The ancestral forest remains ever green.

“Spring is the time for tree planting/Making the country ever more beautiful.” For a long time, this verse by our beloved President Ho Chi Minh has resonated deeply in the hearts of every Vietnamese person. Every spring, the tree planting festival truly becomes a celebration for the entire Party and people in the province, planting trees, reforesting, and protecting the ecological environment. This tradition has yielded practical value, contributing to sustainable forest development, beautifying the landscape, especially in the context of climate change and environmental pollution today.

Forest rangers guide local people in planting trees.

Actively plant trees and reforest.

On November 28, 1959, President Ho Chi Minh wrote the article "Tree Planting Festival," published in the Nhan Dan newspaper under the pseudonym Tran Luc, calling on everyone, every household, every organization, and every locality to actively compete in planting and caring for trees. He proposed organizing a nationwide "Tree Planting Festival," which became a beautiful custom and a meaningful cultural activity every time Tet (Lunar New Year) and Spring arrived. In recent years, the tree planting movement during Tet has achieved tremendous results. The work of protecting and developing forests continues to be implemented extensively and effectively, contributing positively to environmental protection and the socio-economic development of the country.

With the province's large total area of ​​forests and forestry land, the tree planting and reforestation movement in Thanh Son district has been consistently prioritized by all levels of government in recent years, contributing to greening barren land and hills, protecting the ecological environment, and increasing people's income. Upon visiting Giap Lai commune, we learned that the commune is preparing the ground for planting over 4,000 scattered trees. To ensure optimal conditions for successful planting, the commune has focused on directing local people to clear undergrowth and dig holes for tree planting.

Comrade Ha Sy Bang - Chairman of the People's Committee of Giap Lai commune, said: "Thanks to the attention of the district and specialized agencies, the District Forest Management Unit has closely supervised, propagated, guided, and encouraged the people's forest planting area to increase. This year, after being assigned the plan, the commune has issued a document guiding residential areas to organize households to register for forest planting and scattered tree planting. At the same time, it has guided forest planting households to clear undergrowth, dig holes, and prepare seedlings to implement forest planting in 2025 and the Spring Tree Planting Festival activities in the Year of the Snake."

Similar to Giap Lai commune, other communes in Thanh Son district are actively disseminating information and implementing plans, preparing the ground for reforestation at the beginning of the year. This year, Thanh Son district aims to plant over 2,500 hectares of concentrated forest and over 300,000 scattered trees. To achieve this plan, the district has directed localities to clear undergrowth and dig holes for reforestation. To proactively supply seedlings for reforestation, forestry seedling production and trading units in the district have produced various types of seedlings for farmers. The seedlings are regularly inspected and closely monitored from seed materials and sowing to planting, thus limiting the use of seedlings of unknown origin and contributing to improving the quality of planted forests. In addition, the district has issued guidelines on crop structure for localities, assigned officials to closely monitor the areas, and promptly identified difficulties to resolve them at the grassroots level.

With its relatively large forest area and numerous seedling nurseries, Doan Hung district has proactively planned and implemented reforestation projects annually to contribute to increased income for local people, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation. To meet the demand for seedlings for reforestation, seedling production facilities in the district have proactively sown and nurtured seedlings since the beginning of the year, implementing measures to care for and control pests and diseases, ensuring good growth and a high survival rate.

Mr. Vu Tien Hop, owner of a seedling production and trading facility in Ngoc Quan commune, Doan Hung district, said: "My family has been selling perennial plant seedlings in the commune, supplying an average of about 2 million seedlings of various types to the market each year. Because of this large quantity, to ensure the quality of seedlings supplied to farmers, I always choose reputable seed suppliers with established brands and traceable origins. I also regularly cooperate with relevant agencies to take samples for testing and quality assessment; and actively participate in training courses to gain more knowledge for production and business activities. To date, the facility is ready to supply seedlings to households for reforestation at the beginning of the year."

Responding to President Ho Chi Minh's call, every spring in the ancestral homeland, a tree-planting festival is organized. Tree planting and reforestation have become a movement that not only brings greenery to life but also serves as a strength for the economic development of local areas.

Inspect the seedlings before planting.

To make the Tet tree planting festival effective and practical.

On April 1, 2021, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 524 approving the "Scheme to plant 1 billion trees in the period 2021-2025". To contribute to achieving this goal nationwide, and to enhance the landscape and promote ecotourism potential, on April 13, 2021, the People's Committee of Phu Tho province issued Plan No. 1466/KH-UBND on planting scattered trees in the province during the period 2021-2025. Accordingly, the goal is to plant over 10 million scattered trees and 45,000 hectares of forest.

As a province with a large area of ​​forest land, it has successfully implemented the planning for the classification of forests into three categories; carried out forest protection and development work; planted nearly 10,000 hectares of new forest annually; achieved a forest cover rate of 39.7%; maintained a diverse and sustainable ecosystem, making an important contribution to the conservation of genetic resources and creating water sources; and proactively and effectively prevented and combated floods, storms, droughts, landslides, etc., in the midland region of Northern Vietnam.

Tree planting is implemented regularly, continuously, and widely, creating an increasingly substantive and effective movement. The province has developed a plan to implement the "Tree Planting Festival in Eternal Gratitude to Uncle Ho" in the Spring of the Year of the Snake 2025. Accordingly, the provincial-level tree planting festival will begin at 8:00 AM on February 3, 2025, which is the 6th day of the first lunar month of the Year of the Snake, at the Hung Temple Historical Site. The districts and towns of Phu Tho province will proactively organize tree planting festivals; the timing of these events will be decided by the People's Committees of the districts and towns.

To ensure that the "Tree Planting Festival in Eternal Gratitude to Uncle Ho" is solemn, practical, meaningful, economical, effective, and avoids ostentation and formality, according to Comrade Tran Quang Dong - Deputy Head of the Provincial Forest Protection Department, the Department has advised the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Provincial People's Committee to issue a plan for implementing the "Tree Planting Festival in Eternal Gratitude to Uncle Ho" in the Spring of 2025; assigning forest planting plans to the People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities, and grassroots units to proactively prepare the planting sites and seedlings so that when the weather is favorable, forest planting can be organized right from the beginning of the year.

Following the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, localities have strengthened propaganda efforts to raise awareness among all segments of the population about the role, effects, and value of forests, the significance of tree planting and reforestation, forest protection, and environmental protection, contributing to disaster mitigation and climate change adaptation; encouraging the participation of the entire society in tree planting and reforestation. Simultaneously, they have planned seed sources and nursery systems to ensure sufficient high-quality forestry seedlings for reforestation; provided guidance on new planting techniques; directed the completion of technical designs for forestry projects; prepared sites and seedlings; encouraged people to use high-quality seedlings and apply scientific and technical advancements in intensive reforestation; and focused on forest protection, development, and fire prevention, contributing to the promotion of forestry development in an efficient and sustainable manner.

To ensure the tree planting and reforestation movement yields economic benefits, the relevant departments direct localities to plant suitable tree species based on their advantages, climate, and soil conditions. They encourage the development of diverse farm models and the transformation of neglected gardens into model projects. Government offices and agencies should plant and maintain green spaces within their premises. The goal is for green spaces to truly create a green, clean, and beautiful environment while protecting the environment.

Along with actively planting trees, localities and every citizen need to take good care of and protect the planted forest areas. They must resolutely fight against and prevent violations in the forestry sector. Only then will tree planting and reforestation continue to develop, and forests will truly contribute to protecting the environment and safeguarding human life.

Hoang Huong

Source: https://baophutho.vn/rung-dat-to-xanh-mai-227328.htm