Ethiopia Breaks World Record With More Than 350 Million Trees Planted In 12 Hours

Ethiopia has broken the world record for the most trees planted in 12 hours.

The country of Ethiopia is making headlines for putting the Earth first. In just 12 hours, Ethiopians planted over 350 million trees in 12 hours. The move was a part of a bigger picture, a reforestation campaign named “Green Legacy,” spearheaded by the country’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Millions of Ethiopians around the county were invited to join the challenge, and within the first six hours, Ahmed tweeted that nearly 150 trees had been planted.

“We’re halfway to our goal,” he said, as he encouraged Ethiopians to “build on the momentum in the remaining hours.” After the 12-hour period ended, the Prime Minister took to Twitter again to announce that Ethiopia not only met its “collective #GreenLegacy goal,” but exceeded it. A total of 353,633,660 tree seedlings had been planted, the country’s minister for innovation and technology, Getahun Mekuria, tweeted.

Farm Africa, an organization that works on reforestation in East Africa and helps farmers out of financial crisis, says less than four percent of Ethiopia’s land is forested. Back in 2017, more than 20 African nations pledged to restore 100 million hectares of land as a part of the African Forest landscape Initiative. 

Eighty percent of Ethiopia’s population depends on agriculture as a livelihood, CNN reports.