7382 conceptual redevelopment for show caves

The Phong Nha and Tien son cave are the principle attractions to the Phong Nha-Khe Bang National Park which was declared to be a World Heritage Site in 2003..  Visitors walking on the s

A CONCEPTUAL RE-DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE SHOW CAVES

OF PHONG NHA – KHE BANG NATIONAL PARK

IN THE QUANG BINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document has been prepared as a broad overview of critical problems observed during a visit to the caves and some recommended actions to overcome them

The Phong Nha (and Tien son) cave are the principle attractions to the Phong Nha-Khe Bang National Park which was declared to be a World Heritage Site in 2003 In 2008 the visitation was in the order of 300,000 people but visitation to these truly spectacular caves can only be sustained if urgent action is taken to change how people move through and behave in the caves

Some of the key problems identified and proposed solutions include

 Crowding of boats within the cave

Install a suspended walkway above the river between Biky Grotto and Fairy Grotto to facilitate a ‘boat in – walk out’ system

 Crowding of people and a lack of effective crowd control

Introduce a system of a maximum group size of 15 and ALL groups to be supervised by a park employed guide who has completed a crowd management training course

 Undefined walkways

Immediately install a rope handrail barrier system to define limited walkways in each cave to protect the cave sediments

 Visitors walking on the sediments and speleothems on the cave floor

Design and install walkways suspended above the cave floor

 Lampenflora damage from inappropriate cave lighting

Apply chemical treatment to kill lampenflora and subsequently design and install

a new lighting system to minimize ongoing lampenflora growth

The estimated costs for immediate works to prevent further degradation of these world heritage caves

is in the order of US$D30,000 to 40,000 plus human resources provided by the existing park staff The total projected cost (US$D500,000 to 850,000 plus labour) for the redevelopment of visitor access infrastructure is a very broad estimate with a reliability factor of +/- 25%

Brian D Clark (PSM – Aust)

Former President and Life Member of Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association

1- INTRODUCTION

The Phong Nha (and Tien son) cave are the principle attractions to the PNKB national park which was declared to be a world heritage site in 2003

The primary role of an area established a national park is to protect the natural and cultural features within the park they are an important part of the heritage

(what our grandfathers give to us we must cherish and pass on to our grandchildren)

of the people of the nation As part of their heritage they must be permitted and even encouraged to come and understand their heritage

When we nominate an area as a world heritage site we are saying that is area is not just important to the people of the nation it which it is located, but important to all the people of the world, and all the people of the world should come to see and understand their heritage

As managers of these areas we must provide an appropriate level of access for people to use and enjoy the area, but the only activities we allow are those which help the visitors to understand the values, purpose and significance of the park, and those activities must be provided in such a way as the impact of the visitors is maintained at a sustainable level

The access and activities provided at Phong Nha (and Tien Son) Cave at present is not sustainable Just as there is no doubt that over the coming years the visitation by both Vietnamese and international visitors to PNKBNP will increase, there is no doubt that the damage currently occurring in these caves will increase to the point that the desire to see their beauty will decrease as it is progressively destroyed

The typical solution to such a problem in some areas has been to find new and more beautiful caves

to turn into tourist attractions, but then in time,

these too are destroyed by mass tourism

This is not the way to manage our heritage

Visitation (at current and increasing levels) to these truly spectacular caves CAN be sustained IF urgent action is taken to change how people move through the caves and IF urgent action is taken to control how people are behaving in the caves

2 -THE CURRENT SITUATION

The core visitor area comprises a boat landing area at a picnic area where local hawkers sell refreshments and souvenirs, the access stairs to Tien Son cave, the river cave passage of Phong Nha and the two dry passages – Biky Grotto and Fairy/Royal Grotto a walkway from the Phong Nha cave entrance past a pagoda of indeterminate age and up to Tien Son cave or down to the picnic area appears to be unused in recent months

Figure 1 attached provides a (not to scale) schematic plan view of the area

100% of visitors go to Phong Nha and an estimated 60% also go to Tien Son but there does not seem

to be any structured pattern dictating which cave visitors go to first

Visitation is highly seasonal with some serious peaking problems of 10,000 per day during national holiday times

Access to the river passage and Biky Grotto is closed from time to time during the wet season in August which fortunately coincides with the (present) low level visitor season

The lighting system within the caves is having a serious impact on the cave environment due placement of lighting points, the type of lighting used and the absence of an effective switching system

to ensure that there is only lighting when there are visitors in that part of the cave at the time

The quality of site interpretation by guides is – as it is in many areas around the world – highly variable and in general seems to be a happy blend of cultural and natural values with a strong leaning towards fantasy All of these elements do belong in the presentation but it must be remembered that the geological values are the confirmed world heritage values, the biodiversity (both above and below ground) values are the primary national park values so there must be a stronger emphasis on the geological interpretation of the site

