Vietnam needs trees, fewer people — report

Press, 8 May 1985, Page 31

Vietnam needs trees, fewer people — report

NZPA-AP Gland, Switzerland Vietnam, still suffering from the ravages of a war' that ended 10 years ago, may lose all its forests unless many trees are planted and a booming birthrate is reduced, according to the World Wildlife Fund. An article published by the private Washingtonbased conservationists” group warned that “if current trends continue, the country will be essentially devoid of natural forest by the year 2000.” The quarterly magazine blamed much of the damage to Vietnam’s greenery on United States forces who, it said, wrecked trees, crops and killed animals for military purposes. The United States troops poured 72 million litres of herbicides on forests and crops, the article said. Napalm bombs were used

to kill wildlife that could be used for transport, such as elephants. During the war, “the countryside was exposed to such levels of deliberate destruction that it gave rise to a new word in the English language: ecocide,” the aticle quoted a British environmental consultant, Mr John Mackinnon, as saying. As a result, forests now covered less than 23 per cent of the countryside,down from 44 per cent in 1943, and one-third of Vietnam was considered wasteland, the article said. The doubling of Vietnam’s population to 60 million people since 1945 had compounded the strain on resources. The article said that Mr Mackinnon returned recently from three months in Vietnam, where he helped the Government sketch a national recovery pro-

gramme expected to be launched this summer.

The programme included a family planning scheme to cut population growth to zero, and a plan to replant forests. The first step would be to raise public awareness and create a “conservation ethos,” the article said.