Hanoi (VNA) - Inspired by President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching, “For the benefit of ten years, plant trees; for the benefit of a hundred years, cultivate people,” the Tet Tree Planting Festival in gratitude to him has, over the past 66 years, become a cherished tradition and a nationwide movement, bringing tangible benefits to the country.
On January 11, 1960 (the first day of the Year of the Rat), then President Ho Chi Minh planted a bayan tree at Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi, officially launching the tree planting festival. Since then, this event has evolved beyond a mere annual spring activity to become a cherished cultural tradition with long-term significance for the nation’s development.
On February 23, 2026 (the seventh day of the first lunar month), the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in coordination with Lao Cai province, launched the 2026 festival at the Lao Cai Cultural Park project site in Cam Duong ward.
Politburo member and Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang said that in 2025, Vietnam planted more than 285,000 hectares of forests and 108 million scattered trees. Timber and forestry exports exceeded 18 billion USD, with a trade surplus of 14.8 billion USD. Revenue from forest environmental services reached 3.94 trillion VND (approximately 158 million USD), while forestry production value grew by 5.7%. The national forest coverage rate remained stable at 42.03%.
Looking ahead to 2026, the ministry and the forestry sector aim to maintain growth momentum and achieve their targets.
Key priorities include raising public awareness of forest values, effectively implementing forestry policies, linking socio-economic development with environmental protection and climate resilience, and promoting tree planting, afforestation, non-timber forest products, and agroforestry in line with green and circular economy strategies, as well as eco-tourism development.
On day earlier, Party General Secretary To Lam attended the launch of the annual tree planting festival at the grounds of the Communist Party of Vietnam Museum project in Hanoi.
The ceremony, held by the Hanoi administration in coordination with the Minitry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security, also took place simultaneously across 126 communes and wards of Hanoi.
Addressing the ceremony, General Secretary Lam highlighted remarkable improvements nationwide 66 years since the first tree planting festival, with expanded forest coverage and better public awareness of environmental protection.
He pointed out increasingly severe climate change with complicated natural disasters, as well as deforestation in certain places, requesting tree planting must be sustained on a larger scale and that planting must go hand in hand with nurturing and forest protection.
Each locality must select right species to cultivate in right locations, ensure tight and long-term management, and foster a love for nature in the community, especially the younger generation, he demanded.
The leader underlined the Party and State’s consistent viewpoint of pursuing economic development without compromising the environment. He emphasised that economic growth must be inextricably linked to environmental preservation, and the development of modern cities must ensure the protection of “green lungs” for the public.
Hanoi must take the lead in green space per capita, General Secretary Lam went on, noting this is an important criterion for evaluating citizens' quality of life, and that Party committees and authorities at all levels must prioritise the development of greenery and water systems as a core task in the capital’s urban planning.
He urged a resolute stance against sacrificing green spaces for unsustainable commercial projects so as to transform Hanoi into a true “city within a forest, forest within a city.'" Hanoi aims to plant 80,000 – 100,000 trees in the festival’s first phase by the end of March and raise the figure to about 400,000 this year./.
