Shooting Yourself in the Foot
Last week it was announced that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is backing a highly controversial plan to build a cable car system inside Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.
Located in Quang Binh province in central Vietnam, the park contains some of the country’s rarest flora and fauna, as well as a massive system of caves, two of which are among the three largest in the world: Son Doong takes the crown as the largest known cave on earth, while Hang En comes in at third.
I visited the park and trekked to Hang En earlier in the year for Mongabay in order to see how tourism is interacting with the region’s vital environmental assets, and what I saw was heartening.
The town of Phong Nha is booming thanks to an influx of visitors, and locals who used to rely on subsistence farming are now opening guesthouses and restaurants, in addition to working as porters and guides for the cave trekking companies.
These outfits know that nature is the main draw, and by and large they’re doing their best to maintain it (check out my story linked above to see this in action).
The proposed cable car, which was first floated by the provincial government a few years ago, goes against all of this. The first plan had a cable car line going into Son Doong, an unimaginable affront to such an incredible place.
The project went away for a while after intense backlash, both from everyday people on social media and experts, as well as UNESCO, which has certified the national park as a world heritage site.
Earlier this year it returned to the headlines like a particularly unwelcome zombie, only to fade away again under widespread criticism. Several online petitions have been set up in opposition to the cable car — one has garnered nearly 75,000 signatures.
That’s why last week’s news of the prime minister’s backing was especially worrisome. The fact that this awful idea keeps reappearing proves two things: 1) there’s a lot of money behind it; and 2) the powers-at-be don’t give a shit about public opinion. The PM even acknowledged the plan’s unpopularity, but supports it anyway.
There has been one modification to the system: apparently it will now run to Hang En, instead of Son Doong. The government still says no construction will take place until at least 2030, a timeline established a few years ago, but I certainly don’t believe that.
It’s still unclear who exactly is behind the cable car: early reports said it was Sun Group, a real estate giant that has already defaced locations like Ha Long Bay and Mount Fansipan with such systems; while other articles say FLC Group, whose website touts golf courses and resorts.
Supporters of the plan (who probably largely include people who will make money of off its construction, and almost nobody else), claim it well help boost tourism in Quang Binh, a very poor province, while allowing the elderly and disabled to see Hang En.
These are fine goals, but anyone who pays attention to tourism in Vietnam knows what will happen: the cable car will open, dozens of tour buses will descend on Phong Nha every morning so mass-market groups can ride the cable car into the cave, take selfies while throwing plastic bottles and sandwich wrappers on the floor, and then leave without even spending a night in town. There will be no appreciation of the significance of the caves or the park. All that will be gained is a few Instagram likes, while the cave will be trashed.
At the same time, the small groups of trekkers which currently visit the cave on environmentally conscious expeditions where all trash is carried back out will be put off by the sight of a giant cable car rammed into Hang En, and there goes the low-natural impact, high-economic impact tourism, along with the well-paid local porters and guides, turning Phong Nha into another sad town hawking trinkets to passersby.
This cable car, if built, would be an environmental tragedy, and something Vietnam will surely regret. One can only hope that continued outcry will have an impact, but money talks loudly here. I’m happy to see smart local thoughts on this subject in VnExpress’ debate over the cable car, but I’m not optimistic in the long run.
