TREE PLANTING WORLD RECORD SET BY ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populated country, broke a world record when they planted 353,633,660 tree seedlings on a single day (July 29, 2019). https://psmag.com/news/ethiopians-tackle-the-climate-crisis-with-350-million-new-trees). In the late 1800s, dense natural forests covered more than one-half of Ethiopia. Ethiopia was known as the “water tower of Africa”. The dense forests are mostly gone, and water is increasingly scarce. The rapid increase in Ethiopia’s population, along with land scarcity and a changing climate, has led to growing pressure on the land, particularly in the highlands, which have 95% of the country’s cultivated land. As a result soil degradation, and especially erosion pose a severe threat to Ethiopia’s 
The tree planting campaign was part of a national reforestation campaign to reverse the soil degradation. Trees offer many agricultural, environmental, economic and social and can help lead to a better quality of life (https://www.bgky.org/tree/benefits). The people of Ethiopia are to be commended for tree-planting effort and record.