ADDIS ABABA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government has announced its plan to plant more than 8 billion seedlings during the upcoming rainy season as part of the national reforestation drive.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Saturday that the country has raised and readied more than 8 billion seedlings as part of this year's edition of the flagship Green Legacy Initiative, which saw the planting of tens of billions of trees over the past few years.
Abiy called on Ethiopians from all walks of life to take part in the annual planting campaign and to "plant hope for a greener tomorrow" through the nationwide initiative.
The Ethiopian government, upon the "successful completion" of the 2025 planting campaign, had announced that the East African country had planted over 48 billion tree seedlings within a six-year period.
With the addition of more than 8 billion new tree seedlings, the country aims to surpass its ambitious goal of planting 50 billion trees that was set upon the launch of the Green Legacy Initiative back in 2019.
Since its introduction proposed by the PM, the initiative has become a flagship national environmental program aimed at restoring degraded landscapes, expanding the country's lost forest cover, strengthening climate resilience by combating deforestation, conserving biodiversity, and fostering sustainable development through mass tree planting and ecosystem restoration.
As part of the initiative, tree seedlings have been cultivated across hundreds of thousands of nursery sites established throughout the country, with a particular emphasis on multi-purpose fruit tree seedlings to drive the dual aspiration of restoring the country's depleted forests while also augmenting food security. ■