Buddhism and environmental protection issues in Vietnam today

In the period of 2012-2013, Phap Bao Center received funding from the Nordic organization through the Vietnam Buddhist Academy in Ho Chi Minh City to improve the capacity to respond to climate change for religious organizations in the area. Because the intervention area is the suburban districts of Ho Chi Minh City (Go Vap, Cu Chi, Hoc Mon and District 12), where there is a large immigrant population, low living standards, living conditions and environment are not guaranteed, serious environmental pollution, wastewater treatment at the An Nhon slaughterhouse in Ward 15, Go Vap District, with thousands of tons of pork slaughtered every day, causing serious environmental pollution, respiratory infections due to dust and smoke pollution, dengue fever every rainy season, causing Phap Bao Center to worry. In the first phase, the Center's activities are aimed at linking to grow, including:

- Mobilizing human resources: As an organization originating from Buddhism, the first resource that Phap Bao aims at is mobilizing human resources at local pagodas to participate . In addition, Phap Bao also gathers GĐPT, volunteers from community-based groups. As a result, a number of pagodas located in Go Vap district, Hoc Mon district, Buddhist families and volunteers have participated.

- Cooperate with the Fatherland Front, Youth Union, Women's Union, People's Committee of Ward 16, Go Vap District, Go Vap District Preventive Medicine Center, City AIDS Prevention Committee to strengthen forces and pilot climate change response interventions.

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- Raising awareness for cadres of coordinating units such as the Fatherland Front, Youth Union, and commune-level People's Committee cadres on environmental protection and climate change: 3 training courses with 75 participants.

- Organized 2 workshops on climate change and disaster risk reduction for religious establishments, unions, Buddhist Youth Associations, and volunteer clubs with 100 participants.

- Organize 6 community communication activities on environmental protection and climate change response: "Adapting and living with tidal encroachment of areas near rivers/canals/drains into clean water sources", "Communicating to mobilize people to use water sources from water sources", "Communicating to mobilize people to use sandbags to block tidal encroachment"... with the participation of 2,000 people.

- Compile communication leaflets about the harmful effects of plastic bags, instruct people to use environmentally friendly bags, approved by Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House for wide circulation.

In 2014, thanks to its legal status, the activities of Phap Bao Center have been increasingly consolidated, developed and expanded based on the signing of joint agreements with the Go Vap District Fatherland Front, the Youth Union, colleges, universities, and the community support consulting department of the District Preventive Medicine Center to help with long-term orientation and planned, synchronous interventions. Phap Bao Center is honored to participate in the Vietnam Climate Change Response Network. The above advantages help Phap Bao Center consolidate and develop human resources more strongly with social/religious organizations: Life Center, Buddhist Executive Committee, Buddhist Youth Associations, Humanity Clubs, Hoa Linh Thoai, volunteers so that activities and interventions can be larger in scale:

Organized 2 communication campaigns and 2 contests to learn about climate change knowledge with the participation of thousands of people.

- The "Ve chai" model on youth groups and Buddhist families has attracted the participation of over 500 young people as volunteers, and has been implemented quarterly since 2014.

- The model "Plastic bag communication" protects the environment, limits the use of plastic bags at 6 markets in Go Vap district. The campaign to exchange industrial waste (scrap) for environmentally friendly bags is carried out periodically every 6 months.

- Organized 2 workshops on climate change and disaster risk reduction for religious establishments, departments, organizations, Buddhist families, and volunteer clubs with the participation of 150 delegates.

- Connect and share experiences in responding to climate change and reducing natural disaster risks with organizations such as Hai Duc Center, Change, Caritas Hai Phong, etc.

- Continue to republish leaflets on environmental protection and limiting the use of plastic bags.

- Compiled a communication leaflet on climate change, approved for circulation by Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House on June 6, 2014.

In 2015 , Phap Bao Center continued to expand its advocacy activities in the spirit of developing with the community to provide diverse intervention services: integrating advocacy for climate change adaptation with caring for the lives of the poor based on integration, using resources reasonably and mobilizing resources from the community to intervene and care for the community:

- "Relief group" model (established in 2015 to raise funds and support activities with 5 members in the Executive Board and more than 20 members and collaborators who are Buddhists participating)

- Training a class to improve knowledge on using solar energy as an alternative with the participation of 100 community members who are core members of volunteer groups and Buddhist families. From these groups, information will be spread to the community.

- Consulting, job introduction and support for sustainable livelihood models: on average 30 consultations per month. Developing a mobile sugarcane juice bank, helping 10 poor people to reduce the burden of disease, thereby making it easier to communicate about environmental protection.

