Use of the Resources of Forestry

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - we have all heard of the three Rs. But how does that relate to the resources of Vietnam? To begin with, all countries must be careful how much of each resource they use, so that they don't run out of it. Currently, Vietnam must reduce the amount of forests that they are cutting down. Recycling and reusing can also help solve this problem.

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the resources provided to them by forests. This includes the trees themselves, but also the wildlife within the trees. Because of the country’s location, it has both tropical forest and wetland areas. These diverse landscapes are home to many different species.

Vietnam is suffering significantly from problems with forest depletion. The cutting down of trees has sometimes been very uncontrolled in the past and this is affecting the forestry industry. The increasingly dense population of Vietnam is also taking its toll on this natural resource.

An organization called Tropenbos International is helping out and supervising the measures that will be taking to conserve the tropical forest resources in Vietnam. This includes controlling which forests will be used and also researching new methods of conservation.

The Pressures of Mining Coal

Many different kinds of coal are mined in Vietnam. These include peat, lignite, fat coal, and anthracite.

According to statistics collected by the government, demand for coal is so high (and growing by 8% per year) that the coal simply cannot be mined fast enough. Based on how the coal industry is working now, Vietnam is expected to suffer a severe shortage of mined coal from 2010 onward.

The problem lies not in the amount of coal available, but in the amount that can be mined every year. There are large coal reserves, especially in the Red River Delta. In this area alone, there are approximately 250 billion tons of coal waiting to be mined. There are three coal preparation centres in the province of Quang Ninh, in the cities of Cua Ong, Nam Cau Trang, and Vang Danh.

The Difficulties of Managing Hydropower Dams

Hydropower is a major resource in Vietnam. However, some of the dams created for this purpose have forced many people to leave their homes, due to unexpected flooding. After the Hoa Binh dam destroyed the homes of 58,000 people, the International Rivers Network (IRN) began monitoring hydropower projects in Vietnam.

Furthermore, people living downstream from major dams are being affected by contaminated drinking water and the resulting illnesses. The dam most responsible for such damage is the Yali Falls Dam, which cost one million dollars to construct.

Although this could be a very valuable resource, the government of Vietnam must first consider the impact hydropower dams could have on citizens of the country. This is a good example of how resources must be carefully managed and controlled.

Lots of Oil; No Refineries

Vietnam has quite a lot of crude oil, as it is the world’s 34th largest producer of this nonrenewable natural resource. Unfortunately, the country has to export all of its crude oil, because it does not have any refinery facilities. Therefore, Vietnam has to import refined oil products from other countries.

The country plans to change this situation in the future. There are a few oil refineries currently under construction. The building of the first one (located in the central region of Quang Ngai) began in November, 2005, and will hopefully be ready for use in 2008.

Recently, the oil industry has caused some problems on the northern coast, in the form of an oil spill (for details, please see “Oil Spill” on the Current Event page).