As the largest natural freshwater lake in the Central Highlands, Lak lake has long been regarded as the “green gem” in Dak Lak province, possessing outstanding scenic, ecological, alongside cultural heritage. Adjusting the protected area boundaries is a necessary requirement to preserve heritage values as well as create a sustainable development space.

Lak lake was classified as a National scenic landscape in 1993; however, the ranking-request profile was prepared under technically limited conditions. The protected-area boundaries were only general, leading to overlapping residential and agricultural land of local people together with several areas earmarked for socio-eco development plans, which causes numerous difficulties in management, affecting planning, construction permits, project implementation, along with the residents’ legitimate rights and interests.

Ms. Ha Thi Phuong, Deputy Head of the Dak Lak Museum and Relic Management Department, said that through field surveys, it was seen that reviewing coupled with reassessing the entire current status of the protected area is necessary to clarify inconsistencies between previous zoning documents alongside the current land management practices.

Lak lake surrounding villages where the M’nong community having lived for generations, creating a distinctive cultural space.

Protecting relics in conjunction with sustainable development

Based on the current status review, Lien Son Lak Communal People’s Committee proposed adjusting a part of the protected area surrounding Lak Lake National scenic landscape to suit the actual conditions, while still ensuring the preservation of the original relic values.

According to comrade Nguyen Anh Tu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Committee of Lien Son Lak commune, regarding the Bao Dai Palace area, the locality proposed retaining the existing protected area because it still fully preserves the historical, architectural, combined with landscape significance. The remaining protected areas are determined according to regulations, in accordance with the current land use alongside actual conditions in each area.

According to Ms. Dao Thi Thanh An, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairwoman of the People’s Council of Lien Son Lak commune, beyond outstanding for its natural landscape, Lak lake is surrounded by ancient M’nong villages. The close ties across generations of M’nong people have formed a unique cultural space where nature, history, together with community life are intertwined. It is the outstanding values in landscape, ecology, along with culture that create great potential for the tourism development at Lak lake. Therefore, the preservation in coordination with promotion of the scenic value need to be carried out simultaneously, on the basis of harmonizing the interests between preserving identity coupled with socio-eco development.

Translated by TRINH THUY