ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Ethiopians have planted a record-breaking 805 million tree seedlings across the country in a single day on Monday, according to the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The nationwide tree planting event was held as part of Ethiopia's flagship Green Legacy Initiative. With tens of millions of citizens and foreign nationals having joined the campaign, Abiy announced on Monday that over 805.3 million tree seedlings were planted during the day.
According to Abiy, some 26.2 million Ethiopians turned out to participate in the event. He described the annual event as "a moment when Ethiopians from all walks of life come together to create a lasting legacy for generations to come."
Held under the theme "Let Us Plant Hope," the one-day campaign is said to reflect the country's vision of transforming environmental restoration into a shared national responsibility.
Marking its eighth consecutive year since its inception in 2019, the flagship reforestation initiative envisages the planting of over 8 billion seedlings during the ongoing planting season.
According to Abiy, more than 6.5 billion seedlings have been planted this Ethiopian year alone, and the remaining 1.5 billion seedlings will be planted in the coming months.
"Eight years of consistent action. The Green Legacy Initiative continues to grow stronger, driven by public commitment and the shared belief that, together, Ethiopians can nurture a greener, more sustainable future," Abiy said.
According to the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA), though only contributing 0.04 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the country is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, mainly due to its dependence on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources, as well as its relatively low adaptive capacity.
"Ethiopia is contributing very little toward climate change, but being affected very hugely. Ethiopia cannot stand alone on these triple planetary problems," Former EEPA Director-General Getahun Garedew told Xinhua, referring to climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution.
According to EEPA figures, there has been considerable evidence of climate change impacts in Ethiopia over the last 50 years, including rising temperatures.
Extreme weather events, like droughts and floods, have also become more frequent in Ethiopia.
According to Garedew, as the adverse effects of climate change persist, heavy rains, flooding and soil erosion are putting both urban and rural infrastructure at risk, particularly for the vulnerable segments of the population.
As Ethiopia works toward achieving its aspiration of building a green, lower-middle-income economy in the near future, the massive government-led tree-planting initiative has gained momentum.
It has become a flagship national environmental program aimed at restoring degraded landscapes, expanding the country's lost forest cover, strengthening climate resilience by combating deforestation, conserving biodiversity, and fostering sustainable development through mass tree planting and ecosystem restoration.
