Promoting establishment of geopark in southernmost part of Da Nang
DNO - Located in the southernmost part of Da Nang, the communes of Nui Thanh, Tam Xuan and Tam Hai are blessed with special natural and cultural heritage with rare and diverse geological features. This is the premise, foundation and important evidence for the establishment of a geopark in the near future.
Geopark is a relatively new scientific concept. A geopark comprises a number of geological heritage sites of various scales and geological complexes that hold exceptional scientific significance, rarity and aesthetic value, representing a region and its geological history. It has not only geological significance but also ecological, archaeological, historical and cultural values.
Through surveys and investigations, scientists have initially collected many evidences of cultural, geological and anthropological values in Nui Thanh, Tam Xuan and Tam Hai communes. Notably, Tam Hai and Nui Thanh communes still preserve numerous historical traces of the complex and long-term geological evolution of the Earth's crust.
According to preliminary statistics, these areas have hundreds of geological heritage manifestations, including paleontology, stratigraphy, geomorphology, structural - tectonic features, karst formations, rock types and paleo-environmental traces.
At the workshop entitled “Identifying Geological Heritage Values in Nui Thanh” held in former Quang Nam Province in 2017, numerous presentations by prestigious scientists reaffirmed the geological and cultural potential of Nui Thanh, Tam Xuan and Tam Hai. Accordingly, these communes and their surrounding areas were considered to have great potential for the establishment of a geopark.
According to scientists, the criteria for a global geopark is to have a unified geographical area with a sufficiently large size, ranging from several hundred to several thousand square kilometers.
However, the current area of the region including Nui Thanh, Tam My, Duc Phu, Tam Anh, Tam Xuan and Tam Hai is about 533km2. The region features a number of valuable natural and cultural heritage sites, but its geological heritage shows limited diversity and lacks outstanding features across types D (petrology), E (stratigraphy), F (minerals and mineral resources), Đ (tectonics) and H (economic geology), falling short of the criteria required for recognition as a global geopark.
Therefore, a proposal has been made to expand southward into the former Tam Ky City (about 92km2) and former Phu Ninh District (nearly 251km2), increasing the total area to around 876.5 km².
This expansion will not only enhance the diversity and richness of natural and cultural heritage but also strengthen socio-economic and sustainable development criteria for the future establishment of a geopark in southern Da Nang.