Why Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay is under threat from a ‘plastic pollution crisis’, and what’s being done to stop tourists leaving with rubbish memories
- The Unesco World Heritage site famed for its limestone karsts has developed a marine waste problem that is harming aquatic life and the bay’s image
- Litter pickers tirelessly clear its waters in an effort to keep tourism afloat, highlighting a bigger problem with plastic waste in Vietnam
Squinting in the bright light of a hot summer morning, Vu Thi Thinh perches on the edge of her small wooden boat and plucks a polystyrene block from the calm waters of Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay.
It’s not yet 9am, but a mound of styrofoam buoys, plastic bottles and beer cans sit behind her.
They are the most visible sign of the human impacts that have degraded the Unesco World Heritage site, famed for its brilliant turquoise waters dotted with towering, rainforest-topped limestone islands.
“I feel very tired because I collect trash on the bay all day without much rest,” says Thinh, 50, who has been working for close to a decade as a rubbish picker.
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Vietnam battles plastic pollution crisis at Unesco World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay
“I have to make five to seven trips on the boat every day to collect it all.”