On February 23, in Cam Duong ward, Lao Cai province, President Luong Cuong attended the launching ceremony of the Binh Ngo Spring Tree Planting Festival 2026, calling on all levels, sectors and people to join hands in developing forests and building a sustainable green economy.
Also attending were Politburo Member Tran Duc Thang - Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and leaders of many central and local ministries and sectors.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Luong Cuong recalled that more than 66 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh initiated the Tet tree planting movement. Since then, this activity has become a beautiful spring cultural feature, spreading widely throughout society and bringing many practical benefits to the country.
In recent years, the work of planting trees, afforestation and forest protection has continued to be actively implemented by all levels, sectors and people.
In 2025 alone, the whole country planted more than 285,000 hectares of concentrated forests, 108 million scattered green trees; export turnover of timber and forest products reached over 18 billion USD, of which the trade surplus was 14.8 billion USD. Forest environmental service revenue reached nearly 4,000 billion VND, the forest cover rate remained stable at 42.03%.
President Luong Cuong highly appreciated the achieved results, and emphasized that in the face of the increasingly clear impacts of climate change, environmental pollution and biodiversity decline, all levels and sectors must not be subjective.
The tree planting movement needs to continue to go deeper, associated with people's livelihoods, effective resource management and proactively responding to climate change.
The President affirmed that forest development is a long-term strategic investment, not only creating economic value but also ensuring sustainable livelihoods, especially for mountainous people. Vietnam needs to strongly promote green economy, circular economy, and participate more deeply in the global green value chain, contributing to the implementation of the commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.
For Lao Cai, the President acknowledged that the locality is one of the bright spots in forest management, protection and development. The province has planted more than 100 million trees in the One Billion Tree Planting Project for the period 2021–2025, ranking second in the country; the field of agriculture and forestry is increasingly affirming its pillar role in socio-economic development in the border area.
President Luong Cuong requested Lao Cai to continue to promote its advantages, do a good job of protecting headwater protection forests, developing valuable medicinal herbs and forestry products, and at the same time linking biodiversity conservation with preserving local cultural identity.
At the same time, calling on ministries, branches, armed forces, businesses and people to actively respond to the movement of planting trees and afforestation; each person becomes a "green ambassador", joining hands to build a green, clean, beautiful and sustainable Vietnam.
Immediately after the launching ceremony, delegates and local people participated in planting trees in the Lao Cai Cultural Park project area, opening the 2026 tree planting movement nationwide.
