Members of the Youth Union of northern Hoà Bình Province join the planting tree activity in their locality. VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — The Government has approved a plan to plant one billion trees nationwide by the end of 2025.

Of the figure, 690 million trees will be planted in urban and rural areas and 310 million in protected, special and production forests.

The project was developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and approved by former Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc last week.

The project aims to protect the ecosystem, improve the scenery, respond to climate change, boost socio-economic development, improve the quality of people’s lives and foster the sustainable growth of the country.

The effort needs collaboration from the authorities, organisations and individuals. The Government will call for funds from society and combine them with socio-economic projects.

More trees will also be planted in rural areas, along the roads, industrial zones and tourist sites to ensure there are enough green spaces. Trees will be selected and protected to ensure they grow and develop well and are suitable for the ecological conditions, planning and existing land fund of each locality.

Among 690 million trees in urban and rural areas, 138 million will be planted per year. Hardwood trees, which help enhance environmental protection, or rare and precious trees, will be given priority in these areas.

In urban areas, trees will be planted along sidewalks, in public spaces and the campuses of offices, schools and industrial zones. In rural areas, green trees will be planted on land in home gardens, traffic corridors, riversides, public spaces and areas at high risk of landslides, degraded land and unused land.

About 300 million trees will be planted on 180,000 hectares of forest land. Specifically, 70 million trees will be grown on 30,000 hectares of protected forest land and 240 million trees on 150,000 hectares of new forest land.

Trees with strong and firm roots will be selected in protected forest land as they can grow in harsh conditions and have good resilience.

High-yield trees, in combination with small fast-growing trees and long-lasting big trees, will be planted in production forest areas.

The target for 2021 is planting 182 million trees, and 204.5 million trees planted each year in the 2022-2025 period.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been tasked to be in charge of the work and work with the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, and city and province’s authorities to build annual and five-year plans to implement the project. — VNS