Call him Governor Green Thumb. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has launched a new project to plant over one million trees in an eastern suburb as part of his campaign to turn the Thai capital into a greener, more environment-friendly and livable city.

Shovel in hand, Chadchart personally broke ground on the project, digging into the earth in a public park to begin planting the first of 1.06 million trees. The trees will be distributed to nine districts with the vast majority planted by the end of this year. Community groups are being invited to take part.

“Chadchart has unveiled an ambitious initiative to breathe life into the city’s eastern suburbs,” wrote the Thai News website, praising what it called the Governor’s oxygen-infusing and eco-conscious effort.

This is the second tree-planting initiative launched by Chadchart. During his first year in office, he vowed to plant 1 million trees in the city, and he has already accomplished that goal. Now, he is extending that campaign by adding more trees outside of the city center.

Named after the lush plum fields that dominated its landscape two centuries ago, Bangkok earned a reputation as a concrete jungle when the city began its rapid development in the second half of the 20th century. Green spaces were bulldozed without hesitation to make way for roads, shophouses, shopping malls, office buildings and skyscrapers.

In recent years, many of the city’s people have been pushing back against what they see as overdevelopment. Some have been creating more green spaces on their own. Others have been demanding government do more to protect and restore the environment.

For its part, government has increasingly recognized that a greener city is good for its people and also to attract tourists to visit and foreign investors and businesspeople to come live and work in the capital.

In his election campaign, Governor Chadchart ran on a platform of turning the city green by building more parks, community spaces, planting trees and other measures.

“Bangkok’s green aspirations continue to flourish,” wrote Thai News. “It’s an invitation to the community to roll up their sleeves and dig in, quite literally. Selected sites provide the perfect playground for locals to get involved as their neighborhoods transform into lush retreats.”