ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has set a world record by planting 350 million trees in a day. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is leading the project, which aims to counter the effects of deforestation and climate change in the drought-prone country.
The UN says Ethiopia’s forest coverage declined from 35% of total land in the early 20th Century to a little above 4% in the 2000s.
Mr Abiy launched the tree-planting exercise as part of his Green Legacy Initiative, which is taking place in 1,000 sites across the country.
Officials were assigned to count the seedlings being planted by volunteers, reports BBC’s Kalkidan Yibeltal in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria tweeted that more than 350 million trees were planted in 12 hours.
BREAKING NEWS!!
ETHIOPIA PLANTED
353,633,660 TREE SEEDLINGS IN 12Hours#GreenLegacyEthiopia#PMOEthiopia pic.twitter.com/TewfqNzXMN— Dr.-Ing. Getahun Mekuria (@DrGetahun) July 29, 2019
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