Mass greenhouse construction causes environment problems in Dalat

Fast-growing greenhouse development in the Central Highlands tourist city of Dalat has badly affected its scenery and caused environmental problems including flooding and landslides in the area, experts said.

Fast-growing greenhouse development in the Central Highlands tourist city of Dalat has badly affected its scenery and caused environmental problems including flooding and landslides in the area, experts said.

Statistics showed that Dalat currently has some 2,550 hectares of greenhouses which cover over 50 percent of the agricultural land of the city.

The greenhouses are now being used mainly for growing vegetables and flowers.

In some areas, greenhouses cover the entire agricultural land.

The dense greenhouses have caused shortages of groundwater and affected drainage flows, leading to floods and landslides occurring more often in the city.

Many greenhouses have even been built on hills and mountains.

A local architect, Ngo Viet Nam Son, said that Dalat is having some problems with the management of greenhouse construction. "The construction of greenhouses should be managed and licensed by the Construction Department," Son suggested. "They should have proper drainage systems and only occupy between 30 - 50 percent of the land of the locality."

Seeing the threats from greenhouses, local authorities have set a target to reduce the greenhouse area to 2,372 hectares by 2025 and there will be no greenhouses in the central area by 2030.