The words of a popular Vietnamese song about Hanoi celebrates thecity's tree-lined streets in autumn – "bright yellow celtis, tropicalalmonds with red leaves standing next to each other; old streets andancient houses with brown tiled roofs."
Written bylate composer Trinh Cong Son, one of the most popular song writers ofthe 20th century, Nho mua thu Hanoi (Missing
Hanoi in Autumn) has for decades provided an iconic image of the capital.
The words have been imprinted on the minds of every true Hanoian – and those who have visited or long to see the city.
The presence of old trees shading and colouring the capital's streets has inspired dozens of songs about Hanoi .
However, the lack of a master plan for the protection of road-sidetrees and poor management methods continue to threaten the very fabricof the city.
Nguyen Duc Manh, from State-ownedHanoi Park and Tree Company's Planning and Technique Department,says no specific research has been conducted on street trees, althoughthey make up a major part of the city's green areas.
Associate Professor Dam Thu Trang, dean of the Civil EngineeringUniversity's Landscape Architecture Faculty, says tree numbers andlocations are recorded in a haphazard way and that "digital technologyshould have been in place by now."
More than 44,000trees, belonging to 70 species, shade hundreds of roads and streets incentral Hanoi . Many of them are more than a century old.
Andreas Jarfe, an arborist from Germany , says he is amazed by the greenery in Hanoi .
"Street trees in Hanoi are beautiful, old, unique. I know all thenames of the trees in Germany but not many here," Jarfe says.
Duong Duc Tien, a biology professor, says many of the city's trees, often overlooked by Hanoians, are rare and valuable.
Despite the continual loss of trees due to urbanisation, their numberhas risen gradually year by year, says Manh, adding that there wereabout 42,000 in Hanoi 's nine districts ten years ago.
On average, the city plants between 1,500 and 2,000 new trees a year,and spends about 4 billion VND (210,000 USD) annually maintaining them,Manh says.
To boost survival rates, the municipalPeople's Committee on July 1 raised the special care period for newlyplanted trees from two to five years.
Meanwhile, mature and established trees are inspected and pruned monthly or quarterly depending on their condition.
Trang says the effort expended by city officials and the Hanoi Parkand Tree Company to maintain Hanoi 's trees is "tremendous".
Despite urbanisation, Pham Van Khanh, deputy director of Hanoi 'sNatural Resources and Environment Department, says every effort is madeto keep the city green. "Wherever possible, new trees are planted alongthe city's streets," Khanh says.
However, despite the valiant efforts of the authorities, street trees struggle to survive in the modern age.
"Trees in Hanoi face far greater problems than their cousins indeveloped parts of the world," Trang says. This is because of theever-expanding underground infrastructure of the streets, which limitsthe choice of trees and makes planting difficult.
"Ican see Hanoi has a similar problem to Germany but more severe –the trees are struggling because of the shortage of space for rootdevelopment," Jarfe says.
The narrowness of the manyshort streets and inadequate coordination among different sectors havealso proved a challenge, according to Trang.
Thelandscape architect said Hanoi 's streets were traditionally linedwith one or two species of tree. Now, she said, trees are planted almosthaphazardly and are rarely in keeping with the local architecture.
According to a Park and Tree Company report, typically 7 to 15different tree species now line each of Hanoi 's street, and in someplaces 18, instead of one or two only to make the street unique as itused to be.
Renowned lyricist Hoang Hiep used towalk along Nguyen Du Street hand-in-hand with his girlfriend. Whileaway from his beloved part of the city, he penned: "Nights full of thefragrance of pulai [sinensix] tree blossom," for the song Nho ve Hanoi(Thinking of Hanoi).
Similarly, Lo Duc street wasrenowned for its tall dark-trunked thingan trees (hopea odorata), LyThuong Kiet street for its flamboyant, Phan Dinh Phung, Le Thanh Tongand Tran Hung Dao streets for their sau trees (dracontomelum), Tran NhanTong street for styrax, and Ton Duc Thang Street for African Mahogany(khaya senegalensis).
Despite their love forVietnam , Trang and Tien admit that Hanoi owes much of its beauty tothe efforts of the French a century ago.
Tree planting nowadays is in its infancy, and landscape design leaves much to be desired, Tien says.
Maintaining a city's arboreal integrity comes at a price – each treeplanted in a German city costs about 1,000 USD and takes between 15 to20 years to mature, Jarfe says.
Although costs are lower in Vietnam and rainfall more plentiful, maintaining Hanoi 's 40,000 trees is no mean feat.
"The Park and Tree company has dozens of workers, but they cannotcope," Tien says, adding that the best solution would be for the Stateto join hands with the public.
It is a view supported by Nguyen Thi Ngan Giang, who lives on Quan Thanh street .
"Green trees have always been part of my street and my life. I would be delighted to help protect them," she says.
Trang says the State should hand over the trees it has planted tolocal residents, who would then be responsible for their upkeep.
"If the trees belonged to the residents they would do their best to protect them," she says.
Tien believes if that stratagy is adopted, residents would be lesslikely to nail signs to tree trunks, dump rubbish nearby, or hack awayat inconvenient branches.
