Lap’s project, Tre Mo, is a 10,000-square-meter forest garden located in U Minh Thuong District, Kien Giang Province. The project emphasizes sustainability and utilizes pesticide-free cultivation techniques to grow a variety of fruit trees, vegetables, and medicinal herbs. Tre Mo is one of the three projects to receive a grant from the Rut Ngan Khoang Cach (Narrow The Gap) 2020 program, a grassroots community development initiative developed by the LIN Center for Community Development.
As a Vietnamese non-governmental and not-for-profit organization operating under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, LIN aims to support community development projects in southern Vietnamese cities and provinces. The selected projects, including Tre Mo, will be implemented within one year. Nguyen Thi Ngan Khanh, LIN’s PR and marketing manager, provides further information on the program.
Lap believes in the potential of forest gardens, which are designed agronomic systems that mimic natural forests by combining trees, shrubs, and perennial plants. Originally from Dong Thap Province, Lap has taken steps to introduce forest gardening to local farmers and promote clean and sustainable farming practices. Alongside his consultancy work on a forest garden in Cam My District, Lap has traveled extensively to forests in different regions of Vietnam to develop his expertise and understanding of farming practices.
Lap’s motivation to promote forest gardening stems from his concern for the unstable livelihoods of local farmers, who face challenges such as salinity, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Forest gardening offers an alternative by providing diverse produce, increasing productivity and income, reducing crop risk, and contributing to ecosystem restoration and climate change adaptation.
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