Vietnam leader calls for wildlife safeguards after uproar over huge Ha Long Bay construction site

This aerial photo taken on November 4, 2023 shows the construction site of a residential and hotel complex near Ha Long Bay in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province. A huge residential complex being built on the borders of Vietnam's Ha Long Bay prompted a public outcry in the Southeast Asian country on November 6, 2023, as concerns mount over human impacts that have degraded the UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Photo by Hoang DUONG / AFP)

HANOI: Vietnamese officials are being ordered to tighten environmental protections in the province where an approved project featuring villas and seven-story hotels near the Unesco World Heritage Site Ha Long Bay triggered a public outcry.

Quang Ninh Province People’s Council Chairman Nguyen Xuan Ky directed local agencies to improve preservation management of Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay ecosystems and biodiversity, according to a posting on the provincial government’s news website.