Click here for a video on Phung Tuu Boi
A Luoi Valley, Vietnam: When Phung Tuu Boi began working here in 1975, he found an ecosystem devastated by war. Aerial spraying of defoliants like Agent Orange had destroyed large swaths of forest. Without live roots to anchor the soil, monsoon rains washed away the topsoil and its nutrients, allowing invasive grasses to take over and prevent forest regeneration.
A botanist by training, Boi initially intended to reforest the denuded land. But he soon realized that the forest ecosystem was not the only thing struggling to recover from Agent Orange.
Boi has used the humble acacia tree to reforest thousands of hectares in central Vietnam. Emboldened by these successes, he has applied his botanical model of remediation to tackle a far more difficult problem.
There are hot spots like the former A So air base in Dong Son, where scientists from Hatfield Consultants in Vancouver, British Columbia, have measured soil levels of TCDD, the dioxin in Agent Orange, more than 200 times greater than the residential standard set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Dioxin takes decades to break down. Remediating this site would require millions of dollars, and when it comes to financing, the more heavily populated hot spots in Danang and Bien Hoa take precedence.
Boi has developed a low-tech method to keep people from using what looks like arable land. The chemical that taints this soil cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. He builds a green fence, thorny, soft wood not useful as firewood.
The trees he has chosen to make up the fence, Gleditschia australis, produce a fruit that residents can sell to make soaps and medicinals. Gleditschia, a type of honey locust, is disease and insect-resistant, and its thorns and soft wood should deter residents from cutting it down for firewood.
The Vietnamese people are steadily overcoming decades of colonial war with France and the United States. They usually rely on low-tech solutions to the long-term effects of those wars. That’s all they can afford.
It’s been a long time since the United States did anything about cleaning up after a war.
#18. Now if only someone would teach Musharraf what America does to those who shelter Osama Bin Ladin.
We could, if we weren’t otherwise occupied at the moment .
all comments supplied by people who didn’t learn history
#10 Jägermeister
That’s an interesting reference page I bookmarked. Thanks!
#9 MikeN
“Well at least half the country wasn’t communist when America left, then they got overrun.”
Yes, they got overrun by Vietnamese.
Also, I think and estimate of half the country not being on the communist side might be a little low. As for how many actual communists there were, it’s difficult to come up with an accurate estimate. Mostly they thought of themselves as ‘patriots’ and ‘freedom fighters’ and not communists.
I’m sure most of the people fighting in Iraq don’t consider themselves ‘terrorists’ either.
#18 MikeN
“Well Musharraf learned from Vietnam that you can’t trust America to stand by its allies.”
Maybe he learned that given enough time and casualties, the American people will eventually see the truth despite their arrogance and pride.
#17, MikeN
Sheet, you love trolling.
LBJ was elected President once, in 1964. He withdrew from the 1968 race because his poll numbers were low and he had been diagnosed with cancer. He knew he wouldn’t live out his second term. As well, he understood how the war was fracturing the nation and so tried peace negotiations with North Vietnam.
Learn some history before trying to impress people with your lame, silly blatherings.
I hope this botanist succeeds reclaiming the land.
Somehow I don’t think the analogy “The operation was a success, but the patient died” works well in the end. America sterilized the land, what did they hope to win in the end?
#25
You underestimate nature’s ability to recover, specially in tropical humid areas. It’s going to take time but eventually it’s going to happen.
#26, Angel,
While generally I would tend to agree with you, it appears Agent Orange really did a job on the soil. From the article, because all vegetation was wiped out by AG, monsoons washed much of the soil away. Later, invasive grasses took over, preventing the natural fauna from reforming. Even today, pockets of the dioxin are plentiful.
#27
They can always grow coca plants in there, they are pretty resilient and grow in depleted soil.
#28,
Is there a market?
Technically LBJ did live out what might have been his second term, by 2 days. As it was, his own handpicked successor won the party primary, and perhaps the real thing might have beaten Nixon where the second banana couldn’t. I mentioned that he got scared after a close primary win, and you add in low poll numbers. I don’t see a contradiction. That’s the accepted history that LBJ dropped out because he thought he couldn’t win. What I find interesting is that he dropped out on March 31, and today the primaries will be well over by then.