The quality of crowd control and behaviour control is also variable During recent visits some guides were seen to actively and aggressively intervene when tourists were smoking in the cave or climbing

up onto cave decorations while others simply ignored such behaviour some guides endeavoured to maintain contact with and control of their groups – which were generally too big – while some groups appeared not to have a guide at all

A pre visit briefing about what visitors should and should not, must and must not, do while in the cave was not observed

All of the dry cave areas are severely degraded by the absence of a defined walkway which results in under-supervised visitors walking and climbing over every possible part of the cave floor While some

of this impact no doubt predates the current tourism use of the cave it should not be allowed to continue to degrade and in fact it could and should be rectified to restore the caves to their once superior and outstanding glory

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3

6

7

limestone river

1 = picnic area and toilets

2 = pagoda

3 = river

4 = fairy grotto

5 = royal grotto

6 = Biky grotto

7 = tien son cave

SCHEMATIC PLAN VIEW OF PHANG NHA CAVE VISITOR USE AREA

2

Figure 1

2.1 - IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS AND PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

2.1.1 - Crowding of boats within the cave

The boat ride along the river passage is an outstanding experience (which could be improved with a revision of lighting to support an interpretation of the formation of the limestone and the development

of the cave) but in peak season there is a significant problem with crowding both at the picnic area and

at Biky Grotto A solution to this is discussed in section 3.3 – proposed redevelopment

2.1.2- Crowding of people and crowd control

The biggest threat to the cave and the experience provided is overcrowding within the cave and a variety of strategies need to be investigated to resolve this in terms of spreading the visitation out over time and space but the overall problem is directly linked to the sub-problems of crowd control by the guides, the size of tour groups, the absence of effective barriers, the absence of defined and

essential site-hardened walkways

2.1.3- Undefined walkways

2.1.3.1- Biky Grotto

This is a 125m long section of a dry passage running parallel to but above the existing stream passage of Phong Nha The section of the cave open to visitors has some useful features for guides to further explain the sedimentary origin of the limestone and the deposition of calcite formation It also has extensive deposits of important sediments which are being trampled

In the immediate term it is very important to set the standard of behaviour for the rest of the cave tour here by defining a walking path and a no –go area, and this can be done for just a few hundred dollars

All that is required is approximately 85 pieces of 10mm mild steel rod about 1500mm long and some

250/300m of 28mm diameter polypropylene rope installed in the cave as shown below in Figure 2

steel rail barrier to be removed

additional lighting needed in this area

The next most important action, which also requires minimal funding but a little more hard work, is to demonstrate that much of the damage done can be undone It won’t ever be as ‘good as new’ but it will look a lot bet than it does and it will demonstrate that people care about the welfare of the cave Cleaning will require at least two stages The equipment required for the first stage is an electric powered water pump with sufficient power to lift the water from the river level to the top of the ramp and 100m of 30 to 50mm canvas fire house this is a high volume – low pressure task of washing the sand and clay off of the floor of superior examples of or rim-stone pools and lower sections of the cave walls and calcite formations which have been impacted by the deposition of mud and other materials Mobilizing the materials down to the river will take a large volume of water and mechanical stimulation

of heavily in ground soil particles will be necessary This is best achieved by wetting the area and scrubbing with a stiff bristled brush or broom

The second stage will require a low volume – high pressure pump to blast the surfaces where the soil particles and other artificial discolorations have become resilient to mechanical mobilization by brush alone

The cleaning will cause turbidity in the river so it may be desirable to undertake this during a period of reasonable water flow

This section of the cave need not be closed to visitors during this process

A short training program will be required for all guides to understand the importance of the project and their responsibility in ensuring that ALL visitors remain outside of the roped area

With some further minor work to repair the existing steps these actions will restore and protect this part of the cave indefinitely with the current level of visitation

However, the international standard for show cave management requires that visitor walkways should

be suspended above the cave floor wherever possible and as the visitor levels to Phong Nha are likely

to increase in the very near future it is recommended to install a suitable walkway in Biky Grotto as soon as possible

Key points must be selected for groups to stop and admire the cave features and provide opportunity for interpretation by a guide and / or in situ signage

2.1.3.2 – Phong Nha dry passage ( Fairy Grotto to Royal Grotto)

This truly spectacular section of cave provides an excellent opportunity to present the basis for the parks inscription on the world heritage list It has numerous and excellent examples of karstic features

to demonstrate the genesis of the limestone and the caves - but they too are being severely impacted

by visitation, primarily due to the lack of a structured walkway and an inappropriate lighting system Protection and improved presentation of this area requires more or less the same treatment as Biky Grotto

