Promoting the value of the Tree Planting Festival.

(Baonghean.vn) - During the traditional Lunar New Year, many activities take place, but the "Tree Planting Festival" remains an activity that makes a strong impression and is increasingly yielding positive results.

The Tree Planting Festival is an activity initiated by President Ho Chi Minh over 50 years ago. On November 28, 1959, he wrote an article published in the Nhan Dan newspaper calling on the entire nation to participate in the Tree Planting Festival. He argued that "planting trees costs little but brings many benefits," making "our country's landscape increasingly beautiful, the climate more temperate, and timber more abundant," and "making an important contribution to improving the people's lives..." President Ho Chi Minh's call deeply resonated with every cadre, Party member, and citizen, possessing immense practical and theoretical value. Therefore, it has been diligently implemented by all levels, sectors, units, and localities throughout the country. Every year, regardless of weather conditions, whether sunny or rainy, the Tree Planting Festival is celebrated enthusiastically throughout the country, from provinces to districts and communes.

The Tree Planting Festival is considered a ceremony to "break ground and prepare the land for the new year," and therefore is meticulously prepared in every aspect. It is held on the first day of the new year with the enthusiastic and responsible participation of officials, citizens, and students from all walks of life. From the highest-ranking leaders of the Party and State to leaders at all levels, sectors, localities, agencies, and units, as well as people from all walks of life nationwide, despite their busy schedules, they all make time to participate in the Tree Planting Festival.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam, Head of the Provincial Forestry Department, enthusiastically stated: "Tree Planting Festival marks the beginning of a year's plan, demonstrating profound humanistic values, especially in the current period when humanity is facing the disasters of climate change, making it even more impactful."

Nghe An - the birthplace of President Ho Chi Minh - every year after Tet, sometimes on the 4th, sometimes the 6th, or even the 8th day of Tet, the province solemnly organizes the tree planting festival. All the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial People's Committee, the leaders of provincial departments and agencies, along with representatives of the leaders of districts, cities, and towns, attend and participate in planting trees.

The annual tree-planting festival, instead of being held in a fixed location, is moved to a different locality each year. This has truly been effective in promoting and expanding the movement, contributing to the socialization of planting, caring for, and protecting forest resources.

In line with President Ho Chi Minh's guiding principles on the Tree Planting Festival, the Party and Government have implemented numerous policies and programs to promote the movement of land and forest acquisition, tree planting, and forest protection and development, while simultaneously creating jobs and improving the lives of households, especially those in mountainous areas. Households have learned to apply advanced techniques in seed selection to create new varieties for reforestation.

Some areas of mixed forests, degraded forests, and low-productivity, low-quality secondary forests have been renovated, converted, and replaced with higher-yielding, higher-quality forestry species. The awareness of forest and environmental protection among officials and the public has improved, and more and more organizations and households are planting and managing forests effectively, generating hundreds of millions of dong in income. Activities involving the exploitation and utilization of natural forests are gradually shifting towards forest restoration and regeneration.

The Tree Planting Festival is becoming a long-term competition that has contributed to closing the area of ​​barren land and hills, bringing forest cover to 53% in 2010, forming a system of protective pine forests combined with the regional economy, nearly 100,000 hectares of paper pulp forests, providing 300,000 m3 of planted timber annually, creating export goods worth over 30 million USD.

One of the greatest achievements of more than half a century of implementing the Tree Planting Festival movement was in 2009, when UNESCO recognized Western Nghe An as a World Biosphere Reserve. This event is of immense significance, once again affirming not only the results of the Tree Planting Festival but also highlighting the value of Nghe An's forests to human life.

At several recent international conferences on environmental protection against the threats of climate change, the role of forests was affirmed, defining the responsibility of nations, especially those with developed industries, to contribute financially to activities aimed at combating greenhouse gas emissions. Forestry activities are increasingly focused on protecting the environment, rather than simply harvesting timber. Consumer demand for timber products is gradually being replaced by artificial materials.

On September 24, 2010, the Government issued Decree No. 99 on payment for environmental services. Thus, from now on, those who plant and protect forests will be compensated for their efforts through emission payments from organizations, units, and individuals benefiting from forests, such as hydroelectric power plants, water supply companies serving agriculture and industry, and factories emitting CO2. This is truly a policy that promotes the tree-planting festival, transforming it from a unique traditional cultural practice into a global initiative to protect human life, a movement initiated by our beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

Literary Group