HÀ NỘI — Hundreds of maple trees have been planted on Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Láng Hạ and Trần Duy Hưng streets in Hà Nội in the past weeks to increase the capital’s green space.

Speaking at a conference in the city last Saturday on the need to plant more trees, chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung said with the development of the tree care industry, some temperate trees, including red maple, could be planted in Việt Nam, reported Tiền Phong (Vanguard) online newspaper.

“A year from now, we will be able to tropicalise red maple trees,” he said. “Their red colour will be preserved as when planted in the European climate zones,” he said.

Some experts, however, are concerned about the adaptation of the red maple tree to the tropical weather of Việt Nam.

Forestry expert Nguyễn Quang Lâm said the varieties of maple trees should be chosen carefully and planted in nurseries in advance to test their resistance to the tropical climate.

“[We] tried planting maple trees of the Russian variety in Việt Nam, but they did not survive,” he told Tiền Phong.

Professor Lê Đình Khả, former director of the Institute of Forest Tree Improvement and Biotechnology under the Việt Nam Academy of Forest Sciences, said the maple trees should be monitored carefully during summer because they were cold-weather plants.

Nonetheless, Việt Nam’s climate is favourable for growing different varieties of flowers and trees, Chung said, adding the city was collaborating with some enterprises to develop plant nurseries to meet the demands of the city as well as for exports.

About 500,000 trees were planted in Hà Nội by the end of 2017 as part of the city’s efforts to have one million trees by 2020 to improve the air quality and urban landscape.

The city expects to have an average green area of 8sq.m per capita by 2030.

Chung said people in the city loved growing plants and flowers on their rooftops and in balconies and hallways. — VNS