With the goal of breaking the record of planting 600 million saplings in a single day, Ethiopians from all walks of life participated in a statewide tree planting drive on Friday.
With the goal of breaking the record of planting 600 million saplings in a single day, Ethiopians from all walks of life participated in a statewide tree planting drive on Friday.
Under the theme “A Nation that Plants, a Generation that Perseveres,” the nation of East Africa is holding a nationwide planting campaign as part of its yearly aim to plant an astounding 6.5 billion trees during the current rainy season.
In light of a comparable event that occurred on July 17 of last year, when Ethiopians planted more than 566 million trees in a single day throughout the nation, the daily campaign, if successful, will set a new record.
Over the years, Mahlet Solomon, a teacher in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has been an active participant in the tree-planting program. Together with other members of the school community, Solomon said she successfully planted ten saplings on Friday morning in a protected area on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.
“Planting trees is a great project that contributes to environmental preservation and the restoration of our destroyed forests. Shortly after her planting action, Solomon told Xinhua, “This should be a priority for climate adaptation efforts not only in our country but also worldwide.”
Solomon also underlined the significance of striking a balance between these measures and the preservation of the nation’s current forest regions in addition to guaranteeing the survival of the recently planted saplings.
As of 2 p.m. local time, the campaign, which began at around 6 a.m. local time, has resulted in the planting of over 402 million saplings, according to the most recent data from the Ethiopian Government Communications Service. Over 19 million Ethiopians have taken part in the program, which has planted tree saplings on roughly 161,000 hectares of land thus far.
The Green Legacy program, an extensive tree planting initiative spearheaded by the government and spanning across Africa’s second most populous country, is gaining traction as Ethiopia readies itself to tackle the negative impacts of climate change and counteract desertification.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, stated that by the end of Friday’s nationwide tree planting campaign, the nation will have planted about 40 billion seedlings since the Green Legacy initiative was introduced in 2019. This is a result of the initiative gaining popularity among Ethiopians from all walks of life.
The GreenLegacy program was introduced approximately six years ago with the primary objective of advancing Ethiopia’s intention to develop a green, lower-middle-income economy in the near future. The initiative is a component of the government’s ambition to reclaim the nation’s devastated forest resources.Fifty percent of the seedlings planted in the last year, according to the prime minister, were aimed at preventing land degradation, preserving soil, and ensuring food security.In order to aid with water conservation measures, he also urged for the national tree-planting initiative to be strengthened.
Experts frequently blame Ethiopia’s growing deforestation rate for the worsening effects of climate change. The second-most populated country in Africa has lost a substantial amount of its formerly rich forest cover in recent decades.
Ethiopia is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, despite contributing only 0.04 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA). This is primarily because of Ethiopia’s high reliance on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources, as well as its relatively low capacity for adaptation.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, representatives from the EEPA stated that because East Africa is the country most affected by climate change, it is imperative that it develop its capacity for climate resilience.
Heavy rains, flooding, and soil erosion are endangering both urban and rural infrastructure as the negative impacts of climate change continue, especially for the most vulnerable population in Ethiopia.
The huge tree-planting operation was also intended by the Ethiopian government to aid in the nation’s attempts to ensure food security, primarily through the planting of edible plant species.
According to information provided by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, multipurpose fruit tree seedlings, which are important for both commercial and food security in the nation, will make up about 60% of the 6.5 billion seedlings that are expected to be planted during this rainy season.
The ministry recently revealed that the 6.5 billion seedlings to be planted this year will primarily be planted between June and September as part of the tree planting campaign. It stated that the seedlings were grown in 132,144 nursery locations across the nation.
