Trang An Landscape Complex

• Management systems / management plan (Need to revise the management and zoning plans, including tourism planning and consideration of the adequacy of permissible activities and developments; Lack of an appropriate buffer zone; Need to undertake a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for any major developments within the property and the buffer zone)
• Impacts of tourism / visitor / recreation (Developments and urbanization stemming from tourism and recreation; Localized, seasonal overcrowding and lack of clarity in terms of planning of tourism infrastructure and services; Need to reinforce full accountability for private tourism actors with respect to the protection of features of possible Outstanding Universal Value; Need to assess the carrying capacity of the property in the context of increasing visitation)
• Commercial development (illegally built concrete walkway, replica film set)

Total amount provide to the property: UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust project “Post Covid-19 World Heritage Site Management” (537GLO4000) – US 95,922$ for 2021-2023

On 30 November 2022, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1438/documents and responds to previous Committee decisions as follows:

• Five of the six main tourism sites within the property (all except Hao Lu Ancient Capital) are only accessible by boat tours and following fixed itineraries, considerably limiting the impact on natural and cultural attributes of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
• Following a carrying capacity study conducted in 2019 for two of the six sites (Trang An Scenic Area, Tam Coc Bich Dong area), a study for another two areas (Hoa Lu Ancient Capital and Sunlight Valley Area) was implemented in 2022 following COVID-19 closures in 2020-21. The increase in visitor numbers in 2022 to these four areas did not exceed the assessed carrying capacity. The recommendations arising from these studies are being implemented;
• During the COVID-19 closure, management authorities undertook upgrades of tourism facilities, landscape restoration works, and completed the waste-water treatment system;
• Progress on the implementation of the 2019 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission recommendations includes a decision to establish an Advisory Science Commission for managing and conserving the property, a protocol for new developments, enhanced Management Board mission statement to focus more directly on the OUV, ensuring financial and human resources, and strengthening nature-culture connection and preservation of various heritage assets through new implementation documents enforcing existing policies;
• The updated Management Plan 2021-2025 with vision to 2045, scheduled for approval in November 2022, was first submitted for review by the Advisory Bodies in November 2021;
• Mapping and documentation initiatives were reported as means to enhance the preservation of both cultural and natural attributes;
• Training and capacity building of the Management Board was undertaken;
• 4,000 artefacts were documented in the digital format in 2020 and two information systems became operational in 2022;
• In collaboration with the UNESCO Office in Ha Noi, the project: ‘Enhancing the tourism quality in the heritage’ delivered training on heritage guiding, developing and differentiating tourism products; building awareness about sustainable tourism; and sustainable tourism marketing;
• National and international research cooperation has continued to enhance interpretation and public outreach in cooperation with partners including UNESCO;
• The property continues to benefit from strong public-private partnership initiatives;
• The Critically Endangered endemic primate Delacour's Langur was successfully reintroduced into the property;
• Involvement of local communities has been given particular attention to increase their well-being, their ownership in the preservation of cultural and natural attributes, environmental protection and livelihood increase through ecotourism.

The State Party report outlines how various management actions have been implemented, including during the 2020-21 COVID-19 closures, in response to the recommendations of the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission and requests of the World Heritage Committee, attempting to reconcile heritage management and tourism pressure by harmonizing management tools, finalizing the revision of the Management Plan, upgrade of facilities including waste water treatment, promoting scientific and academic cooperation and community involvement. In addition to the protocol and regulation mechanism for controlling new construction within the protected zones, the zoning mapping, inventorying and documentation of different cultural and natural attributes of the OUV of the property provide a basis for long-term monitoring of the general state of conservation of the property.

Combined with the Zoning Plan (vision 2050) for regulating the development initiatives within the property and the Conservation Plan (vision 2030), the updated Management Plan (vision 2045) provides a framework for implementing an integrated management, valorizing nature-culture connection, and will contribute to the alignment of the preservation requirements and development needs of the property. The Management Plan addresses the protection and management of the OUV of the property with a specific focus on cultural and natural heritage management, visitor management and community education. It highlights management challenges (e.g., tourism, pollution) and necessary actions, with a longer-term vision to 2045. The implementation of management practices should follow international best practice guidelines, for example in considering species reintroductions, relocation of local communities, or future development decisions. The assessment of potential impacts of proposed developments should be undertaken in line with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context.

It is positive that the impact of tourism pressure on attributes, which support the OUV, is limited by the fact that five out of six main tourism areas of the property are only accessible via boat tours and following fixed itineraries, that the carrying capacity has been determined for four of these areas, and that the number of visitors which has been slowly recovering since the COVID-19 closures, remains within the assessed capacity limits. It is recommended that the State Party implement the study for the two remaining areas and report on the analysis and mitigation measures to be determined for all areas, in particular for specific periods of the year with high visitor concentration. In this regard, it is important to note that visitation numbers have been affected by the COVID pandemic and that new baseline data may be required. The monitoring and management of tourism pressure to ensure sustainable tourism practices, will remain a key priority.

The national authorities and Management Board have been engaging in a variety of public and private partnerships, including the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust and actively participating in a pilot project integrating World Heritage, local cultural assets and networks in the post-COVID-19 context. Through these projects, considerable efforts have been deployed in increasing livelihood and resilience of local communities, especially in favour of female populations who represent vital part of the stakeholders supporting the social and economic activities for the World Heritage property. It is hoped that the property provides a credible and replicable model of increasing livelihoods of local communities, and a successful public-private cooperation mechanism.