Acting as an enormous “carbon sink”, trees soak up carbon dioxide from the air, producing life-giving oxygen in return. Trees make the living environment greener. Pham Luong Than, a resident in Long Bien district, Hanoi, said:

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“Trees are the lung of nature. Planting trees will make the air purer. People will be healthier in a purer and greener environment.”

Planting trees to protect the environment - Photo: vtv.vn

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Toyota Vietnam have launched a program “Greening School” aiming to plant 1,000 trees in 3 schools in Vinh Phuc, Nghe An and Dong Nai province. Hanoi plans to plant 1 million trees until 2020 as part of its efforts to become a green, civilized and modern city. Mai Trong Thai from the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment stressed the importance of raising public awareness of climate change, planting trees, and protecting the environment: “By 2020, we will use European standard vehicles. We need to increase public awareness and encourage them to protect the environment.”

Nguyen Van Tai, Head of the General Department of the Environment stressed the need to improve the management and development of natural resources and protect the environment to cope with climate change. Tai said planting trees is one of practical activities: “Planting trees is the way we connect to nature and create a green world, a green country, and a green locality. We need to increase links between the people, enterprises, and state agencies to mobilize resources to protect the environment."