Chair: Therese Robinson
Reporter: Michelle Crawford
Photographer: Roger Thornton
Therese opened the meeting and proposed a toast to Rotary International.
President Rhys acknowledged the traditional owners of the lands on which we were meeting. Rhys welcomed all to the meeting, hoping everyone had a great Easter and reflecting on the opportunity that Port Melbourne BBQ presented for a number of members to enjoy fellowship together over the weekend.
Guest Speaker presentation by President Rhys Willliams: Rotary involvement in climate change mitigation in the Mekong Delta, a global hot spot
Therese provided an overview of Rhys’ 30 years’ experience in transnational education, managing the delivery of Australian university courses (RMIT and Victoria Universities) with partners in many countries and witnessing the transformation of many lives through this process.
Rhys also has diverse experiences in vocational education and training, including running a group employment scheme in sport and recreation, and delivering a large international insurance and finance distance education program.
Rhys has been active in the not-for-profit sectors through his Rotary membership (including his current role as President of Rotary Central Melbourne), and board role for the Vietnam Foundation (VNF). The VNF’s projects include:
building 10-12 bridges in the Mekong annually;
providing rainwater collection vats for poor families for potable water;
recycling bicycles for high school students; and
the new Build a Future scholarship program which RCM supports.
Rhys’s qualifications are in social science and education.
Rhys has recently returned from the Mekong and has been collaborating with the Mekong Conservancy Foundation through Rotary, who have facilitated the transfer of funds and support for a foundation Vietnam.
Rhys is supporting the development of a strategic plan for the Mekong Conservancy Foundation.
Slides presented provided a useful reference as Rhys talked about the Mekong Conservancy Foundation (MCF) and the Bulrush Project.
Established in 2019, MCF as an environmental project, is committed to research and address issues related to livelihood development, with a focus on improving, consolidating or resurrecting livelihoods for people in the area.
The Mekong Delta is found to the south part of Vietnam which is more water than land. It starts near Tibet, travelling 4,000 kms through 7 different countries.
The Delta plays an important role in the economy, producing 50% of food production, 20% GDP for the country and 65% of Vietnam’s fruit production, servicing a population of 18M.
A visit to the project in the future may be possible for RCM.
There is a ‘rice-first’ policy as a result of food scarcity in 1975 after the American war ended. This has led to 3 groups of issues –
Upper – climate changes with less precipitation and hydropower diversion of water funded by China in Laos.
Lower – climate change effects especially sea level rise and saltwater ingress
Agricultural policy – impacts of intensive agriculture
Mekong Delta Regional Integration Plan (Decree 120) was introduced to adapt rather than fight climate change with a focus on the transformation of freshwater, farming and agriculture in all zones.
The Plan has led to a shift from quantity to quality with a focus on reducing farming intensity, reduction in chemical dependency and focus on more resilient farming.
The Bulrush Project to date achievements to date include:
demonstration models in the lower Mekong where farmers have been convinced to grow bulrushes leading to crops in shrimps and crabs (1,000 tonnes of bulrush annually)
development of production facilities including drying warehouses
formation of 3 cooperatives and over 150 groups
community empowerment, including training on weaving skills (3,000 weavers, 64% are women and includes ethnic minorities and people with disabilities) to diversify output using the bulrushes. The area is close to Cambodia and has a focus on training Khmer women.
design alternatives that result in producing various homewares
marketing. The project is partnering with Vietnam homewares leading to the sale of products including baskets and lamps in USA at Walmart and Australia at Bunnings, with plans for IKEA in Sweden and Japan in the future.
Success of Vietnam Housewares Company needs to be maintained, with the challenges including the broadening of additional countries for export.
Only 3% of the product is used. The focus is now to secure partnership with companies for the utilisation of the rest of the bulrush material with a focus on expansion to reinforced plastic, packaging & insulation materials and a research partnership to expand to organic fertilisers. Achieving these new partnerships will contribute to a sustainable future so as to reduce the waste of 90%+ of the bulrush.
A continued focus is on the livelihood of very poor people in an ecologically and culturally sustainable way. This has been a great learning and take away for Rhys from this project.
Chair Therese opened up for questions as follows:
John Ilott asked 1. If the Delta is only in Mekong? Rhys advised that the upper Delta is in Laos and Cambodia. The work of the VCF is to explore possibilities of identifying an integrated solution with other governments. 2. Why Bulrush? The scientists have identified that from an ecological perspective, start with a native product that is indigenous to the area as it has evolved environmentally. The Bulrush was selected through serendipity as it was used to reduce salinity in the soil, to the benefit of prawn production. In addition, the value adds of the homewares that can be produced using the bulrush was realised.
Roger Thornton asked about employment, how many people are required compared to traditional production of prawns and rice. About the same number of employment on the lands, with an increase in employment in the production activities of weaving and producing homeware materials, with a small increase in opportunities through Vietnam Homeworks logistics.
Ignacio Inchausti asked about the reduction in the growth of rice and if bulrush is seen as an edible option. Rhys shared that it is replacing rice in some locations but is not being used as a food alternative. The current crops of rice are not sustainable (eg. 3 crops per year), and this is a global challenge where rice is proving a challenge due to pesticides and environmental impact. The bulrush can be used as feed for animals, but the Mekong does not have many animals due to the amount of water.
Roy Garrett enquired about bulrush as an alternative to concrete and is going to explore this with is daughter. Rhys welcomes an opportunity to progress.
Peter Duras asked about the use of bulrush as a building material in the region. Rhys responded that the plan is to look at concrete and plastic as a natural reinforcing product. The other area is packaging as a replacement to bubble plastic with organisations such as Amazon. Using bulrush in this way would be economically and environmentally sustainable.
Chair Therese thanked Rhys for his insightful presentation.
Member announcements
- Sleeping bag drive: Tom Callander advised that we are currently at 150 bags donated with an extension of the opportunity to donate sleeping bags or funds extended to 30th April. Bunning have donated 64 bags. Given the success of the project to date, a revised target of 200 bags by the end of April is now possible. See item in this bulletin for more details.
President’s announcements
- Evening Social Meeting to be held next Tuesday, 29 April at The Emerald Hotel in Clarendon Street, South Melbourne
- Last week's Board Meeting looked at a change to our meeting configuration for 2025 which will see a reduction of regular meetings in person to two per month, and an increase of fellowship activities to 2 per month rolling up the sleeves with a focus on Rotary projects. The fifth Tuesday of the month (where applicable) will continue as a social evening meeting.
- Paul Fowler has developed a paper which will sent to all members for discussion at the evening social meeting, at second Forum for new and younger members on Sunday, 4 May and at the Planning Day on Saturday, 10 May.