Un Hang, a M’nong village elder, sits by the weaving looms in Quang Son commune in the Central Highlands, and takes a trip down memory lane. Her heart longs for the past when the stream flowed abundantly with crystal-clear water, so pure, sweet and no pollution at all.

The nameless stream, known simply as 'our stream' by Un Hang and the villagers, was vital to their community. It nourished both the people and their buffaloes, with each household owning hundreds of them. To safeguard the buffalos from tigers, they built fences in the dense and ancient forests.

Now, at the age of 83, Un Hang says the landscape is almost unrecognizable.  Natural forests have been cleared to make way for plantation forests and agricultural land.

All over Viet Nam, especially in the Central Highlands region, forests have been under threat.

In the 15 years between 2005-2020, the natural forest area in the Central Highlands shrunk by almost 700,000 hectares, from 2.83 million to 2.18 million hectares, mostly attributable to the expansion of coffee, rubber, and timber plantations.

Loss of forest cover and overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for agricultural production have led to serious environmental problems, water shortage, and pollution.

Deforested watersheds are unable to properly filter water and regulate water supply for the communities that depend on them. The stream that was once cherished by Hang and her fellow villagers has now dwindled and become polluted.

“I am so sad that my great-granddaughter may never have the chance to feel how abundant, sweet, and clean the stream was. It is so polluted and much less water now. I am afraid that when she grows up, our stream may even disappear. No water at all,” Hang says.