tom m wilson

This week the show comes from Vietnam. I make a botched attempt of singing a line from Noel Coward, and then explore Ba Be National Park in northern Vietnam. Ba Be is an area of deep green rainforest and high limestone peaks. I talk with the director of the park and some of the villagers in the area. In the second half of the show I talk with Chris Shepherd of TRAFFIC about the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam. Here is this week’s Understorey.

These are a few of the images that remained in my mind after visiting Hanoi and the rainforested mountains south of the Chinese border. The soundtrack comes from sitting around in a village hut in Ba Be with a couple of the women farmers singing in their local Tay language. At the start you can hear us clinking glasses filled to the brim with rice wine liquor.  Thanks to Hien Thi Hoang for letting me use this recording of her voice.

This week’s Understorey starts with a discussion with David Conover, a film maker in America (pictured above).  Conover is the mastermind behind the contemplative and visually stunning series Sunrise Earth, and he is currently producing a film called Behold the Earth, and exploration of science and religion as different avenues for embracing nature in American culture.  Today you’ll hear excerpts from the film, including the voice of the great writer and thinker Edward O. Wilson.  The second half of the show is an interview with Martin Palmer of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation.  Listen to this week’s show here.