The immediate very low cost requirement is to define an acceptable route and place a rope and steel post barrier which all guides and staff working in the cave must rigidly enforce

Cleaning of the speleothems can commence using the same technique of high volume/ low pressure followed by a low volume / high pressure treatment for ingrained materials left after the first treatment The cave need not be closed during this process but care should be taken to direct the water runoff or provide a series of temporary raised walkways to keep visitors away from the wet areas

At the point where the access way passes up and over a series of severely impacted rim-stone pools near the end of the Royal grotto section there is an alternate exit point (see # in Fig.3) which will need

be used while the concrete and soil in-fill is removed and these important features restored to their original beauty and a proper set of stairs and a viewing platform is installed as part of the next stage which is essential for the projected increase in visitation

Development of the next stage – installing a 2400mm wide – walkway with several platforms at selected viewing areas – will make partial closure of the cave necessary Figure 3 provides a conceptual outline of the walkway and staging of the development

As mentioned above the first section to have a walkway of acceptable standard should be the last 50m

in Royal Grotto which will not affect the current pattern of use – except that the visitors will not see this part of the cave That is a not a problem because, except for those who have seen it before, the visitors will not realize that part of the cave is closed

The next section to be installed should be from the alternate exit stairway to a very narrow section about 50m into the cave This will require that visitors are brought into the Fairy Grotto to this point and then retrace their steps to exit from the Fairy Grotto The cave to that point still provides an excellent experience for visitors

The third section will be the remainder of the cave (about 200m) which will have to be closed to visitors during the installation when visitors should be brought in from the existing exit point and taken along the new walkway before retracing their steps to exit via the old alternate exit point

The need to close sections of the cave and have visitors go back the way they came will increase the problems of crowding in the short term so it will be very important to institute a policy that all visitors MUST be accompanied by a park employed guide and that groups are kept to a maximum of 15 people

In addition it is recommended that the construction works are well planned and that all equipment and materials are on site, that a suitable trained and properly supervised labour force is available and that the work is scheduled to commence at the end of the peak season

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3 conceptual walkway

and platforms

Figure 3

2.1.3.3 - Tien Son Cave

Tien Son must also be saved from the ongoing destruction of it’s values and beauty by installing a raised walkway along a selected route through the cave, remembering that visitors don’t have to see the whole cave from a few metres away

Exactly as is required for the other dry sections of Phong Nha cave the immediate step is to prevent ongoing damage by roping off a designated pathway

Because of the more intimate or closer proximity of many speleothems to the vaguely defined existing route through the cave many of them are being subjected to visitors touching them This is particularly bad as the fatty acid which is transferred from the hands to the speleothem generates a reaction which eventually discolours them

A raised 1800mm wide walkway with enlarged viewing platforms at selected sites should be provided and then an intensive cleaning program initiated to restore the natural beauty of the cave The walkway should be of a nominal length of around 100 to 150m and the cave tours could continue to be provided as they are now (except that all visitors must be accompanied by and supervised by a park employed guide) or the tours could be provided on a ‘self timed’ basis to provide a new dimension to the visitors experience of PNKBNP Under this concept visitors would be permitted to walk through the cave at their own pace and appreciate the cave in their own way Park guides or ‘hosts’ should be stationed at regular intervals along the walkway to answer visitor’s questions

Every attempt should be made to reduce the noise in the cave Visitors must be briefed to minimise noise and guides not permitted to use megaphones

2.1.4 -Inappropriate lighting

The existing lighting system presents an environmental threat to the caves

ALL lighting installed within a cave results in the growth of ‘lampenflora’ – plants which grow under artificial light The initial stage of lampenflora is the discoloration of the cave walls, floor, ceiling and speleothems with algal growths which turns much the cave green, grey and eventually black In many cases the algae is replaced by mosses and lichens and eventually, as was seen in the show caves of HNKP, ferns become established

While the initial thoughts might be it is only a question of aesthetics it is not All plants generate carbon dioxide in the contact point with the cave, and carbon dioxide causes rapid dissolving and degradation

of the limestone and the speleothems on which the lampenflora is growing

The provision of artificial lighting is a function of management and it is inappropriate for a function of management to be so damaging to the cave

