Vietnam on April 21 urged people to take action to stop polluting the rivers and lakes and protect water resources in response to the Earth Day 2013. Let's stop the operations that cause water pollution" is the theme of this year's Earth Day. The event is jointly held by the Center for Environmental Research and Community, the General Department of Environment, the U.S. Embassy and the FPT Corporation.
More than 300 volunteers participated in the event, held at Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi on April 21, with many different activities such as running around the Bay Mau Lake, picking up rubbish in the park, displaying paintings, environmental products and signing a commitment to protect the environment.
Similar activities were also held at the lakes of Nam Dong, Ngoc Khanh, Den Lu and Quang An in Hanoi.
According to Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Ly - Director of the Center for Environmental Research and Community, Vietnam has 2,360 rivers that are over 10 km long and thousands of lakes and ponds. However, the water quality of rivers and lakes tends to be heavily polluted due to economic activities and human activities.
Ms. Claire Pierangelo, deputy U.S. ambassador said: "Hanoi is a beautiful and ancient city with and long history. But its lakes and ecosystems are under increasing pressure as the population increases".
"We're here, though from the government, the political society, and businesses, but as a community, because we want to keep Hanoi always clean and beautiful," she said.
The Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 for the purpose of raising awareness and mobilizing the people to act to protect the value of the natural environment globally. The Earth Day was first proposed in the U.S. in 1970. In 2009, the event was recognized by the United Nations and launched globally and attracted hundreds of millions of participants every year.