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On April 1st, Cat Hai Island District in the northern port city of Hai Phong organised a ceremony to receive the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve title for the Cat Ba Archipelago.
Cat Ba Archipelago is the fourth site in Vietnam recognised as one of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)'s world biosphere reserves after Can Gio, Cat Tien and the Red River Delta.
The 18th session of the UNESCO International Council on Man and Biosphere (MAB) late last year listed Cat Ba in the World Biosphere Reserve network. With the decision, Cat Ba became the fourth World Biosphere Reserve in Vietnam recognised by UNESCO. Accordingly, Haiphong now has a chance to join regional and global networks of co-operation and scientific research and receive financial assistance from Vietnam and international organisations for projects on environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.
The archipelago, about 30 km northeast of Haiphong City, covers a area of 26,240ha, including more than 17,000 ha of islands and 9,200 ha of sea. Cat Ba boasts tropical forests on limestone mountains, mangrove forests, coral reefs, seaweed floors, beaches, caves and a diverse range of flora and fauna species. The archipelago consists of three parts, the core zone, the buffer zone and transition zone. Outside this are two areas of the transitional zone covering 10,000 ha in a populated area which has favourable conditions for socio-economic development in combination with sustainable environmental protection.
On this occasion, local authorities launched the Cat Ba Tourism Season 2005 and organised a number of cultural and sports activities, including ecological tours of islands in Haiphong and the Cat Ba Archipelago in particular. The city is expected to welcome 500,000 visitors to Cat Ba in 2005.
In the near future, the biosphere reserve of Cat Ba will become an attractive tourist hub for thousands of Vietnamese and foreign visitors.
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