Prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration has been mobilizing for months for what it called “Green Legacy” project which aimed at planting over 200 million trees in a single day.
Government affiliated media, Fana Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), cited the coordinating committee of the project to report that 353,633,660, trees have been planted across the country.
Religious leaders, workers, business people, actors, members of the Ethiopian Defense force, senior government officials, students, among others, have participated in the campaign.
From opposition groups, it is reported that Dr. Berhanu Nega, Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party, planted tree in Yeka plateau in the capital Addis Ababa.
Prime minister Abiy Ahmed seized his working visit opportunity in Wolaita, in Southern Ethiopia, to plant a tree during today’s tree-planting campaigns.
Patriarch of Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Mathias, kicked off the tree planting campaign in Jijiga Ethiopian Somali region along with the regional president Mustafa Mohammed Omar.
President Sahlework Zewde took part in a tree-planting campaign in Gonder, where she was in a working visit.
As well, members of the diplomatic communities in the capital took part in the campaign to plant over 200 million trees and have planted in
Over the last decades, Ethiopia lost much of forest coverage across the country due to deforestation. Currently, the forest coverage is said to be below 3 percent.
Organizers of the green legacy campaign and Abiy Ahmed’s administration pride itself by claiming world record with the 200 million trees in a day campaign.
According to Guinness World Records, the record for individuals was registered in 2001 in Canada. Ken Chaplain planted 15,170 trees in one day in Saskatchewan.
In terms of tree planting by volunteers, the highest number of trees planted is India in 2016, as per The National Geographic report. About 50 million trees were planted on June 11, 2016.
Join the conversation. Like borkena on Facebook and get Ethiopian News updates regularly. As well, you may get Ethiopia News by following us on twitter @zborkena
Humble Opinion
Needless to say, it is a worthy project with the obvious worthy undertaking of PLANTING LIFE instead of wanton destruction of a beautiful country based on hatched genocide by individuals for the own grandeur. The Ethiopian people — similar to other people around the Globe — are NOT inherently destroyer of Natural Richness of the country. Individuals do; and devilishly goad a society to destruction for they own devilish needs.
It is best work to combat global warming. world society should follow Ethiopia’s best practice!
The mark of a true custodian of the planet earth…May others follow the lead.
Ethiopian population census count was postponed for the third time due to “security” concerns.
Many say the forestation of City of Addis Ababa and city of Dire Dawa surroundings is given more especial attention so that Querro Oromos live in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa surrounding forests by receiving Addis Ababa’s and Dire Dawa’s ID cards they can vote with, at the next election which is likely to be postponed until these trees grow up.
It is our obligation to contribute our time,energy and knowledge for our special country.
Excellent news!!! Man is the main culprit that scarred the landscape that used to lush with green flora and it the same mankind job to rehab it to its former glory. This endeavor deserves nothing but praise and encouragement. I hope this will grow up to be a nationwide event on yearly basis or on fixed time table such as once in two or three years. Now the question that came to me is who is gonna look after these newly planted trees to make sure they have taken roots? Who is gonna protect them from that goat?