Attending the ceremony were Hoang Van Nghiem, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and head of the provincial delegation of National Assembly deputies; Lo Minh Hung, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Council; Nguyen Dinh Viet, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; and Cha A Cua, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial VFF Committee, among others.

Implementing the teaching of late President Ho Chi Minh “For the benefit of ten years, we must plant trees; for the benefit of a hundred years, we must cultivate people,” Son La has consistently identified tree planting as a task of strategic importance, closely associated with the province’s comprehensive development for both present and future generations. Accordingly, at the beginning of each Lunar New Year, officials, Party members, civil servants, public employees and people of all ethnic groups across the province launch tree- and forest-planting activities, marking the start of the annual afforestation movement.

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, underscored that the tree-planting and afforestation movement not only signals the beginning of a new year but also represents a practical step toward concretising the Party’s major policies on sustainable development, climate change adaptation, environmental protection and nature conservation.

To ensure that the movement achieves substantive, far-reaching and lasting results, he called on agencies, units, grassroots authorities and the entire population to focus on planting trees in protection forests, expanding production forests and promoting dispersed tree planting in both urban and rural areas to improve landscapes and contribute to building green, clean and beautiful new-style rural areas. He also urged the creation of favourable conditions for organisations and individuals to invest in production forests and forest-product processing, develop eco-tourism, and promote forest product processing and exports that meet international standards. In addition, he emphasised the effective implementation of forest environmental service payment policies; the acceleration of carbon absorption and sequestration services and the development of a forest carbon credit market; and the strengthening of forest management and protection, with timely and effective prevention and handling of violations of laws on forest protection and development.

Immediately following the ceremony, provincial leaders and other delegates planted more than 1,000 ‘ban’ (Bauhinia) trees, mahogany trees and various flowering species along the Chieng Sinh – Chieng Ngan route.