Thousands of Vietnamese people will turn off the lights and electric equipment for one hour, starting from 8.30 pm of March 26 in response to the 2011 Earth Hour.

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue will be host of the campaign in Vietnam this year. This is the third time Vietnam has joined the event, launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) with the aim of curbing global warming.

By March 7, 29 provinces and cities confirmed their participation in the event and the number is expected to increase.

WWF has set up a forum at www.beyondthehour.org in 11 languages, including Vietnamese so that enterprises, organisations and citizens around the globe are able to share their experiences in environmental protection.

The Earth Hour was first held in Sydney, Australia in 2007 with two million participated people turning off lights. In 2010, 128 countries joined the campaign.

The Vietnam Earth Hour, jointly held by the WWF in Vietnam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, was first organised in Hanoi in 2009.