Ethiopia’s ‘600 Million Seedlings a Day’ national tree planting drive kicks off

Addis Ababa, August 23, 2024 (FBC) – People across Ethiopia are enthusiastically converging at planting sites in their local communities as the country embarks on its monumental initiative to plant 600 million trees each day. This effort is part of the annual Green Legacy Initiative, which adopts the powerful slogan, “A Country that Plants; A Generation that Sustains!”

This rainy season, Ethiopia aims to plant a staggering 7.5 billion seedlings across 2 million hectares of land. As reported by the Ministry of Agriculture, approximately 6.8 billion seedlings have already been planted.

The Agriculture Ministry emphasized that the seedlings are carefully selected to match the ecological conditions of their respective areas, with the dual goals of enhancing soil and water conservation while promoting biodiversity. Over 120,000 nurseries across the nation have prepared the seedlings, with 56 percent comprising edible fruit varieties and the remainder focused on forest development and environmental protection.

“A paradigm and mindset shift is needed for the change we want to see in our Green Legacy endeavors. Our goal for this year is to reach 40 billion seedlings from our overall target of 50 billion, which means we need to collectively plant 7.5 billion seedlings this planting cycle. For anyone who wants to leave a legacy for future generations, we must invest in the future today,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) underscored.

“Protecting and caring for biodiversity is not a luxury but a survival.” Like many nations, Ethiopia faces the challenges of climate change, including floods, soil erosion, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. The country’s commitment to this initiative has garnered international acclaim, positioning the country as one of environmental stewardships both in Africa and globally,” the Premier emphasized.

Since the inception of the Green Legacy Inititive in 2019, Ethiopia has successfully planted 32.5 billion saplings and is on track to meet its goal for the current planting season, which includes today’s ambitious target of 600 million seedlings. Last year, Ethiopia set a record by planting over 566 million seedlings in a single day, surpassing its initial target of 500 million.