15.3.1 – Sustainable use, conservation and restoration of land (policy)
The University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) regards the protection of land resources, maintenance of green spaces and preservation of terrestrial ecosystems as important components of its strategy to become a Multidisciplinary and Sustainable University. Based on the Green Campus Regulations issued under Decision No. 2059/QĐ-ĐHKT-CSVC in 2022, UEH maintains requirements for protecting and caring for trees, managing waste, preserving landscapes and strengthening environmental responsibility across its campuses. In 2025, UEH further translated these commitments into action through campus greening initiatives, particularly at UEH Nexus Campus, tree planting and community landscape improvement programmes, and expanded applied research collaboration on the conservation and restoration of coastal mangrove ecosystems in the Mekong Delta.
1. Policy orientation
UEH’s policy on preserving existing vegetation and landscapes, preventing land pollution and expanding green spaces is institutionalised in the UEH Green Campus Regulations, issued under Decision No. 2059/QĐ-ĐHKT-CSVC in 2022. The regulations establish the responsibilities of staff, employees, students and affiliated units to jointly maintain landscapes, protect the environment, use resources efficiently and participate in environmental activities on campus.
In 2025, these regulations continued to be maintained, refined and implemented through two main approaches: expanding campus green spaces and conducting research and community consultations on ecosystem conservation and restoration.
2. Core provisions of the policy
Under Article 5 – UEH requires staff, employees, students, organisations and individuals operating on campus to maintain cleanliness and landscapes, prevent environmental pollution and protect existing trees. UEH also encourages everyone to plant, care for and develop greenery to maintain campus landscapes and biodiversity.
Article 13, Clause 2 – Establishes the principle of minimising impacts on natural ecosystems during new construction. Priority is given to preserving existing trees, expanding green areas and open spaces, and applying green infrastructure solutions. This provision helps integrate environmental protection requirements from the early stages of facility design, planning and investment.
Article 12, Clause 4 – UEH encourages the implementation or joint organisation of education, research, knowledge transfer and community service activities to conserve natural ecosystems, protect biodiversity, conserve rare fauna and flora, and control alien species.
Article 5, Clause 6 of the Green Campus Regulations requires the protection and care of trees across UEH campuses
Public source: UEH Green Campus Website, ‘Green Campus Regulations’
https://gogreen.ueh.edu.vn/en/green-campus-regulations
Article 9, Clause 5 – Encourages tree-planting programmes, expansion of green spaces and ecosystem restoration as part of emission reduction and carbon offsetting efforts. In addition, Article 15, Clause 7 – Assigns responsibility for directing specialised units to research, develop and implement community outreach programmes on ecosystem conservation and restoration, protection of species of conservation concern, and biodiversity monitoring.
Article 15, Clause 8 – Establishes responsibility for integrating local biodiversity, ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of land and water resources into facility planning, investment and development, prioritising designs that conserve existing trees and minimise impacts on natural ecosystems.
Article 13, Clauses 1 and 2 encourage green infrastructure solutions to improve microclimates, reduce ecosystem impacts and conserve trees through green roofs, green walls and open spaces.
UEH implements, monitors, evaluates and continuously improves these provisions through its programmes, while updating and communicating policies, receiving feedback and periodically reviewing implementation. This provides a foundation for progressively strengthening systematic governance of land resources and terrestrial ecosystems and linking policy commitments with practical actions. UEH’s activities at its campuses and partner localities in 2025 are presented below.
3. Integrating tree conservation and development into campus planning, construction and operations at UEH
Under the Green Campus Regulations, UEH continues to maintain, care for and expand trees across its educational facilities, integrating ecological landscaping into campus and infrastructure development. Specifically, UEH maintains diverse greenery at campuses A, B, N, E and H and its dormitories. At Campus N alone, UEH recorded 155,598 plant units in 2025, an increase of 1,817 plants compared with 2024. This reflects UEH’s emphasis on expanding vegetation and green areas across its campuses.
Notably, during the construction of the Campus N Dormitory (UEH Green Living Hub), UEH installed and inventoried its outdoor planting system, recording 13 plant groups comprising a total of 1.817 planted units. These include 586 Crinum asiaticum (spider lilies), 300 bird-of-paradise plants, 200 spider plants, 188 Madagascar periwinkles, 170 ferns, 148 split-leaf philodendrons, as well as bougainvillea, peace lilies, Monstera plants and Barringtonia trees, among others. The inclusion of different plant groups in the dormitory landscape demonstrates UEH’s approach to student accommodation that integrates vegetation and green landscaping, enhancing environmental quality and promoting sustainable use of built space.
By maintaining existing greenery and adding new planting at Dormitory N, UEH progressively puts into practice the principles of vegetation protection, green infrastructure development and environmental impact mitigation in campus development. This supports the management, conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems associated with the university.
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Green spaces maintained and expanded across UEH campuses
4. Evidence of programmes and events implemented in 2025
| No. | Programme/
Project |
Format/
Category |
Description | Public source |
| 1 | Women4Mangrove – Mangrove conservation linked to community livelihoods | Applied research project; Field surveys; Cooperation with local authorities and community consultation | On 10 December 2025, UEH collaborated with the People’s Committees of An Thạnh and Cù Lao Dung communes in Cần Thơ City to launch the Women4Mangrove project, alongside a thematic discussion on mangrove conservation and sustainable livelihoods. The event brought together local authorities, experts and community representatives to discuss forest conservation and mangrove ecosystem protection, emphasising women’s empowerment and the development of sustainable educational agritourism in the Mekong Delta. The project aims to establish a women-managed nursery and reforestation training centre, with a target of restoring five hectares of mangroves during the project period.
In 2025, the project also expanded international connections and exchanged experience in Thailand (November 2025) and the Netherlands (December 2025), helping refine the project model and inform future scaling.
