The Hanoi People's Committee will launch the campaign to plant one billion trees in the city on February 21 in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong (rightmost) participates in the launching of the 2021 tree-planting festival in Soc Son district. Photo: Trong Tung

Tree-planting festival is yearly campaign in Vietnam in which this year each locality is committed to grow around one million trees in the year. Hanoi alone, plans to grow more than 400,000 trees from February 17 to 23.

On December 31, 2020, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Directive No.45/CT-TTg on organizing the “Tree-planting festival” and enhancing forest protection and growth from early 2021.

The prime minister noted that the “Tree-planting festival” must be practical and effective, and conditions must be created for agencies, organizations, schools, armed forces and people of all strata to actively participate in tree planting and afforestation.

Earlier, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and State President Nguyen Phu Trong launched the campaign by planting trees at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi on February 17.

Tree-planting festival is a long-lasting tradition in Vietnam on the New Year occasion that helps boost the green coverage in a nation that is listed among the hardest-hit by climate change.

It was initiated in 1959 by President Ho Chi Minh who laid the importance on the green coverage and keeping it for generations to come.

In the festival, people bring friends and families to share in the joyful activity of planting trees and being in the outdoors with a view to contributing to the response to climate change and environment protection, natural disaster mitigation.