A Cơ Tu woman lends a hand in growing timber in a community-based forest in Hoà Bắc commune of Đà Nẵng. Nearly 40,000 trees have been planned on 26ha in the commune from February to March. VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — Ethnic Cơ Tu community in Hoà Bắc commune began planting trees as part of a restoration and afforestation project in an upstream area, strengthening water resources security for the central city and preventing erosion on the Cu Đê River banks.

The project, which was implemented by GreenViet, an NGO, with fundraising from the UpRace campaign, domestic businesses and donors, aims to grow nearly 40,000 precious timber species (dalbergia tonkinnensis and pterocarpus macrocarpus) on 26ha between February and March of 2024.

Vice chairman of Hoà Bắc commune Trương Thanh Nhân said the project will be a key factor contributing to sustainable development in Đà Nẵng.

He said the commune conserves 32,000ha of primary forest, 50 per cent of all of Đà Nẵng’s forest area, to develop forest-based tourism and forestry products.

Deputy director of GreenViet Hoàng Quốc Huy strongly committed to support the ethnic Cơ Tu group promote community-based tourism and medicinal herb farming in the forest, as well as boosting forest protection in the area.

Local community, donors and businesses join a tree planting project in Hoà Bắc commune. The precious timbers have been used to replace acacia in Đà Nẵng. VNS Photo Công Thành

He said most of the Cơ Tu population in Tà Lang and Giàn Bí villages lives in the buffer zone of the Bà Nà-Núi Chúa nature reserve, so the afforestation was a significant event in the biodiversity protection in Đà Nẵng.

Last year, GreenViet and community in Hoà Liên commune completed the growing timbers project on 18.1 hectares with funding by Ecoculture of the US.

GreenViet plans to raise funds for an 18ha afforestation project in Hoà Phú commune in an extended campaign of replacing acacia with indigenous larger timber species.

Đà Nẵng has been selected as one of three cities in Việt Nam implementing the ‘One Million Trees Plantation’ project by GreenViet in 2021-25.

Big trees had been grown to create a landscape and habitat for the endangered red-shanked doucs langurs in Sơn Trà Nature Reserve of Đà Nẵng.

The European Union (EU) funded a biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability project in Đà Nẵng from 2020-23.

A total budget of US$4.4 million has been planned for conservation, forest protection and afforestation on 43,722ha in Đà Nẵng by 2030. VNS