Delegates attending and contributing to the thematic discussion
Delegates, partners and the Women4Mangrove project team at an international professional exchange forum |
UEH Portal, Cần Thơ Newspaper, December 2025 |
| 2 | UEH Day 2025 – “Together Root for Tomorrow” | Tree planting and green space development event | On 24 July 2025, as part of UEH Day 2025 in Khánh Hòa Province, UEH organised the ‘Together Root for Tomorrow’ initiative, planting 300 trees at UEH Nexus Campus. The activity enhanced the landscape, promoted a green and sustainable academic environment, and strengthened UEH’s environmental responsibility. It formed part of a series of community and environmental activities involving nearly 900 UEH staff and employees.
UEH lecturers and staff planting 300 trees at UEH Nexus Campus in Khánh Hòa |
UEH Portal, ‘Community and Environmental Activities with UEH: Together We Share’, 24 July 2025 |
| 3 | Green Sunday – ‘Sharing Love, Planting Hope’ | Tree planting; Volunteering to protect community landscapes | On 30 March 2025, the Youth Union and Student Association of UEH’s School of Business Information Technology organised the Green Sunday programme, ‘Sharing Love, Planting Hope’, in Qui Đức Commune, Bình Chánh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Eleven student volunteer groups participated directly in tree planting at sites assigned by local authorities and in collecting litter in public areas.
Students planting trees and removing weeds in the local community
Students cleaning streets and the Hóc Hưu historical memorial site |
UEH Green Campus Website, ‘Recap of Green Sunday 2025: Sharing Love, Planting Hope’, 31 March 2025 |
| 4 | Forest Envoys 2 – Wildlife Conservation Awareness Campaign 2025 | Educational event and academic competition; Environmental volunteering | In March 2025, the Youth Union and Student Association of UEH’s School of Tourism organised the Forest Envoys 2 campaign on responsible tourism and wildlife conservation. The programme combined education about protected species with tree planting and clean-up activities at Ấp 12 Park in Phạm Văn Hai Commune, Ho Chi Minh City, school outreach and a wildlife conservation knowledge competition. The campaign recorded 70 participating students, 80 competing teams and more than 2,000 students engaged.
The wildlife conservation awareness campaign generated over 200,000 views, reached 60,000 people and received 7,000 interactions, helping raise awareness of the need to end poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking.
Students decorating walls to communicate wildlife conservation messages
Students sweeping and collecting litter at a children’s playground
Final round of the academic competition on wildlife conservation laws, ‘Responsible Tourism Must Go Hand in Hand with Wildlife Conservation’ |
UEH Green Campus Website, ‘Wildlife Conservation Awareness Campaign 2025 – Forest Envoys 2, UEH School of Tourism’, 31 March 2025 |
| 5 | ‘Volunteer Saturday – Green Sunday 2025’: Protecting the land environment and improving landscapes in Tân Kiên Commune, Bình Chánh District | Volunteer campaign; Landscape protection education and green lifestyle practices | The Youth Union and Student Association of UEH’s School of Economics organised a Green Sunday activity on 23 March 2025 along Hưng Nhơn Road, Tân Kiên Commune, Bình Chánh District, Ho Chi Minh City. UEH students collected rubbish, removed weeds, cleared overgrown vegetation and cleaned roadside areas, helping reduce land pollution from waste, improve the landscape and keep public spaces clean. The activity promoted student engagement in environmental protection and encouraged responsible stewardship of shared land and landscapes.
Students cleaning Hưng Nhơn Road in Tân Kiên Commune, Bình Chánh District, Ho Chi Minh City |
UEH Portal, ‘Volunteer Saturday – Green Sunday 2025 Programme of the School of Economics’, 19 May 2025 |
| 6 | UEH Green Visit – Sharing the Green Campus Operations and Living Lab Model | Professional visit; Sharing good practices in green campus management | On 22 April 2025, UEH welcomed representatives from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese-German University, and the Management Board of the VNU-HCM Dormitory Centre for a visit and exchange on the Living Lab model and UEH Green Campus. The visitors explored 15 products within the UEH Green Campus ecosystem and toured Campuses B and N, which feature green space design, waste sorting, renewable energy and resource reuse. The visit demonstrated how UEH implements landscape protection, environmental impact mitigation and sustainable use of campus space, while sharing the model with other educational institutions.
Representatives visiting UEH campuses and learning about landscape protection, environmental impact mitigation and sustainable campus land use |
UEH Green Campus Website, ‘Green Visit: Welcoming Universities and the VNU-HCM Dormitory Centre Management Board to Explore the Living Lab and UEH Green Campus Project’, 26 April 2025 |
5. Conclusion
Building on the Green Campus Regulations, UEH continued to implement principles of tree protection, landscape preservation, pollution prevention and efficient resource use in 2025. Its commitments to conservation, restoration and sustainable land use are reflected in the following activities:
Conservation and development of vegetation: Planting 300 trees at UEH Nexus Campus, maintaining greenery across campuses and adding 1,817 planted units from 13 plant groups to the landscape;
Environmental improvement and support for ecosystem restoration: Organising Green Sunday activities, tree planting and public-space clean-ups, and implementing the Women4Mangrove project in Cù Lao Dung through surveys, community consultations and the development of a mangrove restoration approach;
Sustainable use of land resources and landscapes: Integrating green spaces into facilities planning and sharing experience in sustainable campus management through the UEH Green Campus – Green Visit programme.
Building on its 2024 foundations, UEH continued to implement its policy on sustainable land use, conservation and restoration through tangible activities on university-managed campuses and in partner localities. By doing so, UEH progressively links vegetation conservation, environmental improvement and sustainable use of land with institutional governance, research and community service responsibilities, contributing to indicator 15.3.1.