Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA) Participants discussed such topics as conservation andsustainable development of volcanoes and volcanic caves; the volcanic cavesystem in Vietnam; and regulations on zoning for heritage protection in the DakNong Geopark, the third UNESCO-recognised Global Geopark in Vietnam; amongothers.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Minister of Natural Resourcesand Environment Tran Hong Ha said the international symposium, the first of itskind taking place in the country, marks a new mile stone in scientificcooperation between Vietnam and other nations housing cave systems worldwide.
Ha hoped the province will attract scientists to research, furtherenhance the value of its cave system and typical cultural values, and shareexperiences contributing to the conservation and effective exploitation of the DakNong geopark.
UNESCO representative in Vietnam Christian Manhartacknowledged Vietnam’s and Dak Nong’s efforts in the conservation andsustainable development of valuable geological heritages.
He stressed a need to organise conferences to exchange newscientific values about volcanoes and volcanic cave systems around the world,and to propose and determine how to effectively preserve and exploit geologicalheritage values.
The Dak Nong geopark, covering 4,760 sq.km. of land, is hometo 65 heritage and geomorphological sites, including volcaniccraters, volcanic caves, and waterfalls. Notably, it houses the largest systemof volcanic caves in Southeast Asia, with more than 50 caves and a total lengthof over 10,000m./.
VNA
