ON MAY 17-18, NEARLY 200 PARTICIPANTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ATTENDED AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE IN HANOI, VIETNAM. THEY EXPLORED ISSUES RELATED TO THE LARGE NEED FOR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN LIGHT OF CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND NATURAL CAPITAL.
Hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Vietnam Institute for Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the WWF, the forum opened with a keynote speech by William Laurance, a distinguished research professor at Australia’s James Cook University. Under the title of “Infrastructure Tsunami,” his keynote drew special attention to the Asia-Pacific region, explaining that “when you look at the Asia-Pacific, what you see is that the vulnerability of the ecosystems and the biological diversity here is really higher than it is in any other major region of the world.” He further added that “overall, because there is such biological wealth here and so much development happening so fast, this is really regarded as the most vulnerable and critical part of planet Earth… This is the area that has not only the world’s richest rainforest, but also has the world’s most biologically rich coral reefs.”
Laurance also emphasized the significant impact of physical infrastructure, such as roads, on such ecosystems. He noted that 15.5 million miles of new roads will be constructed by 2050 according to estimates from the International Energy Agency, of which 90 percent of will be in developing nations.
Furthermore, 95 percent of all illegal deforestation occurs within 3.4 miles of a road, which entails a massive pressure to be placed on jungles and forests in the future by road construction. The risks faced by Southeast Asia, which includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and contains the most wood per hectare of forest in the world, was given special mention by Laurance.
Some of these issues were raised by the conference of experts, government officials and academics. The first among many breakout sessions at the conference was run by Lisa Mandle, a senior scientist with the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment. An activity organized by Mandle required teams to map a road through a provided landscape which provided the greatest economic benefit while minimizing environmental damage.
Another panel session, entitled “Designing Ecologically Sensitive Transport Infrastructure” and covering methods of integrating the need of wildlife into development projects, was held. Wildlife crossings in Bangladesh and Bhutan were discussed by Karma Yangzon, an environment specialist at the South Asia Transport Division of the ADB, who explained that large animals such as elephants, tigers and leopards frequently cross roads and railways.
Yangzon described a case study of four elephant underpasses in Bhutan, half of which were being used by animals in their second year of operation, despite success in their first year. One of the unused underpasses was blocked by a natural barrier, which the other turned into a popular spot for picnics. She elaborated the importance of strict attention to location, design, guide fencing, maintenance, monitoring, awareness and enforcement for wildlife mitigation structures.
Financing, planning and improving regulations, were also explored at the conference, and speakers represented both the public and private sectors.
In the last session, the top principles established by the groups during the forum were presented for discussion and future development, and included species- and site-specific mitigating measures, full involvement of local communities throughout the process, the use of local technologies, materials and knowledge, and funding strategies.
The head of the Department of Science and International Cooperation at ISPONRE, Kim Thuy Ngoc, explained to Mongabay that ISPONRE is currently studying the environmental impact of upgrading a provincial road in Vietnam’s Central Highlands with funding from the ADB. She mentioned how she had acquired valuable insight on best practices: “We’re a policy adviser to MONRE [Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment]… we focus on natural resources, climate change, land use and minerals, among other fields.”
Noting the forum’s potential for far-reaching impact, Laurance mentioned: “I’ve been really impressed with the horsepower and the intellect of the people I’ve met here… There are some really serious players in the infrastructure world and everything from planning to finance to multilateral lenders and donors to government officials.” He further added the particular relevance of discussing sustainable infrastructure in Vietnam: “Here, in the newspaper typically two-thirds of the first several pages are full of environmental stories… It’s obviously highly topical and highly timely to have a conference like this here and now, in a place like Hanoi. One has to compliment the government for being receptive to having this here and being part of it.”