The recognition was announced at the 21st session of the MBA, which is taking place on the Republic of Korea’s Jeju Island from May 21-29.

Nguyen Su, the Hoi An City’s party committee secretary said that the event acknowledged the country’s great efforts in meeting the criteria of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. He added that it is necessary to conserve and develop the world’s biosphere reserves at any cost, especially the protection of the environment and the natural habitat of rare and precious species of fauna and flora.

Apart from the Cham Islands and Ca Mau Cape, three additional biosphere reserves of other nations were also recognised, bringing the total number of the world’s biosphere reserves to 22.

Nguyen Van Tuan, Director General of the VNAT, told that the Department of Travel would lead the trip. Along with activities to survey tourist routes there, participants will join a tourism conference to seek cooperation to develop tourism for localities in the region.

This is one of the most important survey trips organized by the VNAT this year. The VNAT hopes that it will help the tourism sector in the important region to make new tourism products.

Last month, in a meeting in HCMC, Tuan said that the region, especially HCMC, was the driving force for the development of the country’s tourism. For the reason, the authority needs to spend more effort to develop tourism products there.

“The VNAT and travel companies will join hands to make some survey trips and seminars to develop products in the South Central and the Mekong Delta regions,” Tuan said in the meeting.

Tuan said the VNAT planned to make one more trip to survey tourist sites as well as a seminar for developing tourism in the Central Highlands.

“The tourist road named the World Heritage Road in the central region is up and running so we need to develop similar attractive products to woo more visitors,” he said.

Cao Tan, a researcher from the Heritage Section of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said an excavation discovered a layer of red sediment containing animal bones and the shells of fresh-water mollusks such as mountain and stream snails.

They are a sure sign of the presence of human beings living in the cave in the late Pleistocene period, more than 10,000 years ago, said Tan.

The findings included assorted shells of marine mollusk such as barnacles and oysters belonging to the Holocene epoch dating to between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago.

Based on this, archaeologists surmise that the Son Cave since may have served as shelter for prehistoric humans with different living environments at two different stages of history.

In the first stage, the surrounding environment was marked by limestone mountains and fresh water streams and springs, while the later stage was characterised by seas and lagoons caused by the expansion of the sea during the Holocene era.

Local archaeologists, however, acknowledged that the real significance of the find could only be determined after thorough research by experts.

The Son Cave is located within the historic site of the ancient capital Hoa Lu under King Dinh Tien Hoang, the founder of the second Vietnamese dynasty, from 968-979.

The unique and impressive event is the last in a series as part of the Halong Carnival 2009.

Among performance troupes were those coming from different localities in Vietnam and also from foreign countries including the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Cuba and China.

The performance featured traditional dances from Hoi An City and My Son Sanctuary as well as Central Highlands’ gongs, which have been recognised by UNESCO as the World Heritage Sites.

The event drew the participation of famous singers, such as Ho Quynh Huong, Hoang Tung, Tuan Anh, Hoang Thai, Tan Nhan and Ngoc Anh. In addition, a fashion show on the theme of the four seasons introduced tourists to the beauty of thousands of islands in Halong Bay. The night performance was closed with a brilliant firework display.

In 2009, Quang Ninh Province is scheduled to receive 4.8 million arrivals, including 2 million international tourists.