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Environmental protection is a vital, but not yet widely-held conviction in Viet Nam. Here, Dr. Dang Ngoc Diep discusses the nation’s environmental protection goals and strategies with Nhan Dan Cuoi Tuan (The People Weekend) newspaper.

Community awareness about environmental matters is important, and students are a prime target for this campaign.

Viet Nam has made significant progress in its 15 years of doi moi (renovation), winning international plaudits for its work in poverty reduction.

Living standards have also been greatly improved.

But years of concentrating solely on economic growth has left the nation with an increasingly alarming rate of environmental pollution.

Pressing issues include deforestation and the prevalence of forest fires.

Rapid urbanisation has put wildlife habitats at risk, pushed some species to the brink of extinction and wiped out others.

The treatment of solid waste and hospital waste, the provision of clean water and improvements to rural environmental hygiene also need urgent attention.

Nylon and other plastics are commonly used in packaging, as these materials are inexpensive, but people don’t stop to think that these materials take hundreds of years to decompose.

We must work to tackle these problems.

The education and training system is the perfect medium through which to spread the message about the importance of conservation and environmental protection.

Last October, the Government moved to integrate environmental education into the nation’s education system.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Danish International Aid Agency (DANIDA) and the Danish Embassy in Viet Nam are working to implement an education project in concert with the Ministry of Education and Training’s Education Technology Centre.

This project has seen a host of environmental education strategies put into use, with all students encouraged to take part in activities such as the Blue Raindrops campaign.

Young people, and all members of the community, are being taught to think about the ways they treat the environment. Students are encouraged to protect water sources, as they are the origins of all life.

Last academic year, we launched a campaign entitled Living Economically for a Sustainable Environment designed to urge students to take responsibility for their action and change their lifestyles for the benefit of the environment.

The project aims to make every school a green, clean and beautiful centre.

Some environmental education modules will be trialed in the curriculum.

Eighteen million students in 21,000 primary and junior high schools and 1,500 senior high schools across the nation are keen to protect and preserve the environment.

They will help spread the word, and help our fight for the environment. — VNS