Miss Tho our tour guide through the Mekong Delta pointed out many rising environmental issues in the region and mentioned that the few citizens that are aware of them are not concerned or have bigger, more urgent concerns to focus on. Some of the biggest issues in Vietnam and the Mekong Delta are air and water pollution, urbanization of land and climate change. The most obvious effect in this region is the water pollution as well as rising water levels due to climate change. For example we passed by a floating fish market, which is where fish are sold from nets while still floating in the Delta. These fish are fed food with chemicals in them to help the fish stay healthy. This is one contributor to pollutants in the river. This is the most prominent issue because in this region the people utilize the water of the delta just as much as they do the land. I observed this as we floated down the delta and passed many other boats and riverside establishments. I saw a man bathing in the river, countless people transporting themselves and their goods by way of the river, as mentioned before, the floating fish market, and many other means by which the water of the delta is integrated into their lives. Climate change is apparent in the delta by the rising sea levels. This issue would very rapidly affect the people and the land in this region because of their proximity and integration with the delta.
Because these changes have come about so gradually and are progressing gradually (but at an ever faster rate) it is easy to oversee them or view it as an issue for the future. The people of the delta have bigger issues to focus on, such as making money to provide for their families. This is a small-scale phenomenon of a similar issue occurring in cities all over Asia and other developing countries. Dahiya’s article Cities in Asia, 2012: Demographics, economics, poverty, environment and governance touches on this issue: “In their quest for local and national development, Asia’s developing countries have focused their public policies on achieving and sustaining economic growth. Given such policy imperatives, Asian cities have paid insufficient attention to environmental issues and climate change”. Development is both the cause and the distraction for the environmental issues arising all over Asia. Leigh’s article The ecological crisis, the human condition, and community-based restoration as an instrument for its cure hypothesizes many other reasons for the human species to cause such great damage and still be able to ignore the consequences. For example he compares our compulsive consumerism to addiction. Like an addict we cannot help but continue to consume, urbanize and develop despite the clear consequences.
It was not apparent to me when we were in the Mekong Delta that anyone was concerned with environmental issues, however it is possible that they worry but perhaps don’t know how they could make a difference. They could feel that it is out of their power to bring about change with such rapidly increasing rates of consumerism, pollution and development that damage the lands and water. I hope that the issues do not have to become much worse before more action is taken in regions like these.