(VOVWORLD) - Buon Ma Thuot, the capital city of Dak Lak province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, is one of the greenest cities in Vietnam, with 8 square meters of green space per resident. Its abundant green space makes Buon Ma Thuot a pleasant city to live in and a popular tourist destination. This is the result of a decades-long tree-planting effort.
On the first day of 2022, Nguyen Thi Loan and her five co-workers from a local urban environment company were tending flowers at the President Ho Chi Minh Monument on Le Duan street. These environmental workers are artisans who keep the city looking clean and beautiful. Loan is satisfied when their work is acknowledged by the public.
Loan said, “People come to enjoy the landscape and have fun in this public space. I feel great hearing compliments on our efforts to keep this place clean and beautiful.”
Leisurely walking around Son La park in his neighborhood, Tran Duc Hoa of Tan Thanh ward is pleased by its transformation from a deserted piece of land where social evils often took place into a large, well-maintained park.
Hoa said, “We are glad to have a space to exercise, play, and relax. We consider this park the lungs of Buon Ma Thuot city. I’ve been to many other places in Vietnam but Buon Ma Thuot is the greenest of all, thanks to the investment and planning of the central and local authorities.”
 Buon Ma Thuot city in the Central Highlands |
From a city full of war remnants and red dust, Buon Ma Thuot has, for a short period of time, prospered. Its development encapsulates an environment-friendly, community-centered approach. Every street corner, flower garden, park, and square is esthetically crafted.
Tran Thi Yen of Tu An ward took her little daughter for a walk on New Year’s day. She couldn’t help feeling pleased by Buon Ma Thuot’s green areas. She told VOV, “I love it that parks and tree-lined streets are everywhere. The air is purified by the trees. I really enjoy my life here.”
Buon Ma Thuot city has encouraged agencies, villages, and house owners to preserve old trees and plant new ones. Greenery has become a draw of the Central Highlands hamlets.
According to Vo Ky of Buon Ma Thuot’s urban management office, a first-class city is required by the province to have 6 square meters of green space per resident. By the end of 2021, the average rate in the inner city was 8.11m2 and 17.4m2 for the whole city, one of the highest rates in the country. In response to a government appeal to plant one billion trees by the end of 2025, Buon Ma Thuot has planted 6,000 trees and will plant more indigenous trees in 2022.
Ky said, “We plant mainly indigenous flowers and trees such as Kơ nia or Irvingia in our gardens and parks.”
 Buon Ma Thuot city |
Vu Van Hung, Chairman of the Buon Ma Thuot municipal People’s Committee, said, “Our goal is to increase our tree coverage per person to 9 square meters in the inner city and 18 square meters overall. It won’t be easy, because as the population grows, the green area dwindles, but we will still stick to that goal and encourage everyone to plant at least one tree at the annual tree-planting festival. All new urban areas will have flower gardens.”