The people of Ethiopia broke a world record when they plantedĀ more than 353 million trees in 12 hours, according to CNN.Ā
The plantingĀ spree was part of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's "Green Legacy" reforestation campaign. The goal was to get 200 million seedlings planted in just a 12-hour time span. Millions of Ethiopians took part in theĀ initiative, and six hours into the challenge, Ahmed tweeted they were closing in on their goal.Ā
"We're halfway to our goal," Ahmed tweeted before encouraging the citizens to "build on the momentum." With this extra push fromĀ Ahmed, Ethiopians well exceeded their expectations.Ā
"353,633,660 Tree Seedlings Planted in 12 Hours," EthiopianĀ minister for innovation and technology,Ā Getahun Mekuria, shared onĀ Twitter. The totalĀ surpassedĀ the world record ofĀ 66 million trees planted in 12 hours, which was set by India in 2016.
The motive behind theĀ initiative was to help reverse the changes to the climate that were created by deforestation. Currently, Ethiopia is a drought-prone country and according to the UN, the country's forest coverage is only at four percent,Ā a drasticĀ change from the last century, when 35 percent of the country was covered in forest. Ethiopia became one ofĀ 20 other African countries to join theĀ African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative in 2017.Ā
