{"id":49853,"date":"2020-01-02T21:05:52","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T19:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.csregypt.com\/?p=49853"},"modified":"2020-01-02T21:05:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T19:05:52","slug":"ethiopia-breaks-world-record-by-planting-over-350-million-trees-in-one-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csregypt.com\/en\/ethiopia-breaks-world-record-by-planting-over-350-million-trees-in-one-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia breaks world record by planting over 350 million trees in one day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethiopia has recently broken a new world record by planting over 350 million trees in a single day within the framework of an ambitious tree-planting program to combat climate change.<\/p>\n

Under the country\u2019s National Green Development program\u2014launched in May 2019 in a bid to combat climate change and environmental degradation\u2014Ethiopia plans to plant 4 billion trees on 1.5 million hectares across the country: 40 trees per person.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change impacts have greatly affected Ethiopia in terms of flooding, drought and food insecurity,\u201d says Margaret Oduk, Program Coordinator of UN Environment Program\u2019s (UNEP) Liaison Office to the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one hand, lowland areas are experiencing increased temperatures and prolonged droughts which in turn affects livestock rearing. On the other hand, highland areas are experiencing more intense and\/or irregular rainfall, which together with high temperatures result in decreased agricultural production.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2017 alone, the country lost over 2 million animals due to drought. Furthermore, environmental degradation\u2014exacerbated by increased human use of land, unsustainable agricultural practices, indiscriminate grazing of animals and the collection of firewood for household energy\u2014has contributed to reduced land cover and protection against soil erosion, which in turn is further reducing forest cover,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The government recently established a five-member expert group to monitor and assess the tree-planting program. Members are drawn from four ministries, the United Nations Development Program, as well as Ethiopia\u2019s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission. The plan is to devolve responsibility to relevant institutions and local authorities for planting, monitoring progress, and improving the survivability of seedlings.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia has a huge and youthful population,\u00a0with 69 per cent of its 104 million people under the age of 29<\/a>. The prime minister has called for youth to engage voluntarily in their respective communities to support the campaign.<\/p>\n

Currently, the United Nations is not monitoring Ethiopia\u2019s tree-planting efforts. \u201cHowever, as we start the\u00a0UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021\u20132030<\/a>, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and UNEP will start to collect data on ecosystem restoration actions that countries take. A current starting point is the\u00a0Bonn Challenge Barometer<\/a>,\u201d explained UNEP ecosystems expert Tim Christophersen.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia has pledged to restore 15 million hectares of degraded forests and landscapes by 2030, as\u00a0part of the \u201cBonn Challenge\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis amount of land will be more than sufficient to absorb 4 billion trees,\u201d said Christophersen. According to a\u00a0study published in Science in July 2019<\/a>, there is space for up to 1 trillion additional trees globally, on 0.9 billion hectares of land.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to note that planting trees and using land for other purposes, such as agriculture, are not mutually exclusive. Agroforestry is the science of combining tree growing with agriculture, often resulting in higher food yields and\/or better-quality soil. For example, shade-grown coffee does well,\u201d said Christophersen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are also a number of trees across Africa and elsewhere that can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere as fertilizer in the soil, and thus support agricultural productivity. It would be a mistake to assume that more trees would necessarily mean less agriculture. Sustainable agriculture and forestry practices will need to be a big part of restoration in Ethiopia and in other countries,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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Volvo Cars seeks to become climate neutral by 2040<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n