East Asia Monitor

A large and persistent gap separates developing and developed countries in educational opportunities, scientific research and collaboration, and environmental management. The gap imposes a barrier that prevents the developing world from surmounting the many environmental challenges that the international community has tried to address through UN resolutions and treaties. Examples of such treaties are the Millennium Development Goals that aim to reduce by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015, and the Stockholm Convention's POPs Treaty to phase out the use of 12 of the most persistent organic pollutants (POPs) worldwide. We can close the scientific and educational gaps, which affect science policy and hinder the ability of the world's nations to cooperate effectively to solve the ever-increasing number of global environmental problems. A large part of the solution lies in building professional and technical capacity through scientific training and education.

In this context, capacity building means nurturing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of local people to protect the environment. Building the capacity of a nation to prevent pollution is a major part of the United Nations University's (UNU’s) project to monitor POPs in the East Asian Hydrosphere. My own work on the misuse of pesticides for fishing in Southeast Asia is also closely related to that of the UNU monitoring project. Pesticide fishing in developing countries has serious effects on ecosystems by contaminating the water, aquatic biota, and the human food supply. Not surprisingly, it also affects the health, reproductive success, and population levels of most aquatic species.

I share a dedication to the goals of the UNU. Detecting chemical pollutants, understanding their impacts, and using scientific research to inform the practices of chemical end-users, and the development of local and federal regulations will protect the environment and human health. I am always surprised when asked why I care how people use chemicals half a world away. Ultimately the same person will ask, "how does this affect you or me?" The question itself indicates the need and the importance of education, training, and building the capacity to prevent pollution both at home and around the world. Most people across the globe simply are unaware of the chemical risks to users and non-users.

To begin assessing the global consequences of inappropriate chemical use, we must recognize that chemicals are omnipresent in our world. Some make our lives unquestionably better, while others simply make life more convenient. Still others are misunderstood, misused, or over-used because people place an unintended trust in science, the chemical industry, and the regulations that allow the chemicals to exist in the marketplace. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of chemical use is that they can move great distances in the environment, creating chemical contamination in parts of the world believed to be pristine. Some persistent organic pollutants used in the tropics, for example, are easily volatilized and deposited in large amounts at the poles through air and water currents. Arctic scientists have discovered that pesticides such as DDT, chlordane, and endrin, and industrial chemicals like PCBs occur at alarming levels in the fat of polar bears and indigenous people of the Arctic. In fact, when chemical use is examined across the planet, the world becomes a very small community with no real borders between countries.

It is for this reason that I applaud the UNU and the Shimadzu Corporation for their successful efforts in capacity building in SE Asia. Their program has now successfully trained scientists from 8 SE Asian countries, including China, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, in Gas Chromotography/Mass Spectrophotometry techniques to monitor water for chemical contaminants, especially POPs and Endocrine Disruptors. I was first formally introduced to the UNU Monitoring Program in May 2004 at “The UNU Symposium on POPs in Urban Areas” in Beijing, China, and was impressed with the program and its participants. Not only has the program trained scientists and created a close-knit group of chemists from the participating monitoring countries, it has fostered regional and cross-cultural collaborations, and provided excellent opportunities for many students and young scientists in these countries. It has also raised awareness of chemical contaminant issues globally at all levels, including the general public, the scientists, and the policy-makers.

My home institution, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park, has also made great strides in Southeast Asia, mainly Myanmar (Burma), by training park staff and graduate students in the field of Conservation Biology. Both the UN University and the Smithsonian Institution are training young scientists in Southeast Asia to actively monitor and protect their regional environments. Capacity building is by far one of the greatest investments of time and money in the developing world. Success is quickly achieved in the form of graduate thesis projects, international publications, and competent environmental stewards who are passionate and motivated to work in their own countries while serving as willing and able collaborators with other scientists and policy-makers both locally and internationally.