“Spring is the season for tree planting/ Making the country more and more springy” is the saying of President Ho Chi Minh when launching the first Tree Planting Festival in 1959. From Uncle Ho's teachings, in the first days of the new spring, people from urban to rural areas are excited to plant forests, creating a traditional beauty, a unique spring feature, bringing great values for today and future generations. For them, this year's spring has a more special meaning than ever.
In the place of "rich in the mountains"
On the "spring opening" day of February 3 (the 6th day of Tet), from early morning, all the forests in the district were bustling with the chatter of the people. On the road from the district to the forest of Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thanh's family, Party Cell Secretary, Head of Khe Loong Ngoai village (Thanh Son commune, Ba Che district), despite the increasingly heavy rains of spring, we easily caught the image of the people here quickly planting new seedlings such as: Acacia, cinnamon, giổi... For the people here, they have long considered the forests as "Second home" to protect and care for. Therefore, for them, this spring is even more special because this year's spring is the first tree planting season after storm No. 3.
Mr. Thanh's forest is located not far from provincial road 330 leading from the district center to the village. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at his forest. Mr. Thanh was planting giổi trees. Stopping, Mr. Thanh shared: For nearly 5 months now, since the storm, my family has started working from dawn, without seeing each other clearly, in order to work a little more. The storm has destroyed our family's forest, leaving only a few cinnamon and giổi trees... surviving. Everything has to be rebuilt, and our capital is not much left. Hiring workers to clear the forest, traders to buy fallen trees... is extremely difficult. So we have to work hard, try to do as much as possible, and then our parents, siblings, and children will help, contribute labor and money. Therefore, taking advantage of favorable weather, we immediately started planting the forest in the spring to revive it soon.
Ba Che is the locality with the largest total forest and forest land area in the province with nearly 57,000 hectares, accounting for 93.4% of the total natural area. For many years, forestry has brought jobs, income, and profits for local people to make a living, raise children, and save money.
However, storm No. 3 has left the forest workers here "in a state of disarray". Overcoming difficulties, with will, determination and hard-working hands, the people here are still and continue to be attached to the forest. "Even after storm No. 3, looking at the desolate scene of the forest after the storm, when there was nothing left in our hands, we never thought of abandoning the forest but only planned how to rebuild it. We consider gains and losses as the ups and downs of the profession, we accept it, we will revive it, and the forest will grow green again. Just love the forest, love nature, the forest will repay us a lot" - Ms. Ninh Thi Hoa , Khe Put Ngoai village (Thanh Son commune) confirm.
To make the forest greener, this year the biggest goal set in the concentrated forest planting plan of Ba Che district is to overcome, rebuild, and restore the forest area damaged by storm Yagi. In the near future, the dilapidated forests will be covered with green again by new generations of trees, more vibrant and greener.
Mr. Khieu Anh Tu, Vice Chairman of Ba Che District People's Committee, said: To restore the forest after the storm, this year Ba Che district strives to plant 5,000 hectares of concentrated forest, including 100 hectares of large timber forest of ironwood, lat, and giổi species. Therefore, the district has proactively promoted, mobilized, and supported people to clear forests broken by storms, prepare forest areas for planting, and actively sow seedlings. In particular, the district has completed support payments according to provincial regulations to 2,445 households whose forests were damaged by storms with an area of over 13,000 hectares and a total amount of over 43 billion VND, thereby helping people have more capital to reproduce and regenerate forests after storms, increasing forest cover to nearly 56%.
Then the forest will grow green
Storm No. 3 has destroyed over 128,800 hectares of forest in the province, including over 112,800 hectares of planted forest and over 16,000 hectares of natural forest, many forests were destroyed, collapsed, causing great damage to the forestry sector. The above figures show that the level of damage to the forestry sector caused by Storm No. 3 is very severe.
Without "crying", without waiting, without relying, the people of Quang Ninh have promoted their internal strength, overcome the damage, and gradually restored production strongly.
The province has directed localities and units to immediately develop and implement support policies for forest owners, urgently develop a project to reconstruct the forestry sector, restore urban trees, restore landscapes, and restructure crops in a sustainable manner. From this push, people have immediately started to harvest the fallen production forest area, clean up the scene, focus on forest fire prevention, prepare seedlings, and prepare the scene to ensure sufficient conditions for planting new forests.
Entering 2025, the province strives to plant 31,847 hectares of concentrated forests, including 2,724 hectares of protective forests and 29,123 hectares of production forests. This is an unprecedentedly large number, 2.4 times higher than the 2024 forest planting target, demonstrating the province's high determination in developing and restoring forestry production after the storm. Therefore, right from the first days of the spring crop, the province launched the Tree Planting Festival in localities, agencies and units in the area. The Tree Planting Festival has long become a major festival, a unique traditional and cultural beauty of Vietnam that has been preserved, developed and spread by our people. For Quang Ninh, this year's Tree Planting Festival has a greater significance. Because this year's Tree Planting Festival is the starting event for the spring forest planting season, at the same time, it contributes significantly to the regeneration of forests after the storm.
In the bustling atmosphere of the first days of the new year, people in the province are excited to plant forests with full of hope. On the first day of spring, localities and units in the province planted more than 112,000 trees with an area equivalent to 112 hectares.
Mr. Giap The Hoa, Ban Cau village (Luc Hon commune, Binh Lieu district) said: After storm No. 3, my family received more than 13 million VND in support from the province and local authorities. With this money and the family's capital, this spring crop, my family will plant about 40,000 acacia, giổi, and cinnamon trees, ensuring the entire forest area damaged by the storm this crop.
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Minh, Permanent Vice Chairman of Ha Long City People's Committee, said: To motivate people to actively join hands to restore the forest area affected by storm No. 3, the city organized a launching ceremony for the 2025 Spring Tree Planting Festival in the meteorological hill area, Bai Chay ward - one of many areas damaged by fallen trees after storm No. 3 with more than 2,000 Lagerstroemia, Royal Poinciana, Bauhinia combined with lat hoa, and pine trees planted on an area of over 1.6 hectares. In addition, the city has directed 31 communes and wards to simultaneously organize a Tree Planting Festival with large trees and native trees in the upstream areas of irrigation works, domestic water, protective forests, and special-use forests, contributing to "greening" the forests, striving to complete the goal of planting over 21,500 hectares of forest by 2025.
Walking among the newly planted trees, listening to stories of overcoming storms, protecting forests, and regenerating forests, we understand more deeply the love of those who are always concerned with forests. They are people of different ethnicities, from different localities, and their affinity for afforestation is also different, but what they have in common is a strong love. For them, each tree planted, cared for, and protected is not only a love for nature, but also a priceless gift for future generations.
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