The father of Vietnam’s environmentalism

The father of Vietnam’s environmentalism

Vo Quy, father of Vietnam's environmental movement, in his house in Hanoi Weathering 50 years of constant threats to the country’s environment – from Agent Orange to rampant development – Vo Quy has never faltered in advocating for animals and forests.

"Seeing forests devastated by Agent Orange sprayed by American troops in the war on a tour of the south to study the chemical’s impact in 1971, I decided to devote my life to study the issue," Vietnam's premier environmentalist Vo Quy said. The 79-year-old professor, who was honored as one of the 35 heroes of the environment this year by Time magazine, has spent nearly four decades trying to restore millions of hectares of forest damaged by American herbicides and bombs during the war. He has traveled to the most seriously-affected localities to do research, and began initiatives to minimize the chemicals' harmful effects and intensify reforestation. Quy will never forget seeing how Agent Orange killed the old-growth trees when he toured the forests along Truong Son road many years ago. He said that the Americans claimed the herbicides only made the trees shed their leaves and did not kill animals or destroy the environment - but the Vietnamese forests will take hundreds of years to recover. Rampant pollution and deforestation to support the country's booming economy, however, has emerged as the new threat to Vietnam's environment, Quy said. "The effects of the war still affect the environment and our people today, but they are slowly diminishing." Instead, today "pollution from development is increasing all the time," Quy said. "Many companies have caused a lot of pollution. If the government doesn't work on this, this will be very dangerous for us. "I used to swim in Hanoi's West Lake. Now I wouldn't put my foot in it. The people suffer a lot from the pollution. People have known this for many years, but they cannot do anything to reduce this. "I try to tell the younger generation that we must conserve nature. But today they prefer to earn money than care for forests," he said. A champion of nature Quy helped designate Vietnam’s first national park in 1962 and after the war contributed to developing a system of national parks and protected areas, which now number 126. He is also founder of the Center for Natural Resource and Environment Studies under the Hanoi National University, Vietnam's first environmental research establishment, inaugurated in 1985. "In the early days, the center did not have many experts. So, we had to do many things at once," Quy said. In 2003, Quy was awarded the "Blue Planet Prize," the most respected environmental prize, the equivalent of the Nobel prize, and became the award's second Asian recipient. He devoted the VND6 billion (US$363,600) prize money to the center to provide training. Quy’s great passion as a naturalist is studying birds in Vietnam. "I’ve liked birds since I was a school boy. I, together with my fellow buffalo boys, used to walk around the forests to see them," Quy recalled. "So I chose bird research since I started work as a university teacher in 1956. I have roamed across the country to study birds and plants." In 1964, Quy himself discovered a species of pheasant in Vietnam's central Ha Tinh Province, which was named "Vo Quy pheasant" by international scientists to honor him. But Quy, who also helped to establish a treaty for the protection of migratory birds, is too modest to call the bird after himself. Instead he called it - Ha Tinh Pheasant in his Ph.D. thesis. Despite scientific evidence, it took him over 20 years to get the pheasant recognized internationally. The zoologist, whose house is filled with books on birds, has written widely on the subject publishing a two-volume work "Birds of Vietnam" covering 740 species. He has authored 13 other books including "Life of Species of Birds" and "List of Vietnam's Birds." Global warming Vietnam's ecology has also been battered by the illegal wildlife trade, which has wiped out many species, and deforestation, which has worsened floods like those that recently killed 82 people in the north, said Quy. "In Hanoi we have never had floods like this in October and November. I think this is also the effect of climate change," he said. As bad as the floods were, they are only a taste of what's to come if climate change brings more typhoons and raises sea levels, he said. "Most of Vietnam's people live in the Mekong and Red River deltas," said Quy. "If the sea level rises one meter (three feet), maybe all of the Mekong delta will be under water. "How will we live? Millions of people can't go to the mountains." Though he's long past retirement age, Quy remains actively involved in reforestation and conservation projects. "I want to continue my work – coaxing life back into the toxic chemical-affected forests, and help residents use land better," he said. He also works in the Vietnam-US dialogue group on Agent Orange victims. "We want American people to understand that the Agent Orange aftermath in Vietnam is serious," he said. "I have much work, but I have little time," smiled Quy, whose working days last from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Reported by Bao Anh (With input from AFP)