Assessment of the Reasonableness of Landscape in Con Son Relic Site

A relic tree is a tree planted by leaders, famous people or evidence of a historical event. A relic tree can be a historical, cultural, scientific or other socially influential relic. In some cases, a tree can be both a relic and an ancient tree.

Con Son relics are associated with historical relics, with the names of heroes and cultural celebrities such as Nguyen Trai, Than Nguyen Dan... Mentioning Con Son is talking about temples, shrines, legends that are preserved and passed down from generation to generation. These relics are hidden under the canopy of vast green pine forests, cool all year round with fresh climate. The flora at the relic site is managed by two agencies, Chi Linh Forest Management Board and Con Son Relic Management Board, however, the direct conservation and maintenance is still the Con Son Relic Management Board. Therefore, the restoration and conservation of historical relics always plays a key role.

Protecting ancient trees and relic trees not only has the meaning of preserving history but also serves as a document, living evidence to educate and communicate about love for the homeland and country for everyone, every generation. Ancient trees and relic trees are also highlights that create unique landscapes and beauty, are the highlight of the large landscape painting, through which people can learn to see the changes in the atmosphere and ecosystem over time, thereby having positive impacts to protect and maintain the existing landscapes and to embellish and upgrade them to suit the general landscape while still ensuring the historical elements of the relics.

4.6.1. List of ancient trees

Figure 4.11: Ancient Banyan Tree Figure 4.12: Ancient Pine Tree

The assessment of ancient trees is not only through observation and investigation in the field but also based on historical factors, the formation of the tree, combined with indicators of diameter and height. From the indicators, we have the following table of results:

Table 4.8 List of ancient trees

Tree name

Location

Year old

D1.3(cm)

Hvn (m)

Tree status

Pine tree

Before Hun Temple

>600

76.8

13.6

Trees grow normally, tree height and canopy are controlled.

The tree canopy is not beautiful.

Big Tree

In Hun Temple yard (2 trees)

>600

Old tree, rough trunk, diseased, bad canopy, leaning trunk

Big Tree

In Hun Temple yard (4 trees)

42.5

4.8

The tree is leaning, has a bad canopy, a rough trunk and is infested with pests and diseases.

Pine tree

Mountainside, mountain top

>100

45.8

15.6

The tree grows well, has a straight trunk and even canopy.

Pine tree

Mountainside, mountain top

>600

77.2

17.1

Very few remain, some trees have rotten trunks and roots. Trees have straight trunks, even canopy, and develop.

least.

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4.6.2 List of relic trees

At the Con Son relic site, there are not many relic trees so there has not been a specific plan and not much attention. These trees were planted by leaders as souvenirs during their visits to the Con Son relic site, to mark important times and events at historical sites.

Table 4.9 List of relic trees

Tree name Year of planting	Grower	Position	D1.3 (cm)	Hvn (m)
1	Linden (September 14, 2008)	Nguyen Tan Dung	Prime minister	8.4	4
2	Hairy Banyan Tree (February 14, 2005)	Tran Duc Luong	President	23	7.7
3	Banyan Tree	Nguyen Minh Triet	President	12	4.8

4.7.Landscape of the study area

4.7.1. Current landscape diagram of Con Son relic site

An overview of the Con Son relic site can be seen as follows: At the foot of Ky Lan mountain is Con Son pagoda (Hun pagoda), in front of the pagoda is Con Son lake. From the pagoda, go up about 50m to Ngoc well, continue up about 10 stone steps to Dang Minh tower. Go up to the top of the mountain about 1800m to Ban Co Tien. From Ban Co Tien, turn right to meet Con Son stream, continue down to Nguyen Trai's old house. From here, turn right to go up to Tran Nguyen Dan temple, go down about 500m to Nguyen Trai temple. Most of the historical architectural works have been repaired and renovated, the roads have also been expanded and upgraded, convenient for tourists to travel. However, synonymous with the innovation of infrastructure and architectural works, a large number of forest trees were cut down, especially ancient pine trees were lost, in addition to the adverse impact on the growth, development, recovery and regeneration of the forest, causing the Con Son forest to increasingly degrade, not ensuring the forest ecosystem as well as the landscape value and aesthetics of the entire Con Son relic site.

