Nearly 200 employees from the Japan-invested Canon Vietnam Co. Ltd in northern Bac Ninh province have joined hands with local young people in planting trees for greener environment in the locality.

The trees, planted in the compound of Tien Du district hospital and along provincial road 278, were among the 5,000 trees Canon Vietnam has presented to Bac Ninh province’s youth union in response to the latter’s programme “Green Journey” 2013.

Deputy Director General of Canon Vietnam Motohashi Michio said the trees are the most valuable gifts for Vietnam ’s future bright development.

The “Green journey” is a meaningful activity as it looks towards a green – clean – beautiful environment and a society with sustainable development. It is also coupled with forest plantation and rubbish collection.

The activity is seen as a follow-up of the national tree-planting campaign launched early this year in recognition of the importance and practical benefits that tree plantation brings to the country especially in the context of climate change and environmental pollution all over the world.

Tree planting has become an annual event in every spring since President Ho Chi Minh initiated the activity in 1959 as part of effort to raise people’s awareness of protecting the environment.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as many as 2.45 million hectares of land have been covered with green trees over the past years, bringing the total area with forests in the country to 40 percent in 2011 from 32 percent in 1998.-VNA