- Scrap collection model, in 2014, the Center cooperated with Go Vap District Youth Union and Buddhist Family to establish 6 groups. At the same time, the Center supported materials for scrap collection and revenue from

This work is in return to support scholarships for children in difficult circumstances. Through the success of the initial 8 groups, by 2015, the Center together with the Go Vap District Youth Association established 9 more groups, up to now, a total of 18 groups have been established and have come into operation.

- The plan is to use renewable energy, respond to climate change with a program to sponsor solar water heaters for open houses and shelters in Ho Chi Minh City. Through a survey of 20 open houses and shelters, the Center selected 13 units that met the criteria to receive support for solar water heaters. Minh Tam Shelter (District 12) is currently raising 34 children, the youngest is 4 months old, the oldest is in college.

- With Hy Vong School for the Disabled (Binh Thanh District), currently teaching culture to deaf children and rehabilitating hearing, providing career guidance and vocational training to 126 children.

Model of Hai Duc Pagoda (Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province): The predecessor of Hai Duc Community Support Center of Thua Thien-Hue Provincial Buddhist Executive Committee is the Religious Response Program to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic launched by the Vietnamese government and sponsored by the NCA. Faced with the urgent problem of global climate change, under the direction of the Provincial Buddhist Executive Committee, the support of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee and the sponsorship of the Representative Office of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) - an international non-governmental organization (NGO), to promote the role of Vietnamese religions in environmental protection activities. Hai Duc Community Support Center was established in 2013 with the permission of the Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Committee through the approval of the Department of Science and Technology and the Provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations. The Hai Duc Center's operational framework includes three major areas: climate change, public health and social security .

Although the scope of activities of these three areas is independent, they are organically related to each other: all aim at the mission of peace and happiness.

community welfare. Regarding activities related to environmental protection, reducing risks of natural disasters caused by climate change, with the policy of "giving fishing rods, not fish", and taking the community as the center, Hai Duc Center has been implementing the program "Building community capacity to reduce vulnerability to climate change and health problems related to climate change". In this program, Hai Duc Center has 3 practical models including: communication model to improve knowledge and skills of environmental protection, responding to risks of natural and man-made disasters; swimming teaching model for children; emergency response team model. In which, the communication model to improve knowledge and skills of environmental protection, responding to risks of natural and man-made disasters has communicated and trained the community about climate change, harmful agents of nature and society, ways to self-rescue and help people when risks occur. In particular, Hai Duc Center aims to build a Zen Vegetable Garden model to educate the community on how to grow clean vegetables, appreciate nature and love fellow human beings.

With these specific operating models, Hai Duc Center was highly appreciated by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and selected as a model of the Program on Religious Participation in Environmental Protection. The Center was also praised by the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee as well as the Union of Science and Technology Associations of Thua Thien-Hue Province and wholeheartedly supported by the NCA organization.

Model of Non Bong Pure Land Inter-Sect (Dong Nai Province): Planting forests to protect the environment is one of the action programs of Vietnamese Buddhism. Responding to and implementing this program of activities, monks, nuns, and Buddhists of many sects and schools actively plant forests to protect the environment. Non Bong Pure Land Inter-Sect is a typical example. Venerable Hue Giac, Abbot of Quan Am Monastery, a typical facility of Non Bong Pure Land Inter-Sect, said that since 1982, the Monastery has received 150 hectares of land for planting forests according to the agreement of self-planting and self-enjoyment. Next, in the spirit of Resolution II of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha on promoting self-sufficiency in the temple economy and responding to the call of the People's Committee of Dong Nai Province, Hoa

Most Venerable Thich Thien Phuoc mobilized all monks and nuns in the Pure Land Non Bong sect to plant trees and afforest, each person planting at least 100 cajuput, cashew, and star trees... After 2 years, green trees had grown on the dry forest surface. Realizing the effectiveness of this movement, the Dong Nai Provincial Forest Protection Department continued to assign more forest land to Quan Am Monastery for management.

Currently, monks, nuns and Buddhists of the Non Bong Pure Land Inter-Sect are expanding forest planting, greening more than 1,000 hectares of barren hills in the provinces of Lam Dong, Binh Phuoc and Binh Thuan. The forest in Dong Nai province that monks, nuns and Buddhists of this sect have planted is recognized as a local pilot forest. The success of this movement is recognized by the number of certificates of merit awarded by the authorities of Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces. The forest protection work of the monasteries of the Non Bong Pure Land Inter-Sect has been effective. The pilot forests of this sect have become the destination of many international delegations from Sweden, Australia and Japan to exchange experiences and learn about methods of planting and protecting forests.

