Dire threat to famed Côn Đảo flora, fauna
The famous Côn Đảo Island’s ecosystem and its biodiversity is seriously threatened by overexploitation and low environmental awareness of visitors and locals. Concerned officials as well as residents are calling for strong protective measures that can prevent the slide into irrecoverable loss. “The commercial hunting of marine resources and pollution of their natural habitat have resulted in a loss of natural regeneration of marine fauna,” Trần Đình Huệ, deputy head of Côn Đảo National Park’s Management Board, told the Lao Động (Labour) newspaper. “Out of ignorance, many people have been hunting for endangered species using different methods,” said Nguyễn Văn Sơn, owner of a restaurant in Côn Đảo District. He said some visitors to the island still wanted to buy products from rare species like the eggs of vích, a kind of sea turtle.
