“In terms of how climate change affects Hong Kongers, outdoor workers are at the frontlines,” he told AFP. Emily Chan, a public health specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, welcomed the guidelines but agreed more was needed. She pointed to mainland Chinese cities, including neighbouring tech hub Shenzhen,Continue Reading
Nearly the entire 2.4 square-kilometre island falls under Hat Chao Mai National Park, meaning authorities have a mandate to enforce an annual, seasonal closure period.
This began in Koh Kradan more than five years ago, and similar closures of national park areas happen right across Thailand during this time of year.
There is no permanent local community on the island, and all of the small resorts on the island are meant to cease operations during the seasonal closure and not bring in any tourists. When CNA visited, one resort remained open despite the decree, amid an ongoing land dispute.
As the island breathes, local officials from the Department of National Parks are making preparations for when it can reopen on Oct 1. A modern tourist centre has been constructed and management plans are being put in place to better organise increased arrivals and deal with waste.
“After it was selected (as the best beach), the number of tourists has increased a lot, which is a good opportunity to start over,” said Pharit Narasaridkul, the chief of Hat Chao Mai National Park.
“The increased number of tourists means that Trang province’s economy is better. There’s more spending in the economic sector, social sector and also in local areas. So, we consider this as a good opportunity for the local people to upgrade their quality of lives,” he said.
Closing the “world’s best beach” seems like a difficult decision to make, when the economic benefits of staying open could be lucrative for local communities.
Just as tourists have been drawn en masse to the white sands over the years, entrepreneurs, street vendors, gambling personalities and resort tycoons have ridden the same winds blowing into Boracay, chasing a slice of the earnings.
Aguirre-Graf, the former head of the Boracay Foundation – a non-profit charged with “sustaining the island’s environmental, business and social needs” – and an officer of the local hotel association, said that the island’s fabric will only be further damaged if the relentless pursuit of profit is allowed to run.
“We cannot only think about profit. We should also think about the future, how the island will survive if we keep on putting more buildings and bringing more people,” she said.
“The management of the garbage and preservation of our flora and fauna on the island is very important because there has to be balance.
“If we have to open it to mass tourism, again, we have to really impose strict regulations so that those things that happened before will not happen again.
“I’m sure there will be a way but we just have to install all the necessary infrastructure in order to sustain growth in Boracay. But sometimes you doubt your governments, you know,” she said.
Boracay faces a litany of challenges, including erosion on its White Beach, driven by rising sea levels and climate change, hundreds of sinkholes throughout the island caused by soil erosion and sustained leaking of water pipes and sewerage lines and the overall pursuit of sustainable and equitable development.
At the same time, the building of new hotels, resorts and restaurants is rapidly underway.
BANGKOK: Climate change might have stimulated a plankton bloom that caused thousands of dead fish to wash up along a 3 to 4km stretch of beach in Thailand’s southern Chumphon province, an expert said. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, attributed the fish deathsContinue Reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Bigger palm oil companies will not be affected by a new European Union law banning goods linked to deforestation, two of Malaysia’s largest producers of the commodity said on Monday (Jun 12). The EU passed a law this year banning imports of commodities linked to deforestation, a moveContinue Reading
“PLASTIC POLLUTION CRISIS” Pham Van Tu, a local resident and freelance tour guide, said he had received a lot of complaints from visitors. “They read in the media that Ha Long Bay is beautiful, but when they saw a lot of floating trash, they didn’t want to swim or goContinue Reading
China relied on coal for nearly 60 per cent of its electricity last year. The push for more coal plants “risks climate disasters … and locking us into a high-carbon pathway”, Greenpeace campaigner Xie Wenwen said. “The 2022 coal boom has clearly continued into this year.” A study released inContinue Reading
To mark Earth Day, CNA looks at efforts to set up Malaysia’s first cultivated meat production facility in Penang and what it means in the fight against climate change.Continue Reading
To mark Earth Day, CNA looks at how a woman in West Java perseveres to help endangered silvery gibbons against the odds.Continue Reading
