Thu Duc authorities have handed out another 34,000 saplings to 34 wards for planting.

The campaign is in response to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s demand last November for planting one billion trees in the country in the next five years to mitigate the recent extreme weather, which he blamed for causing deadly floods and landslides.

HCMC chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said at the tree planting event on Sunday the city’s public parks remain at 500 hectares (1,235 acres), or 0.55 square meters per person, much below than the target of seven square meters.

Promising that Thu Duc City "will not trade its environment for economic growth," he called on it to factor in climate change response and environmental protection while fostering socioeconomic development.

HCMC would seek out the experiences of other major cities around the world in environmental protection and development of transportation and infrastructure that are sustainable in terms of social, environmental and climatic factor, he said.

Thu Duc chairman Hoang Tung said since HCMC is urbanizing rapidly it faces challenges in protecting the environment, but wants to send a message to the public to keep the environment clean and green.

In January HCMC authorities said they were considering building seven parks and planting trees on an area of 12.2 hectares in various districts.

The parks will come up in Thu Duc City and Districts 7, 12, Hoc Mon, Tan Binh, and Cu Chi.