The very definition of ‘show-cave’ is that they DO have artificial lighting, but the management of the lighting system can and must be managed to minimize the growth of lampenflora

the primary issues are:

 the amount of light

 the type of light used (Florescent vs incandescent vs LED)

 the placement of lights within the cave

 the duration of time that lights are on

At present the best practice in show cave lighting to minimize lampenflora growth is to use low voltage and minimal wattage such as 12volt dichroic halogen lamp system controlled by a manual switching or movement sensor control such that the lighting is only on while visitors are in the area of the lights However the emerging trend is to use recently developed ‘ultra-bright’ LED fittings which can be designed with variable shaped beams which facilitates the design of spectacular cave lighting options Also emerging as a trend is the installation of computer controlled switching systems which provide development of pre-planned and fixed dramatic lighting effects where visitation is rigidly confined to only group being in any given section of the cave at any given time

For caves experiencing a higher density of visitation the most appropriate system is to have various sections of the cave controlled by motion sensor activated lighting If nothing triggers the motion sensor for a nominated period – say 10 minutes – then the lighting in that section of the cave turns itself off

This would be the system recommended for implementation at Phong Nha and Tien Son caves and it should be considered as an immediate action which could be added to the existing lighting system at very low cost

When funding is available to further improve the lighting an LED based system is strongly recommended and it is proposed that while the traditional use of coloured lighting be maintained in some of the caves, at least one significant area should be redeveloped in line with the trend towards using lighting which brings out the natural colour of the cave Again, the new super-bright LED lights are the best for this purpose

2.1.5 - Uncontrolled behaviour in the show caves

On 3 visits to the caves during March it was noted that most but not all groups are accompanied by a guide and it was noted that security staff where stationed at key points in the caves A notable problem was the lack of a readily recognizable staff uniform for guides

As visitors arrived at an area they simply swarmed over every possible horizontal surface of the caves with much shouting and yelling, smoking and spitting, throwing rubbish and touching the speleothems Barricade fences were simply ignored as people climbed over them A disturbing problem was the cultural practice of climbing up onto speleothems to place ‘good luck’ money or simply to have a photo taken

Some guides and some security staff did try to prevent some of this behaviour while others simply stood back and ignored the problem

It is essential that visitors do receive information about some key behavioural requirements which are common to most show caves around the world and certainly are requirements in world heritage caves These include not smoking in the cave, not spitting in the cave, not littering in the cave, not touching cave formations, not making excessive noise and remaining on the defined pathway at all times

This should be included in symbol signage panels provided at the main entry point to the park, it should be verbally presented in the boat before visitors arrive at the cave entrance area and it should

be repeated as symbol signage in the picnic area At the very first briefing stop point in each cave the guide must remind the visitors again

It is very important that a park staff training program be developed and delivered so that staff understand the serious consequences of uncontrolled behaviour to the cave environment

3 SCOPE OF WORK AND COST ESTIMATE

The following is a summary of the scope of works required (in priority sequence), the equipment/resources required and where appropriate, an indicative cost estimate to complete each element of the proposed works, noting that these are subject to a more detailed process of measurement and quantity survey

3.1 Immediate requirements

3.1.1 Development and delivery of a training course

This is considered essential for all staff to understand the consequences of unmanaged behaviour in the caves

a preparation of the training course including course materials and assessment

i allow 2 persons (for 30 person days) for development of the course content and

structure (allow 2 days for instruction and assessment), a training manual and power-point presentation Say USD5,000

i assuming 200 staff are targeted for retraining then the program will need 10 groups of

20 participants = 400 person days for staff plus 50 to 60 person days for planning, delivery and reporting by 2 course co-ordinators Say USD10,000 = total USD15,000

It is strongly recommended that successful participants are rewarded for their participation and success This could be simply financial or ideally it should be emotional as well For example all successful participants are recognized by being presented with a ‘cave warden’ badge to be worn a readily recognizable uniform, which need not be more than a simple vest with the park name and the

wearers position printed on it (Park Guide or cave Guide/ boat operator/ cave security etc) Allow USD15 per person x 200 = $3,000

3.1.2 Provision of behaviour modifying signage

Signage in parks is always a problem

Not enough signage and the excuse is always “There’s no signs to say not to and nobody told me It’s not my fault!”

Too much signage and nobody reads it because there’s too much of it

What languages should it be in?

Before entering the Phong Nha cave all boats should be required to stop at the picnic area where a series of panels signs (repeated in three or four stations spread around the perimeter of the picnic area to facilitate access during busy periods) must be installed to provide a brief overview of the geological process which formed the Phong Nha karst, an explanation of what World Heritage is and what the rules are for people to follow while visiting the caves Importantly the rules should not simply

be expressed as ‘don’t do this and don’t do that’, but a brief explanation of the reasons for the rules must be provided

It is not enough just to put up signs The Guides must direct their group to the signs and use them in their essential pre-visit briefing

The signs must be prepared in Vietnamese and should be repeated in English (the common language

of European tourists) and possible in Mandarin The panels must also have the international symbols depicting no smoking, no eating, no touching, no littering