NINA LANSBURY, who visited Vietnam in December-January, reports on the country's environmental problems and opportunities.
Speaking with a visiting environmental economist from the University of Hong Kong, it was encouraging to hear him talk enthusiastically of the "green movement" in Vietnam. Of all the forests of Asia, Vietnam has the most left to "save".
Although one often sees trucks straining under the load of large old-growth logs, legislation is being implemented which will map out forest reserves.
Yet, in a poor country, there is great temptation to sell natural resources. A tree-planting scheme, which attempts to plant a tree for each one removed, has resulted in many roads becoming lined with young eucalyptus trees. These grow quickly, binding and refertilising the soil. Most trees have had their lower branches removed for kindling; the trees will later be used for timber.
The aspect of Vietnam's natural environment most obvious to a visitor's eye is the damage caused by such defoliants as Agent Orange, used during the American War. In areas of heavy fighting such as the demilitarised zone in central Vietnam, patches of yellowing grass have replaced tropical jungle.
Strange deformities in children and land unable to be farmed are problems which still continue long after the cease-fire. In Ho Chi Minh City's Museum of American War Crimes, an entire room is dedicated to the chemical warfare. Photos of burned forests, empty containers of lethal chemicals marked "Poison" and jars of oddly formed foetuses line the sombre room.
The majority of Vietnamese still live on the land, and the traditions of "no waste" continue; recycling has always been a way of life. Paper and glass recycling factories accept their respective materials in almost any condition. All soft drinks come in glass bottles (except for imported drinks), which are returned to the factories to be washed and refilled.
Vegetable and plant scraps are used to enrich the soil, feed livestock and even for medicinal purposes such as making cough mixture from boiled mandarin peel. Human excrement also has a use. Villages have ponds of "toilet fish", usually catfish, which are nourished on what falls from the toilets above.
The only waste material that has not adapted into the Vietnamese lifestyle is plastic. Stall vendors hand out their goods in plastic shopping bags, and packaged foods from the West come in plastic packaging. To dispose of such a product in a system which does not otherwise require waste removal, small fires are lit to burn the plastic. This releases vile-smelling carcinogenic fumes into the air.
Of growing concern is the expected increase in air pollution. Even in the capital, Hanoi, cars are used by a minority as a form of transport. Motorbikes, bicycles and crowded buses are the cheapest and quickest way to move. The cities are quite charming and safe, with cycling being the most common mode of transport.
Yet, as with all countries experiencing economic growth, car ownership is increasing, as are old engines burning leaded petrol with bad fuel-air mixtures. There is little awareness of the damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Charcoal and coal fires are the main form of heating for houses and cooking. Once the electricity grids of north and south Vietnam are connected, much of the country's power will be hydro-electric. Northern Vietnam currently has a surplus of power, generated from a series of dams.