Photo: thanhnien.vn
The plantation is to restore 7ha of degraded forest and to help create a safe and healthy home for many endangered species such as the Gaur, Grey Langur, Northern White-cheeked Gibbon, and Roosevelt's Muntjac.
The afforestation area of Xuan Lien Nature Reserve was formerly used as residential and agricultural land by the local people. When the Nature Reserve was established, people migrated out, leaving areas where forests needed to be restored.
Fifteen species of trees will be planted in the 7ha of forest including timbers and muti-purpose perennial trees, including: Erythrophleum fordii, Chittagong Wood, Fokienia hodginsii, Cinnamomum, Garcinia cowa, Hopea odorata, Cinnamomum parthenoxylon, Pterocarpus macrocarpus, Michelia mediocris, Giant Crape-myrtle, Nauclea orientalis, Khaya senegalensis, and Bauhinia purpurea.
Each hectare of plantation forest can absorb about 95-123.2 tons of CO2 per year, contributing to climate change mitigation. In addition, afforestation activities in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve also help improve the ecological function of the forest, and enhance the recreation, education and science value of the forest. This will result in a safe and healthy habitat for many endangered species.
After the launch a month ago of the campaign entitled “Contributing a tree to make Xuan Lien forest”, we have received the support of SAITEX International, Purité Baby and BOO Trading Joint Stock Company, and 144 individuals and other groups. Each contributor included a meaningful message to coincide with the planting such as: I love the forest, let’s grow fast, for the baby’s green world, a tree is a house.
One highlight of this program is that the forest will be monitored, and taken care of for 4 years to ensure the stable development of seedlings, and as such the survival rate of the trees should be 70-80%. Gaia cooperates with Xuan Lien Nature Reserve to conduct research, monitor the forest, and then will update the public. Some aspects reported are: tree survival rate, tree size, overall health of the forest, diseases, photos of tree monitoring and the forest landscape, and the current status of the forest flora and fauna.
After a period of preparation for soil, seedling and the plantation sites, all 4,500 trees were planted by staff from Gaia Nature Conservation, Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, local people, and representatives from donors.
In the future, Gaia will continue to promote the program "Planting and monitoring community forest" in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve and many other watershed forests throughout the country such as: Ca Mau National Park, Ben En National Park, Dong Nai World Biosphere Reserve, Tram Chim National Park, BiDoup Nui Ba National Park, and Can Gio World Biosphere Reserve.
Since 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has chosen March 21st as "World Planting Day" to call for local and national efforts to grow trees and raise awareness on forest conservation, and sustainable development./.