Model of requisitioning places of worship as shelters for people during the storm season to reduce natural disaster risks: From 2016 to present, all levels of the Church, dignitaries, and monks of Khmer Theravada Buddhism have been propagandized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations about environmental protection and climate change adaptation. Since then, Khmer monks have actively propagated to Buddhists through religious and ethnic festivals, sermons, and precept days (8th, 15th, 23rd, and 30th of the month). In recent times, Khmer Theravada Buddhist monks have paid great attention to responding to climate change such as storms, floods, and natural disasters in the locality. Specifically, during storms that hit the mainland, directly affecting the provinces and cities of the South, places of worship have become the safest storm shelters for people. With the current number of over 500 large and small Khmer pagodas in this area, concentrated in the two provinces of Tra Vinh and Soc Trang, two localities with a large Khmer population, also home to many famous Khmer pagodas. This is a model that takes advantage of Buddhist pagodas.

The Khmer Theravada is built very solidly, including Sala, the main hall, hundreds of square meters wide , enough for hundreds of families to take shelter. As we know, the Theravada Buddhist temple has a very special position in the life of the Khmer people. The temple is not only a religious structure, representing all the religious thoughts and activities of the Khmer people, but also contains a treasure trove of Buddhist scriptures, and is a place to receive guests from near and far. And during the rainy and stormy seasons, monks and the temple management board mobilize each family without a solid house, in the coastal area to come to the temple to avoid the storm. The temple arranges accommodation as follows:

Mosquito nets, blankets, mats, pillows, rice, water... are free, partly meeting social security needs so that people can feel secure during the rainy season.

The model of building rainwater reservoirs contributes to ensuring the security of clean water for people's daily life: From February to April every year is the dry season in the Southwest region, the rivers are dry and saline, greatly affecting the use of domestic water for people. The situation of local shortage of fresh water for daily life occurs in many provinces such as Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Soc Trang when the peak of salt water penetrates deep into rivers and canals. In particular, the most serious is Ben Tre province, from urban to rural areas are intruded by salt water, causing a shortage of fresh water for daily life for many months. According to statistics, Ben Tre province currently has about 57 thousand households, with 205 thousand people living far from the fields, beaches, coastal areas, and islands lacking clean water for daily life due to exhausted reserves. Meanwhile, the domestic water source at water plants supplying urban areas in the province and the factory system of the Center for Clean Water and Rural Environmental Sanitation of Ben Tre province has been more than 2‰ salty. Therefore, in recent times, many localities in this area have mainly exploited groundwater for daily life and production. However, the excessive exploitation of groundwater in some localities has caused the risk of pollution, depletion and geological subsidence. Although the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has issued many warnings, due to the lack of fresh water for daily life, people still drill groundwater wells but only get salty alum water, no

Fresh water. At the workshop to find solutions to respond to and reduce damage caused by drought held in February 2020 in Ca Mau, there were many recommendations to solve urgent problems for people in this area. Among them, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ba Hoang, Director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources, said that to solve the shortage of water for people's daily life, it is necessary to support people in storing water for daily life. In fact, some Khmer Theravada Buddhist pagodas in Soc Trang province have built rainwater reservoirs so that the pagodas have water to use during the dry season; at the same time, they support Buddhists in the surrounding area who lack water for daily life to have water to use. This is a model of rainwater reuse that has been built by Khmer Theravada Buddhist pagodas in this area for many generations. This model needs to be replicated by Khmer pagodas, in order to help Buddhists when they have difficulties with water sources, save electricity, reduce economic burdens while still ensuring the daily life and production needs of Khmer people.

- Model group for coordination in environmental protection and climate change response between the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and social organizations

Mangrove forest protection model of the Buddhist community in the Southwest region: In the Southwest region, the Buddhist community has practical projects typical of mangrove forest protection. With a natural area of 39,734 km 2 , the Southwest region has long formed and developed unique natural ecosystems. These are the U Minh Melaleuca forest ecosystem, the coastal mangrove forest ecosystem, and the agricultural ecosystem. There are many nature reserves and natural bird gardens that are attractive for ecotourism. In particular, the mangrove forest ecosystems in the provinces of Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Tra

Vinh and Ben Tre play an extremely important role in socio-economic development and maintaining ecological balance in the entire region. In recent years, coastal mangrove forests have been severely degraded due to deforestation for farming and aquaculture. During the period 1980-1995, the Mekong Delta provinces lost 72,825 hectares of forest, an average of 4,855 hectares per year at a rate of 5% per year. In recent years

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