From Berlin to Yen Bai: 10,000 trees for Vietnam

The idea was visible on screens at the trade fair halls in the German capital: Back in January 2020 during International Green Week, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) initiated the “10,000 trees in ten days” campaign. Six months later, 10,000 seedlings are indeed enriching the Yen Bai Province in northern Vietnam.

This connects the visitors of the international food and agricultural trade fair in Berlin to Vietnam according to the motto: One world, one climate. Forests are dying all over the world, and the consequences affect us all in the form of climate change, which is only becoming worse. International Green Week is not only about consumption; it is also about raising awareness about consumption, nutrition and the need for sustainability. “The days on which we planted the trees were like a celebration that we were delighted to be a part of,” said Lò Văn Mới, a resident of the Hat II village. “Forests heal people. The forest will give people water, improve air quality and ensure that the ground does not erode. Furthermore, the next generation will also have wood to build their houses.“

Forests heal people. The forest will give people water, improve air quality and ensure that the ground does not erode.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) developed the idea of planting trees in December 2019, and the Protection Forest Management Board in the Vietnamese community of Tram Tau took over from there. The local authorities created an area for reforestation and agreed a plan with the experts at the GIZ; the foundation for this was laid at the trade fair in the form of a challenge.

Visitors could not only find information about the latest trend of cricket chips or digital agriculture, but also about the social, economic and climactic importance of forests. Visitors could collect points on interactive modules at the BMZ stand, for example during games, and then decide to swap their points for a sustainable give-away or take part in the donation campaign and donate the points for a tree in Vietnam. The aim was not only the important task of planting new trees, but also raising awareness of sustainable consumption.

The visitors won a total of 10,000 points. After, the Tram Tau Protection Forest Management Board collaborated with the neighbourhood committee in the Hat Luu district to organise a consultation workshop with the local community.

“The village residents were initially hesitant about working on a project funded from abroad,” said Vu Thi Uyen, the technical expert of the Tram Tau Protection Forest Management Board. “But once we explained to them that the trees were there to stay and they would be paid for work that would benefit them, they were all delighted to take part.” The result of this consultation: The Forest Management Board signed up 40 households from Hat Luu to perform the project work and began reforestation. The village residents cleared the vegetation by hand, removed large stones and rocks and dug out several holes to fill them later with humus for planting the trees.

This preparation work meant that a team from the Forest Management Board could begin coordinating the planting of the trees in May 2020. After the seedlings were transported to the villages, they were distributed among the residents who brought them to the planting sites.  To ensure that as many of the planted trees as possible survive, the technical experts of the Forest Management Board gave training courses in planting techniques. An inspection is scheduled in August to check the planted trees and replace any dead trees. The Forest Management Board is planning to use this initiative as a model for further forest planting projects in future. “Our old forests were almost gone”, says Lường Văn Chiến – head of the Hat I village. “But this project will help to restore them, which makes us very happy.” And suddenly, only a few tree lengths separate Berlin from Tram Tau.