Whatever city leadersdecide to do, Tien hopes with all his heart that urbanisation does notcome at the expense of Hanoi 's colourful heritage./.
Written bylate composer Trinh Cong Son, one of the most popular song writers ofthe 20th century, Nho mua thu Hanoi (Missing
Hanoi in Autumn) has for decades provided an iconic image of the capital.
The words have been imprinted on the minds of every true Hanoian – and those who have visited or long to see the city.
The presence of old trees shading and colouring the capital's streets has inspired dozens of songs about Hanoi .
However, the lack of a master plan for the protection of road-sidetrees and poor management methods continue to threaten the very fabricof the city.
Nguyen Duc Manh, from State-ownedHanoi Park and Tree Company's Planning and Technique Department,says no specific research has been conducted on street trees, althoughthey make up a major part of the city's green areas.
Associate Professor Dam Thu Trang, dean of the Civil EngineeringUniversity's Landscape Architecture Faculty, says tree numbers andlocations are recorded in a haphazard way and that "digital technologyshould have been in place by now."
More than 44,000trees, belonging to 70 species, shade hundreds of roads and streets incentral Hanoi . Many of them are more than a century old.
Andreas Jarfe, an arborist from Germany , says he is amazed by the greenery in Hanoi .
"Street trees in Hanoi are beautiful, old, unique. I know all thenames of the trees in Germany but not many here," Jarfe says.
Duong Duc Tien, a biology professor, says many of the city's trees, often overlooked by Hanoians, are rare and valuable.
Despite the continual loss of trees due to urbanisation, their numberhas risen gradually year by year, says Manh, adding that there wereabout 42,000 in Hanoi 's nine districts ten years ago.
On average, the city plants between 1,500 and 2,000 new trees a year,and spends about 4 billion VND (210,000 USD) annually maintaining them,Manh says.
To boost survival rates, the municipalPeople's Committee on July 1 raised the special care period for newlyplanted trees from two to five years.
Meanwhile, mature and established trees are inspected and pruned monthly or quarterly depending on their condition.
Trang says the effort expended by city officials and the Hanoi Parkand Tree Company to maintain Hanoi 's trees is "tremendous".
Despite urbanisation, Pham Van Khanh, deputy director of Hanoi 'sNatural Resources and Environment Department, says every effort is madeto keep the city green. "Wherever possible, new trees are planted alongthe city's streets," Khanh says.
However, despite the valiant efforts of the authorities, street trees struggle to survive in the modern age.
"Trees in Hanoi face far greater problems than their cousins indeveloped parts of the world," Trang says. This is because of theever-expanding underground infrastructure of the streets, which limitsthe choice of trees and makes planting difficult.
"Ican see Hanoi has a similar problem to Germany but more severe –the trees are struggling because of the shortage of space for rootdevelopment," Jarfe says.
The narrowness of the manyshort streets and inadequate coordination among different sectors havealso proved a challenge, according to Trang.
Thelandscape architect said Hanoi 's streets were traditionally linedwith one or two species of tree. Now, she said, trees are planted almosthaphazardly and are rarely in keeping with the local architecture.
According to a Park and Tree Company report, typically 7 to 15different tree species now line each of Hanoi 's street, and in someplaces 18, instead of one or two only to make the street unique as itused to be.
Renowned lyricist Hoang Hiep used towalk along Nguyen Du Street hand-in-hand with his girlfriend. Whileaway from his beloved part of the city, he penned: "Nights full of thefragrance of pulai [sinensix] tree blossom," for the song Nho ve Hanoi(Thinking of Hanoi).
Similarly, Lo Duc street wasrenowned for its tall dark-trunked thingan trees (hopea odorata), LyThuong Kiet street for its flamboyant, Phan Dinh Phung, Le Thanh Tongand Tran Hung Dao streets for their sau trees (dracontomelum), Tran NhanTong street for styrax, and Ton Duc Thang Street for African Mahogany(khaya senegalensis).
Despite their love forVietnam , Trang and Tien admit that Hanoi owes much of its beauty tothe efforts of the French a century ago.
Tree planting nowadays is in its infancy, and landscape design leaves much to be desired, Tien says.
Maintaining a city's arboreal integrity comes at a price – each treeplanted in a German city costs about 1,000 USD and takes between 15 to20 years to mature, Jarfe says.
Although costs are lower in Vietnam and rainfall more plentiful, maintaining Hanoi 's 40,000 trees is no mean feat.
"The Park and Tree company has dozens of workers, but they cannotcope," Tien says, adding that the best solution would be for the Stateto join hands with the public.
It is a view supported by Nguyen Thi Ngan Giang, who lives on Quan Thanh street .
"Green trees have always been part of my street and my life. I would be delighted to help protect them," she says.
Trang says the State should hand over the trees it has planted tolocal residents, who would then be responsible for their upkeep.
"If the trees belonged to the residents they would do their best to protect them," she says.
Tien believes if that stratagy is adopted, residents would be lesslikely to nail signs to tree trunks, dump rubbish nearby, or hack awayat inconvenient branches.
Whatever city leadersdecide to do, Tien hopes with all his heart that urbanisation does notcome at the expense of Hanoi 's colourful heritage./.