Figure 4.13: Diagram of Con Son relic site

4.7.2. Assessment of biodiversity in the relic site

In total, the plant species distributed in the Con Son relic site do not have much value. In addition to providing wood, resin, creating landscape, regulating climate and having great significance for historical relics, the flora here does not have much value. The tree composition is poor, the structure of the flora system does not create clear levels. The layer of large and medium-sized trees with long lifespans occupy the top space with a small number, sparse foliage, low coverage density, not concentrated. Below are shade-loving and shade-tolerant tree species with different small and medium-sized trees but the canopy has not closed yet, so the creation of vertical space levels is still unclear. The layer of shrubs, fresh carpets and extra-storey plants is not developed evenly, there are places with 70-80% coverage, but there are places with only 40-50%, even in areas with large slopes, only bare soil and rocks are seen.

The reasons for the uneven development of forest flora, the decline in the number of species, and the increasingly poor quality of forests are due to steep mountainous terrain, weather and climate changes, environmental pollution, water and soil sources. However, the underlying cause is the indiscriminate exploitation of forests, lack of human awareness, and no plan to plant additional trees to increase the forest area. The process of visiting and traveling by visitors from all over the world has greatly affected the forest restoration process, along with littering, causing environmental pollution and affecting the landscape of the relic site. In addition, some ancient trees are too old, and are not cared for or protected, so many trees are infected with pests and diseases, and their trunks rot, leading to death and collapse.

4.7.2.1. Con Son Pagoda

In the temple area, the main vegetation is Pine and Lychee, forming the upper and middle layers of trees, with quite large heights and sizes. In addition, in the temple grounds, there are some ornamental trees with beautiful flowers, leaves, and colors such as banyan trees, cycads, and fig trees. However, the quality of these trees is very poor, they are affected by pests, broken, rotten, and the canopy is unbalanced, not creating the inherent beauty of the tree shape. The number of ornamental trees and flowering trees is not much, the colors are not diverse, and do not make a strong impression on visitors.

4.7.2.2. Jade well

The area around the Jade Well is mainly wild plants, in addition there are a few Pine trees, Acacia trees, the quality of the trees is very poor, infested with pests, average height 1.5m-1.8m, bad canopy. In front of the Jade Well yard, there are two Dai trees, the trees grow poorly, the trunk and canopy are bad. Here, besides stopping, resting and enjoying the water at the Jade Well, the landscape factor of the tree species as well as the diversity of plants in this area do not make a strong impression on visitors.

4.7.2.3. First chess board

The area around the chessboard is mainly Acacia and Pine trees, these trees have relatively equal height and size. However, the number of ancient Pine trees has almost disappeared, the reason is that the process of renovating this area has greatly affected the ecosystem as well as the diversity of the forest. The trees are sparse, the density of trees is low, the canopy is simple, not closed, creating a poor space, lacking color. In front of the chessboard, there are two Sanh and De trees, but due to lack of care and attention, the trees grow poorly, are invaded by pests and parasites, making the trees ugly.

4.7.2.4. Stone table

The vegetation here is mainly pine, acacia, and acacia, forming a high tree layer, the low layer is mainly wild plants. Around Thach Ban, due to the great impact of humans, the trees grow poorly, even die, the number of trees and species has decreased significantly.

4.7.2.5. Nguyen Trai Temple

This area is planned in the most clear and systematic scale, with a diverse number of species and standard quality trees, creating a colorful and impressive campus. In addition to the main trees such as Pine, Acacia, Acacia, and Camphor which grow quite well and evenly, ornamental trees and shade trees such as Magnolia, Areca, Dai, and Cypress... are also planted and cared for quite well. These tree species have fully promoted their functions and effects in creating an ecosystem as well as species diversity for Nguyen Trai Temple in particular and for Con Son relic site in general.

