People in Ethiopia planted more than 350 million trees to restore the natural landscape and fight climate change.
Ethiopia has undertaken a marvelous venture that is sure to help the planet thrive again. The landlocked East African nation next to the Horn of Africa (Somalia) has planted over 350 million seeds which may one day grow to be large trees that nourish the depleting ozone layer and cleanse the toxic atmosphere.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is overseeing this ambitious initiative as they aim to counter the effects of deforestation and climate change in the drought-prone country.
This is incredible. A big thank you to all Ethiopians who participated and to @PMEthiopia for this vision.— Lali Bella Aeyna 🔥 (@AeynaLali) July 29, 2019
Through mass mobilization...People from all corners of the country participated in the one-day initiative-July 29 GreenLegacy day. Now Ethiopia holds by far the highest world record in one-day reforestation!— ETHIOWATCH (@ethiowatch1) July 29, 2019
According to official sources, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate initially announced that more than 224 million trees were planted on Monday, surpassing the initial goal of 200 million trees planted in one day. "Today Ethiopia is set in our attempt to break the world record together for a green legacy," the prime minister's office tweeted on Monday morning.
At dawn on Monday, PM Ahmed planted trees in Ethiopia's southern region. Later that day, Ethiopia's Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria tweeted that more than 350 million trees were planted in 12 hours.
In case you didn’t know, the people of Ethiopia have just planted 350-million trees in a day to help tackle the climate crisis. A world record. 🌳🌲🌴🌱💚— Ulrich Janse van Vuuren (@UlrichJvV) July 29, 2019
We are making history today.#Ethiopia attempting to break the record for the most planted trees in a single day!— Melat Tekaligne (@melat_teke) July 29, 2019
Pictures from a planting site at Yeka, #AddisAbaba #GreenLegacy#አረንጓዴአሻራ pic.twitter.com/a0k6yz6EpZ
Ethiopia is in the midst of a tree-planting campaign in which it aims to plant 4 billion trees between May and October. It is not yet clear if the Guinness World Records is monitoring Ethiopia's mass planting scheme but the prime minister's office had specially developed software to help with the count, reports Telegraph.
The previous world record for planting trees in a single day was held by India, which used 800,000 volunteers to plant more than 50 million trees in 2016. According to Farm Africa, an organization involved in forest management in Ethiopia, less than 4 percent of the country's land is now forested, a sharp decline from around 30 percent at the end of the 19th century.
If every country can break records for planting trees like #Ethiopia — we can counter the effects of deforestation and climate change.— Amina J Mohammed (@AminaJMohammed) July 29, 2019
🌳 🌲 🌱 🍃
Every one of our actions, big and small, count for people and for planet. #GreenLegacy #ClimateAction #GlobalGoals @PMEthiopia pic.twitter.com/s61tw6kYcR
However, there are still critics who tout this move as a 'distraction' by PM Ahmed. According to them, there are far worse problems in Ethiopia that must be addressed, particularly the ethnic conflicts that have plagued the nation and led to the displacement of over 2.5 million people. Aside from that, Ethiopia, the second-most populous country in Africa, was the third poorest country in the world in 2000. Its annual GDP per capita was only about $650. More than 50% of the population lived below the global poverty line, the highest poverty rate in the world.
But with the second largest population in Africa after Nigeria, Ethiopia is now the fastest growing economy in the region. This growth was driven by government investment in infrastructure, as well as sustained progress in the agricultural and service sectors. More than 70% of Ethiopia's population is still employed in the agricultural sector, but services have surpassed agriculture as the principal source of GDP.
Today, our Embassy took part in the nation’s 200 mill seedlings a day planting campaign. The UK has been supporting the planting of an estimated 95 million trees through our contribution to the Productive Safety Net Programme and will continue to support Ethiopia’s #GreenLegacy. pic.twitter.com/cKtBK2FYHZ— UK in Ethiopia 🇬🇧 (@UKinEthiopia) July 29, 2019
After we plant those trees how about we clean up the streets of Addis Abeba and teach the importance of recycling. This will only get worse before it gets better. @PMEthiopia #addisabeba #ethiopia pic.twitter.com/BaHe5p2YJO— Opinionated 💅🏿 (@Opini0Nat3d) July 29, 2019
But that doesn't necessarily prove that this tree-planting scheme is in any way a 'bad thing'. After all, how can it be? It's planting trees! Schemes like these are beneficial not just for a nation or two, but the entire world. Regardless of any political conflicts, large ventures organized by heavy capital funding from governments and the private giants alike that go towards the preservation of the environment must never ever be overlooked or cast down upon.
Our world is in a dire ecological crisis, from depleting forests to melting ice caps to the gradual decline of several hundred species all over the planet. Planting millions of trees is not just a good thing, it's a vital task that each nation, community, and individual must undertake.
#Ethiopia plants 350m trees in a day to help tackle #climatechange.— African Center for Advocacy (@ACA_WeAdvocate) July 29, 2019
The project aims to tackle the effects of deforestation & climate change in the drought-prone country. According to the @UN, Ethiopia’s forest coverage was just 4% in the 2000s, down from 35% a century earlier. pic.twitter.com/Iol1UjaXzh