Ethiopia plants 350 million trees.
In 12 hours.
The Ethiopian government’s strategy aims to combat deforestation and the effects of climate change. Only 4% of the African country is covered by forests and 80% of the population depends on agriculture as a means of livelihood.
The massive initiative, called “Green legacy” and launched by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, covered the whole country: all citizens were invited to plant trees, including civil servants.
Some offices have been closed to allow officials and workers to participate in the plantations. And at the end of the 12-hour duration of the initiative, a total of 353 million, 633 thousand and 660 trees were planted. An enormity, considering that in 2017 India had set a record 66 million in 12 hours.
The reason for this initiative
The effort of the Ethiopian government aims to give a decisive boost to reforestation. According to Farm Africa, an organization that works on reforestation in East Africa and helps farmers to get out of poverty, now less than 4% of Ethiopia’s territory is covered by forests.
At the end of the 19th century it was 30%. The country also suffers from the effects of the climate crisis: soil degradation, soil erosion, deforestation, drought and recurring floods aggravated by intensive agriculture.
80% of the population of Ethiopia, Farm Africa always reports, depends on agriculture, but even 35% of Ethiopians do not have enough food for their livelihood.
In 2017, Ethiopia joined over 20 other African nations by pledging to restore 100 million hectares of land as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative.
Source: SkyTg24