LookAtVietnam – A project to build an ecological village has been launched in An San Village, Lao Cai Province, to protect the environment and promote afforestation.

Cleaning up: Young volunteers from the Go Green Club tidy a Lao Cai street.

This year, the project will focus on raising awareness about protecting the environment and developing ecological systems in the forests, gardens, hills and fields. The local people will also be given support to upgrade sewerage systems and build bio-gas kitchens and toilets.

The project will last through 2011 and include regular training courses and examinations.

Leaders from the MoNRE will inspect the project every June and December.

“Increasing the forested area and protecting the resources of soil and water in An San Village will help improve the environment and develop the economy,” said Akito Tachibana, general director of TMV.

An San is a small village in Coc San commune, 10km from Lao Cai town, on the Lao Cai-Sa Pa tourist route. The village has 40ha of forest, 30ha of agricultural land and a large area of fallow land. Due to lack of awareness about protecting the environment, the quality of the soil has become poor and the forest has shrunk.

Go Green

is an environmental protection programme implemented in multiple modules: Practical activities to protect the environment; and education and information campaigns to raise awareness about environmental protection and encourage the sustainable activities run by the community.

Young volunteers from the group help clean-up areas.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News