The country’s first international seminar on protecting Hanoi’s lakesin a sustainable manner amid rapid urbanisation and climate change, tookplace in Hanoi on June 22, with over 150 domestic and overseas expertstaking part.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Centre for the Environmentand Community Research (CECR), part of the Vietnam Union of Science andTechnology Associations and a number of other agencies.

Nguyen Ngoc Ly, CECR’s Director, said that successfully restoringHanoi ’s lakes to their original condition to protect the eco-system isin the interests of local communities and must be prioritised.

Several overseas specialists attending the seminar explained how theyrestored the Balaton lake in Hungary , Han River in the Republic ofKorea and Tahoe lake in the US .

According to areport recently published by CECR, pollution, poor infrastructure and alack of public awareness are threatening the health of the capital’slakes.

CECR also unveiled its new websitewww.cecr.vn which as well as providing information, will link upenvironmental experts, businesses and local communities so that futuremoves to restore and protect Hanoi’s lakes are successful.

As part of its response to World Earth Day 2012, CECR, in conjunctionwith the US Embassy and over 100 volunteers, recently cleaned up NgocKhanh Lake, to help raise the publics awareness of the need to protectthe environment.-VNA