On April 10, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ly Son Special Zone in Quang Ngai Province, Nguyen Dao, said that local authorities are collecting public feedback on the proposal to “adjust the boundaries and area of the Ly Son Marine Protected Area.”
Heads of local villages are responsible for consolidating feedback and submitting it to the People’s Committee of Ly Son Special Zone before April 12.
The objective of the “Adjustment of boundaries and area of the Ly Son Marine Protected Area” plan is to redefine the marine spatial extent surrounding Ly Son Island to meet socio-economic development requirements for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, while maintaining the goals of biodiversity conservation, protection of fisheries resources, and preservation of the marine environment.
Currently, the total area of the Ly Son Marine Protected Area is 9,613 hectares, including 7,113 hectares of core functional marine zones and a 2,500-hectare buffer zone.
The functional zones include a strictly protected zone, an ecological restoration zone, and a service–administrative zone.
The location of the Ly Son Marine Protected Area is expected to remain unchanged compared to the previous planning scheme.
Under the earlier arrangement, the functional zones of the marine protected area were organized from the mainland shoreline seaward, with an outer protective buffer zone approximately 500–1,000 meters wide surrounding the protected area.
Under the revised plan, the zoning structure is adjusted. The coastal waters directly adjacent to the shoreline will serve as a buffer zone, followed by the functional conservation zones, while the outermost area will also be designated as a buffer zone.
Accordingly, the buffer zone, which was previously located at the outermost boundary, is now restructured to be positioned both adjacent to the shoreline and at the outer edge of the protected area.
Following the adjustment, the area allocation of the Ly Son Marine Protected Area is as follows: the strictly protected zone covers 620 hectares; the ecological restoration zone covers 2,024 hectares; and the service–administrative zone covers 4,556 hectares, an increase of 87 hectares compared to the previous plan. The buffer zone is reduced to 900 hectares, a decrease of 1,600 hectares compared to the earlier planning scheme.
In terms of overall scale, the adjusted area of the Ly Son Marine Protected Area is 8,100 hectares, in accordance with the Master Plan for the Protection and Exploitation of Fisheries Resources for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, approved by the Prime Minister.
