Exploiters and admirers endanger scenic wonder HANOI - Environment officials claim the impact of nearby coal mining on Halong Bay has been significantly reduced but warn the World Heritage site remains in peril from increasing human activity. Halong in the Gulf of Tonkin is a 1,500-square-km area studded with more than 3,000 limestone islands rising abruptly from the sea. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) recognised the bay in 1994 as one of the world's natural wonders. But effluent and dust containing heavy metals from extensive coal mining in adjacent Quang Ninh province is suffocating and poisoning coral reefs and marine life. Vu Van Thanh, director of Quang Ninh's Science, Technology and Environment Department, said the area had suffered significant damage but that coal miners were now taking measures to reduce their impact on the bay. "The coal-mining companies have begun to take their responsibilities seriously and they now reserve part of their profit to limit waste discharge." He said the coal-mining companies were now building settling dams instead of discharging effluent into rivers that drain into the bay. Local authorities had also imposed zoning regulations to prevent haphazard mining. Mr Thanh said large-scale tree-planting had reduced the amount of coal dust from mine sites. The combined total of coal dust and water-borne material deposited in the bay is estimated at 900 million tonnes. The Nha Trang Institute of Oceanology said recently the damage would be long-lasting. Institute vice-director Nguyen Chu Hoi said at least 50 per cent of the coral reefs lying off Vietnam's north and northeast coast had been killed by coal mine dust and effluent, and high lead concentrations were inhibiting regrowth. "But our biggest concern is that fishermen may soon encroach deeper into areas of beauty like Halong Bay as catches diminish elsewhere," the Vietnam Economic Times quoted him as saying. Halong's natural beauty has been compared to Guilin in China and Krabi in southern Thailand. But its magnificent scenery has drawn an increasing number of tourists, creating a host of other environmental pressures. Entrepreneurs harvest coral for sale to tourists and the bay's once pristine waters are now plied by an increasing number of diesel-powered vessels that pollute the water. By Huw Watkin - South China Morning Post - March 1, 2000.