GREENFIELD — As a young adult during the Vietnam War, Pat Hynes was outraged and heartbroken by what she saw as an unjust war against a poor country.
Now, Hynes, the director of the Traprock Center of Peace and Justice, is leading an effort to give back to the people of Vietnam. Her project, “10,000 Trees for Vietnam,” is an environmental justice effort created in collaboration with Vietnamese botanist Phung Tuu Boi. Its purpose is to restore biodiversity to an area of central Vietnam that was heavily sprayed with herbicides — chief among them Agent Orange.
“It’s giving back just a very small donation to them, a gift to them for all the havoc that we wreaked during that war,” she said.
Through the project, Hynes is hoping to raise $10,000 to plant 10,000 trees and seedlings in the Dong Son commune of Vietnam. Phung Tuu Boi has been working to reforest the valley there since the war ended in the 1970s, planting trees on thousands of acres of mountain and hillside communities. The “10,000 Trees for Vietnam” project will work in conjunction with Phung Tuu Boi and The Nature Conservation and Community Development Center.
So far, Hynes said the Traprock Center has raised about $5,500.
“We still have a ways to go,” she said.
During the war, the United States sprayed 20 million gallons of herbicide in south Vietnam, resulting in thousands of multi-generational victims with physical and mental handicaps, according to the Traprock Center. In the Dong Son commune, forests were sprayed with herbicides — including Agent Orange — multiple times to destroy the refuge of the Viet Cong and their supporters.
Because the destruction was so significant, Hynes said scientists coined a new phrase — “ecocide” — to mean the death of the environment. Dong Son is known as a dioxin hot spot and remains one of the poorest villages in the area.
“It is very long lasting, particularly if it’s buried in soil and if it’s washed into fish ponds,” Hynes said of the highly toxic environmental pollutant.
The trees in the area need to be replanted by hand, meaning it will take an estimated 80 to 100 years for the forests to recover. In Dong Son, staff from The Nature Conservation and Community Development Center have introduced residents to the moringa tree, known as the “miracle tree,” and provided them with seedlings. The rapidly growing tree has leaves that are packed full of nutrients, making it ideal for impoverished areas.
“It’s extraordinary,” Hynes said.
The “10,000 Trees for Vietnam” project is a sequel to the Traprock Center’s “Peace Village Project,” which raised money for scholarships for third generation Vietnamese child victims of Agent Orange.
For more information about the project, visit traprock.org/10000-trees-for-vietnam. Donations can be made at traprock.org/donate or mailed to PO Box 1201, Greenfield, MA, 01302.