Property: Ha Long Bay (renomination)
Id. N°: 672 bis
State Party: Viet Nam
Criteria: N (i) (iii)
The Committee inscribed Ha Long Bay under natural criterion (i) in addition to the site's existing 1994 listing under criterion (iii).
Criterion (i): The site is the most extensive and best known example of marine invaded tower karst and one of the most important areas of fengcong and fenglin karst in the world. The size of the area provides sufficient integrity for these large scale geomorphic processes to operate unhindered.
The nomination under criterion (i) was supported by a number of Committee members, who wondered why this criterion was not taken into account originally. The Delegate of Hungary also noted the environmental impact assessment referred to under the item "state of conservation of properties" discussed during the twentyfourth extraordinary session of the Bureau.