lao Minister of Culture) to exchange information related to the nomination dossier of Hin Nam No National Park and Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, especially issues on the management of the first transboundary World Heritage Site of Vietnam and Laos.
At the Session, the Vietnamese delegation, with the participation of Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu - Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs , Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, agencies under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to UNESCO in Paris - France, and delegations of provinces with World Heritage in Vietnam, had working sessions with the World Heritage Center and UNESCO Advisory Bodies to discuss issues related to Vietnam's world heritage nomination dossier and world heritage conservation work.
| Quang Tri Province, Vietnam with Hin Nam No National Park, Khammouane Province, Lao PDR listed as a world heritage site |
Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was ranked as a Special National Scenic Landscape by the Prime Minister in 2009. On July 3, 2003, at the 27th Session of the World Heritage Committee, Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage for the first time (criterion viii) and on July 3, 2015, at the 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee, Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was recognized for the second time (criteria ix and x), with a core area of 123,326ha and a buffer zone of 220,055ha. Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park shares a natural boundary with Hin Nam No National Park of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
The dossier of Hin Nam No National Park nominated by UNESCO for recognition as an extension of the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was jointly submitted by the Lao and Vietnamese Governments to UNESCO in February 2024, for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at this Session.
Through the appraisal process, UNESCO's Advisory Body, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), submitted a Decision to the World Heritage Committee at its 47th Session to approve the boundary adjustment of the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (Quang Tri Province, Vietnam) to expand to Hin Nam No National Park (Kham Muon Province, Lao People's Democratic Republic), with the name: "Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park" according to the criteria of geology, geomorphology (criterion viii), ecosystem (criterion ix) and biodiversity (criterion x).
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park are among the most outstanding and intact karst landscapes and ecosystems in the world. Located at the junction of the Annam Mountains and the Central Indochina Limestone Belt, straddling the border of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the karst formations have developed since the Paleozoic period approximately 400 million years ago and can be considered the oldest, large-scale karst area in Asia. The diversity of ecosystems found in this complex landscape includes dry karst forests at high altitudes, moist and dense forests at low altitudes, and extensive underground cave environments. Among these underground structures are more than 220 km of caves and underground river systems that are recognized as globally significant. The unique biodiversity with some endemic species living in tropical mixed ecosystems also creates special values, of global significance.
Criterion (viii): Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park are among the largest intact tropical wet karst systems in the world. The distinctive topography and diversity of the karst landscape is formed by the complex intercalation of limestone karst with shale, sandstone and granite. On the surface, the diversity of polygonal karst features recorded to date is not found anywhere else in the world. Underground, the extraordinary diversity of caves (including dry caves, terraced caves, tree caves and cross-cut caves) provides evidence of past geological processes, from ancient river channels, abandonment or alteration of river routes, to the deposition and subsequent re-dissolution of giant stalagmites. Of particular importance are the Son Doong and Xe Bang Fai caves, which contain the world's largest recorded cave passage in terms of diameter and continuity, and the largest active river passage and single cave reservoir (water formed by calcite sediments), respectively.
Criterion (ix): Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park protect globally significant ecosystems within the Northern Annamite Rainforests terrestrial ecoregion, the Northern Annamite and Southern Annamite Freshwater ecoregions, and the Wet Annamite Range Forests priority ecoregion. The complexity and relative integrity of the limestone landscape has resulted in the creation of multiple ecological niches, providing opportunities for ecological processes and species evolution. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park support highly specialised and endemic flora and fauna both above ground (such as some orchids and Cyclamen) and below ground (with some invertebrates and fishes restricted to single cave systems).
Criterion (x): A rich biodiversity of terrestrial, freshwater and subterranean life can be found in the area. Over 2,700 species of vascular plants and 800 species of vertebrates have been recorded in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, over 200 of which were globally threatened at the time of inscription in 2015 and 400 species endemic to Central Laos and/or Vietnam. Over 1,500 species of vascular plants (from 755 different genera) and 536 species of vertebrates have been recorded in Hin Nam No National Park, including many globally threatened and endemic species, including the Giant Hunting Spider, the largest spider by leg span in the world and endemic to Khammouane Province (Laos).
Species richness at the site is likely to exceed that of the two respective national parks due to differences in topography and ecological niches. The site is also home to 10-11 primate species, four of which are endemic to the Annamese Mountains, and the largest remaining populations of the Southern White-cheeked Gibbon and the endemic Black Langur.
The management of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park is proposed in 02 separate Management Plans (Hin Nam No National Park Management Plan and Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park Strategic Management Plan). The joint management of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park has been signed by localities of Vietnam and Laos for many years, which outlines joint activities on law enforcement and development of action plans to protect the values of the heritage.
