Huge record: Ethiopia has planted 353 million trees in just twelve hours

Addis Ababa.– Ethiopia managed to plant some 353.6 million trees in 12 hours yesterday thanks to a government campaign to fight deforestation, which would mean a world record if the results were verified independently. The final figure was announced by the Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology, Getahun Mekuria, on his Twitter account.

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ETHIOPIA PLANTÉE
353,633,660 tree seedlings in 12 hours#GreenLegacyEthiopia#PMOEthiopia pic.twitter.com/TewfqNzXMN

– Dr.-Ing. Getahun Mekuria (@DrGetahun) July 29, 2019

The initial goal was to plant 200 million trees during the day – in a country of about 91 million inhabitants – but the target set by the government of the day was $ 200 million. Executive headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was eventually overtaken by more than 50%. The oldest known brand of this type was in possession of India, with nearly 50 million trees in July 2016.

In addition, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest number of trees planted in a day by one person is 15,170, a mark established by the Canadian Ken Chaplin in 2001. The ambitious planting campaign of 39, trees in Ethiopia is part of the initiative called Green Legacy, promoted on May 26 and to which the government aspires to plant 4 billion trees for the rest of the year.

To achieve this goal, every inhabitant of the country should plant at least 40 trees. Green Legacy aims to raise awareness and badume responsibility for reversing the degradation of the environment.

The government was expecting an important participation of the civil society and, to contribute, the offices of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, remained closed. Abiy himself contributed to a plantation in the south of the country.

In addition, social networks were filled with photographs of dozens of Ethiopians planting trees, shared under the #GreenLegacy ("Green Legacy") label. Mr. Abiy's initiative has been supported by several international organizations, including several United Nations agencies and international embbadies that have already planted their seeds.