4.7.3. Assessment of the appropriateness of the landscape in the Con Son relic site

Con Son relic site has a prime geographical location, located on Ky Lan mountain, covered by pine forests with ancient pine trees planted since the Tran Nguyen Dan period, from Ky Lan mountain you can see Con Son lake, adjacent to Ky Lan mountain is Ngu Nhac mountain. This is a miraculous arrangement of nature for the Con Son scenic relic site. Here, there are historical relics associated with the lives of heroes and cultural celebrities such as Tran Nguyen Dan, Tran Hung Dao, Nguyen Trai preserved and conserved under architectural works such as Tran Nguyen Dan temple, Nguyen Trai temple, Thach Ban, famous places with ancient legends such as Ban Co Tien, Gieng Ngoc... All historical architectural works are located in quite beautiful locations, leaning against the mountain behind, overlooking the lake in front with an airy and poetic space. The works have been restored and renovated many times but still retain the ancient architectural features of each period. Although there is a specific plan, it mainly focuses on architectural works and forgets about landscape elements.

In general, Con Son relic has a beautiful landscape and still retains natural elements, architectural works of great historical and cultural value, ensuring historical authenticity. The image of the pine forest is green all year round, hidden under the forest canopy are historical relics, appearing and disappearing, vague in the mist and clouds, creating a magical, poetic feeling, arousing curiosity for tourists when coming here. The airy, quiet space, fresh climate, poetic scenery make visitors from all over the world come here not only to burn incense and worship but also have the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature, admire beautiful scenes that few people can encounter in everyday life.

Considering each specific location, the landscape problem has many unreasonable things, lacking harmony and connection with the general landscape. In the process of planning and renovating architectural works, the natural ecosystem of the forest has been broken, the vegetation layer has been lost, causing soil erosion, poor nutrition, and loss of moisture. Therefore, natural pine forests cannot be restored and regenerated. Old trees are not cared for and protected, and are increasingly lost due to exploitation, pests, and aging, while every year there is no plan to plant additional forest trees and take measures to restore the forest's ability to recover. As a result, the forest is increasingly poor in quantity, variety, and quality.

reduced, causing the loss of the inherent beauty of the forest in general and the Con Son relic site in particular. In addition, at the temples and shrines that were built and re-planned, there were only bare architectural works without trees to create landscape or very few left because they were cut down to make way for construction. Therefore, considering the details of each relic site, the Con Son relic site did not achieve the landscape element because it did not ensure aesthetics, lacked connection between architectural works and natural forests, and the natural landscape was seriously degraded.

However, because of focusing too much on the restoration and construction of architectural works to preserve historical, cultural and religious relics, people forget or underestimate the conservation of the flora around the architectural works. Con Son relic site is formed from two factors: flora and architectural works, commonly called landscape. A beautiful and reasonable landscape needs to preserve the inherent history, have harmony between architecture and landscape, be suitable in space and time and have historical, cultural and religious significance. From that, it can be seen that the landscape of the relic site has clearly degraded, the ecosystem has changed greatly, affecting the quantity and quality of species.

The pine forest planted by Tran Nguyen Dan has now been exploited by humans quite a lot. There are very few pine trees left from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain. The trees are poorly developed, have sparse canopies, and are infested with pests and diseases. In addition, the layer of medium-sized trees and shrubs has almost completely disappeared. The main cause is the impact of humans in the process of transporting construction materials to renovate and build architectural works and roads. In addition, the forest has been cut down, changing the ecosystem, forest structure, and climate environment, affecting the growth and development of forest trees, and the ability to regenerate and restore the forest is lost.

At temples and shrines, there are not many miniature landscapes. Apart from a few pine trees and low-rise trees around the architectural works, there are not many ornamental trees or decorative trees around the yard, making the landscape at each location feel monotonous, lacking in color, without highlights or making a big impression when visitors pass by.

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