It can be said that the coordination process between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos in researching, developing and completing the nomination dossier from 2018 to present has been really promoted after the two governments agreed on the policy (in early 2023) on developing a nomination dossier for Hin Nam No National Park (Laos) as a cross-border World Heritage Site with the World Natural Heritage of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (Vietnam). On that basis, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung had direct working sessions with Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Suanesavanh Vignaket to implement the following contents: agreeing on the plan to develop the nomination dossier, assigning the specialized agencies of the two sides, the Department of Cultural Heritage of Vietnam, to directly coordinate, guide and support the Department of Cultural Heritage of Laos in the entire process of developing the dossier, along with the enthusiastic support of the People's Committee of Quang Binh province (now Quang Tri province), the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Management Board of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, and relevant agencies to develop the dossier.
The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding dated January 10, 2018 between the two Ministries of Culture on supporting Laos to make Hin Nam No National Park a World Natural Heritage; establishing a Working Group of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to support the Lao People's Democratic Republic in developing a dossier for Hin Nam No to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a World Heritage Site; providing comments on the Summary Report of Hin Nam No National Park to propose UNESCO to include it in the List of Tentative Nominations; providing documents and dossiers of the World Natural Heritage of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park for Laos to study and include in the nomination dossier; sending delegations of Vietnamese experts and specialists to participate in seminars and work on developing a dossier for the heritage nomination; organizing conferences in person and online to exchange with Laos to complete the nomination dossier, agreeing to send it to UNESCO in February 2024.
The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chairman of the National Heritage Committee of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, expressed his joy: Today marks a meaningful day and a proud moment for the Lao Government and the entire Lao society, when Hin Nam No National Park of the Lao People's Democratic Republic has been officially inscribed as an extension of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park World Heritage Site in Vietnam; at the same time, he affirmed that the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic will continue to cooperate with its partner, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, to strengthen cooperation at all levels of society, with a focus on enhancing the consultative and inclusive participation of local communities in the management of this precious world heritage.
Speaking at the 47th Session after the World Heritage Committee officially adopted the Decision approving the significant boundary adjustment of the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (Quang Tri Province, Vietnam) to include Hin Nam No National Park (Kham Muon Province, Lao People's Democratic Republic), with the name: "Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park" in the World Heritage List, Dr. Architect Hoang Dao Cuong - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: Yesterday, also here, the leaders of the Ministry of Culture of Vietnam and Laos had a friendly discussion to discuss the direction of better cooperation in managing Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park in the coming time. The event of “Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park” becoming the first transboundary World Heritage Sites of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic shows the importance of global cooperation through the nomination of common heritage, contributing to the promotion of peace and security from the perspective of UNESCO, further tightening the friendship and solidarity between the two countries.
At the same time, we would like to invite delegates to visit Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park, to support Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic in managing this first transboundary World Heritage Site.
Thus, up to now, Vietnam has 09 World Heritages, including 02 inter-provincial World Heritages: Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago (Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city) and Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac relic and scenic complex (Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh provinces and Hai Phong city), along with the first inter-border World Heritages Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (Quang Tri province - Vietnam) and Hin Nam No National Park (Kham Muon province - Lao People's Democratic Republic).
The heritage recognized by UNESCO is the first model in transboundary world heritage management for Vietnam to contribute practical experience to world heritage management according to the 1972 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
The fact that Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park were listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO is considered a symbol of cooperation between the two countries in the field of cultural heritage, thereby contributing to further strengthening and consolidating the friendly, united and close relationship between Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Standing Member of the National Cultural Heritage Council, Head of the Vietnamese expert group participating in the World Heritage Committee, said: To achieve today's success, with the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) officially approving the nomination dossier for Hin Nam No National Park (Laos) as a transboundary World Heritage Site with the World Natural Heritage Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (Vietnam), is thanks to the close direction and special attention of the Party and State leaders, the Secretariat, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Ministers, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Ministers and specialized agencies of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Cultural Heritage Council, Quang Tri province, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park in recent years, have actively and closely coordinated with the Lao People's Democratic Republic to complete the dossier nominated for UNESCO inscription on the World Heritage List.
In the coming time, to effectively manage the transboundary World Heritage between Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the two sides need to continue to promote the implementation of scientific research topics and establish operational methods to deal with risks affecting the heritage; assess tourism capacity in accordance with the capacity and ecological resource capacity in the overall Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and Hin Nam No National Park.
In particular, the Vietnamese side can support the Lao side to improve its capacity to develop legal regulations in managing, protecting and promoting the value of World Heritages in general and Hin Nam No National Park in particular.
MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/uy-ban-di-san-the-gioi-phe-duyet-dieu-chinh-ranh-gioi-di-san-thien-nhien-the-gioi-vuon-quoc-gia-phong-nha-ke-bang-195763.htm
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