ULAN BATOR, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has planted a total of 42 million trees across the country since the launch of its national tree-planting campaign in 2021, the country's presidential press office said Thursday.
In addition, at least 63 million seedlings have so far been stocked, it said, urging the public to actively take part in the upcoming National Tree Planting Day.
The land-locked Asian country is expected to observe the country's largest tree-planting and nature care event on May 11.
In October 2021, Mongolia launched the nationwide tree-planting campaign "Billion Trees" as the country's President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh told the United Nations General Assembly that the campaign aims to plant at least a billion trees by 2030 to combat desertification.
Desertification related to climate change has been the main factor behind the increasing frequency of yellow dust storms in Mongolia in recent years, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said.
Desertification and land degradation have already affected 77 percent of Mongolia's total territory, and 11.89 percent of that is now covered by forests, according to the ministry. ■
