Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee launched the 2026 tree planting festival at Lang Le Cultural Park in Binh Loi commune on May 19, marking the 136th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19) alongside the rollout of the “City of Blossoming Colours” campaign.
The event not only responded to President Ho Chi Minh’s historic call for tree and forest planting but also reflected the city’s determination to pursue a green urban development strategy, climate change adaptation, and net-zero emissions by 2050.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Bui Minh Thanh recalled that more than 66 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh launched the tree planting festival with a strategic vision for environment protection and sustainable development. The late leader’s teaching remains deeply relevant and has become a cultural tradition in Vietnamese society, he said.
With Ho Chi Minh City facing mounting challenges from climate change, flooding, rising sea levels, and the urban heat island effect, Thanh said expanding green spaces is no longer a symbolic movement but an urgent requirement to protect the environment and lift living standards. Despite rapid urbanisation and high population density, the city’s per-capita green space still lags well behind that of major regional peers, he noted.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Bui Minh Thanh speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)
During 2021–2025, the city exceeded its target under the PM’s one-billion-tree scheme, with more than 16 million new trees planted. Building on that run, it now aims to push urban green coverage above 1 sq.m per person by 2030, while stepping up greenhouse gas reduction initiatives on the way to Net Zero by 2050.
A defining feature of this year’s launch was the selection of Binh Loi commune, at the western gateway, as the starting point for the 2026 green campaign. Once a heavily bombed “white belt” scarred by acidic soil and harsh conditions, Binh Loi has transformed and is now recognised for its yellow apricot blossom growing area and its strides in new-style rural and ecological development.
Covering nearly 22 ha, Lang Le Cultural Park is envisioned as a multifunctional ecological and cultural complex that serves as a “green lung” for the city’s west. Plans envision integrating ecological conservation with protection of canal systems, native vegetation and the historical legacy of heroic Binh Loi.
Following the ceremony, local leaders and residents planted 503 trees at the park, including valuable timber, shade and flowering species such as rosewood, redwood and crape myrtle, selected for landscape impact and suitability to local ecological conditions.
As part of the event, the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers’ Association, the Department of Agriculture and Environment and partners signed a memorandum of understanding to respond to the “City of Blossoming Colours” campaign for 2026–2030. Accordingly, they will coordinate the planting of 176,000 trees citywide and deliver 152 green projects.
Various units and community groups also pledged support, contributing seedlings, fertilisers and trees./.
