Halong Bay has been recognized as the world natural heritage for 3 times, the first time is in 1994, the second time is in 2000, and the third time is in 2011.
The first time
In 1987, Vietnamese government has officially participated in the International Convention concerning the Protection of the World cultural and natural heritage. This initiated the integration of Vietnam in the international activities in terms of conservation and development of heritages’ values of Vietnam.
In 1991, council of ministers (today called Prime Minister) permitted Vietnam’s National Commission for UNESCO and Ministry of Culture and Information (known today Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) to coordinate with some local authorities to set up a scientific documentation of 5 cultural and natural heritage sites including Ha Long Bay to submitt UNESCO for approval and inscription on the World Heritage List.
In October 1993, nomination file of Ha Long Bay was completed and submitted to the World Heritage Committee. Then, the Committee has sent a group of experts from ICOM (International Council of Museum) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) to Ha Long Bay to undertake the examination of integrity of the site.
During the examination and review process of these international experts (from February to October, 1994) Ha Long Bay nomination file has been continued to be supplemented in order to clarify the boundaries, management organization, and protection of the site.
On 17th December, 1994 at the 18th session of the World Heritage Committee at Phuket, Thailand, Ha Long Bay was officially adopted by the Committee to be inscribed on the World Heritage List for its aesthetic value under criteria iii of the International Convention concerning the Protection of the World cultural and natural heritage. The inscription of Ha Long Bay has reached unanimous agreement of the participants.
The second time
According to Hans Friederich who is Doctor of geology and Head of Representative office of IUCN in Ha Noi, Ha Long’s geology is exceptional and unique. Thus, Ha Long Bay deserves to be recognized as a World Natural Heritage Site. At the request of Ha Long Bay Management Department and IUCN, in September 1998, Prof. Tony Waltham
At the request of Ha Long Bay Management Department and IUCN, in September 1998, Prof. Tony Waltham, the top expert on Geology of Trent University, Nottingham, UK conducted a survey of the limestone karst of Ha Long Bay.
After receiving Prof. Tony Waltham’s report on geological value of Ha Long Bay, World Heritage Committee in Paris requested Quang Ninh Provincial Committee, Vietnam’s National Commission for UNESCO, and Ha Long Bay Management Department to prepare a file to submit UNESCO for the inscription of the outstanding values of Ha Long Bay’s geology and geomorphology. In July 1999, the file for Ha Long Bay’s second nomination was completed and sent to the World Heritage Center’s Office in Paris. In December 1999, UNESCO officially reviewed the file and considered to adopt the file in 2000.
In March 2000, Prof. Ellery Hamilton Smith, a famous Australian geology expert, a member of IUCN was delegated to come to Ha Long to review the validity of the file and its geological value and to evaluate the management state and provide recommendations.
After considering Ellery Hamilton Smith’s report in July 2000, at its mid-year meeting, the World Heritage Center, Paris, officially recommend the World Heritage Committee to recognize Ha Long Bay as a World Natural Heritage Site for its universal outstanding values of geology and geomorphology under the criteria i of the Convention.
On the 2nd December, 2000, at the 24th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, the World Heritage Committee unanimously adopted the inscription of Ha Long Bay for the second time under criteria (i) of the International Convention concerning the Protection of the World cultural and natural heritage.
The third time
The preliminary results of the survey were announced after votes were taken among 400 sites around the world. The voting ended at exactly 11:11pm, 11/11/2011.
In a letter to Ha Long, which was publicized by the Bay’s management board on November 12, Bernard Weber – Founder-President of the New Open World said he was pleased to announce the provisional results of the New7Wonders of Nature campaign.
The seven new natural wonders are the Amazon in South America, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Iguazu Fall in Argentina and Brazil, Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea, Komodo Island in Indonesia, Puerto Pricesa Underground River in the Philippines and Table Mountain in South Africa, he said.
“We congratulate each of these participants on achieving their provisional New7Wonders of Nature status and look forward to completing the confirmation process to celebrate each one their own official inauguration ceremony early in 2012.”
He said these results are provisional, based on the first count of votes, and they will be checked, validated and independently verified before the final results can be confirmed.
