Planting native trees in Luan Thanh and Thang Loc Communes, Thanh Hoa Province

The Bread for the World (BftW) project has many activities related to disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation, including planting native trees to restore natural forests lost or degraded due to the planting of short-term acacia trees for the immediate livelihood of people in Thang Loc and Luan Thanh communes, Thanh Hoa province.

From January 7th to 10th, 2025, the BftW Project team, in coordination with the local authorities of two communes and villages, and the Thuong Xuan Protective Forest Management Board, inspected the planting of native trees, including two species of trees, Dipterocarpus and cinnamon, which had been distributed to people in 11 villages to plant on acacia land using two methods: intercropping with acacia trees or planting on harvested acacia land.

It is about 26,000 saplings of the Dổi tree (Dipterocarpus macrocarpus) and 23,000 out of 29,000 cinnamon trees (already distributed to households) have been planted on land previously used for acacia cultivation. Some households are clearing undergrowth after harvesting acacia trees to replant in preparation for the spring. Households that have registered to plant Dổi and acacia trees will continue to receive seedlings and plant them in the spring of 2026. The key lesson in successfully planting native trees is: Effective communication with local people about the long-term value of Dổi and cinnamon trees, rather than the short-term benefits of acacia cultivation which depletes the soil and increases the risk of landslides during flash floods, resulting in loss of life and property during the rainy season.

Local people and authorities, including the Party branch secretary and village heads, wholeheartedly supported the project. BftW project staff closely monitored the site, supervised and encouraged people to participate in the implementation according to the project planned.

.Nguyen Viet Nghi