A gardener checks kumquat bonsai at a garden in central Việt Nam. Đà Nẵng City's Sơn Trà district has been calling for donation of trees from families after Tết so that they can be replanted in public parks. Photo courtesy of Thuỳ Trang

ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city’s Sơn Trà district has called for donations of kumquat trees – one of the most popular bonsai decorations during Tết (the Lunar New Year) - so they can be replanted at public parks and gardens instead of being dumping to landfill.

Chairman of the district’s people’s committee, Hoàng Sơn Trà said the campaign, a first for Đà Nẵng City, aims to reuse the bonsai, not only helping to reduce levels of waste after the Tết holidays, but helping to create ‘green’ shadows at public sites.

He said youth unions and urban and environment management units were in charge of collecting donated bonsai from local families between February 4-11, before replanting the trees at vacant lands, public parks and gardens.

Đà Nẵng, which aspires to be a green city, is a major market for kumquat trees during Tết, with thousands being sold ahead of the holidays, but at the end of the celebrations the vast majority simply end up being thrown away.

The district has planned 52 public parks and gardens, 38 of which are already under construction, while more than 4,000 trees have been grown at the parks under the ‘One Million Trees Plantation’ project with co-operation with the NGO, GreenViet from 2021.

More than 3,500 coconut palms have been raised from saplings donated by the community to create green lines along beaches in the city.

Sơn Trà District preserves the 4,400ha Sơn Trà Nature Reserve, known for its rich biodiversity, where is home to more than 1,300 red-shanked douc langurs and more than 1,000 plants and 370 animal species.

Đà Nẵng has planned total funds of US$4.4 million for conservation, forest protection and afforestation, as well as establishing new reserves on 43,722ha by 2030.