Ly Son is about 30 kilometres away from the mainland and composed of Big Island, Little Island, or An Binh Island, and Mu Cu island. The 10-square-kilometre island group has a population of over 20,000. Little Island, the smallest, is still uninhabited. With beautiful beaches, pure ocean and wild beauty, Ly Son is attracting thousands of visitors a day.
A group of young artists from Hanoi and HCM City recently helped to make a village more attractive with colourful murals painted on the village gates, house walls and wells. Most murals have blue as their main tone and the turtle as the main character.
53-year-old Nguyen Thi Ly said, "The paintings make this place look much prettier."
Nguyen Van Nuoi, a 60-year-old local, said "It's so much better now that the old walls are covered with educational and meaningful paintings."
Nguyen Viet Vy, party secretary of Ly Son District, said they received a letter from the International Union for Conservation of Nature in March, informing that Ly Son had been chosen for the art project to raise awareness about sea turtles and environment protection. In addition, the murals will make the fishing village look more attractive. All villagers had agreed to the project.
It took about a week to complete a mural. The artists also cleaned up and repainted 25 dilapidated houses for disadvantaged people.
"After all murals are completed, the district authorities will work with other parties to assess the work, gather opinions from the locals and tourists in order to decide the next steps," Vy said.
Bui Thi Hien, Marine and Coastal Coordinator - IUCN Viet Nam, said, "We hope the murals will make Little Island become more popular, reduce the overexploitation of fishing stocks and help raise public awareness about endangered species."
Some photos of the paintings:
