Chairman of the Hai Phong People's Committee Duong Anh Dien made the remarks at a meeting with representatives of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a special advisor of UNESCO for world heritage, on September 28.

The meeting was an essential element in the process of nominating Cat Ba archipelago as a site of world natural heritage.

At the function, Dien confirmed that both the Vietnamese Government and local authorities have worked hard to conserve biological diversity on Cat Ba archipelago.

IUCN expert Peter Hitchcock introduced the steps in the nomination process.

Next, IUCN experts will make a field trip to Cat Ba archipelago , slated for October 3, before sending their evaluation report to UNESCO.

At the meeting, representatives of the Institute of Marine Environment and Resources, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and the management board of Cat Ba archipelago presented the outstanding features of the area's heritage.

Located some 45 kilometres east of Haiphong and 150 kilometres southeast of Hanoi , Cat Ba covers more than 17,000 hectares of land and 9,200 hectares of sea.

Recognised by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve, Cat Ba boasts a typical ecological system in Vietnam , including tropical rain forests on limestone islands, mangrove forests, coral reefs, sea grass, sand beaches and cave networks.

Cat Ba is home to some 2,320 different types of fauna and flora, including 740 land animals, 280 forest species, 540 seabed creatures, 200 fish species, 180 coral reef organisms, 80 sea grass species and 20 different wetland plants.