Nearly 200 employees from the Japan-invested Canon Vietnam Co. Ltd innorthern Bac Ninh province have joined hands with local young people inplanting trees for greener environment in the locality.

Thetrees, planted in the compound of Tien Du district hospital and alongprovincial road 278, were among the 5,000 trees Canon Vietnam haspresented to Bac Ninh province’s youth union in response to the latter’sprogramme “Green Journey” 2013.

DeputyDirector General of Canon Vietnam Motohashi Michio said the trees arethe most valuable gifts for Vietnam ’s future bright development.

The “Green journey” is a meaningful activity as it looks towards agreen – clean – beautiful environment and a society with sustainabledevelopment. It is also coupled with forest plantation and rubbishcollection.

The activity is seen as a follow-up of the nationaltree-planting campaign launched early this year in recognition of theimportance and practical benefits that tree plantation brings to thecountry especially in the context of climate change and environmentalpollution all over the world.

Tree planting has become anannual event in every spring since President Ho Chi Minh initiated theactivity in 1959 as part of effort to raise people’s awareness ofprotecting the environment.

According to the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development, as many as 2.45 million hectares ofland have been covered with green trees over the past years, bringingthe total area with forests in the country to 40 percent in 2011 from 32percent in 1998.-VNA