Ethiopia's national tree campaign underway with aim to plant 700 million seedlings in one day

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia launched a national campaign on Thursday to plant 700 million trees in one day as part of an ambitious conservation initiative that aims to plant 50 billion trees by 2026.

The reforestation campaign has been a personal project of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since 2019.

Tesfahun Gobezay, state minister for the Ethiopian Government Communication Services, told reporters before 6 a.m. local time that some 355 million seedlings had already been planted by 14.9 million Ethiopians.

It was not possible to verify the government’s figures. Ethiopia has a population of more than 120 million people.

“We kicked off this year’s one-day green Legacy planting early this morning," Abiy said on social media platform X. “Our goal for the 7th year is 700 million seedlings. Let’s achieve it together.”

Authorities say some 40 billion tree seedlings have been planted since 2019. The target for 2025 is 7.5 billion trees.

Abiy took power in 2018 as a reformist. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with neighboring Eritrea but a war that erupted shortly afterward in the Ethiopian region of Tigray damaged his reputation as a peacemaker. He now he faces another rebellious uprising in the Amhara region.

Many public offices are closed Thursday to make time for tree planting. Thousands of public servants have been dispatched across the east African nation to help plant seedlings made available through the official bureaucracy.

At the break of dawn, many were seen planting trees in the capital Addis Ababa. At a site in Jifara Ber dozens of people were involved, including children.

Almaz Tadu, a 72-year-old grandmother, brought her grandchildren to a tree planting event she said reunites her with neighbors.

“I have come with my mother and this is my third time planting trees," said 13-year-old student Nathenael Behailu. “I dream of seeing a green environment for my country.”

Another Addis Ababa resident, Ayanaw Asrat, said he has heeded the call for the last three years. “I came early and I have so far planted 15 seedlings. I am very happy to contribute to creating greener areas across Addis," he said.

Abiy himself was active in Jimma, the largest city in the southwestern region of Oromia. Cabinet ministers were sent to other regions to support local officials.

But there are critics.

Kitessa Hundera, a forest ecologist at Jimma University, told The Associated Press that a "noble" reforestation initiative was being carried out by non-experts who could not define conservation objectives regarding site selection and other technical issues.

He cited concern over mixing exotic species with indigenous ones and the apparent failure to report the survival rate of seedlings planted over the years. He also doubted it was possible to plant 700 million seedlings in one day.

“Planting 700 million seedlings in one day needs the participation of about 35 million people, each planting 20 seedlings, which is practically impossible,” he said.

A participant plants local green plants in a park as part of Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative, which aims to plant 7.5 billion trees by the end of the year, at Jifara Ber site, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane)

A participant plants local green plants in a park as part of Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative, which aims to plant 7.5 billion trees by the end of the year, at Jifara Ber site, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane)

Participants plant local green plants in a park as part of Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative, which aims to plant 7.5 billion trees by the end of the year, at Jifara Ber site, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane)

A participant plants local green plants in a park as part of Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative, which aims to plant 7.5 billion trees by the end of the year, at Jifara Ber site, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane)

U.S., Danish and Greenlandic officials have met face to face to discuss President Donald Trump's ambitions to take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. At the same time, Denmark and several European allies are sending troops to Greenland in a pointed signal of intent to boost the vast Arctic island's security.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said after a meeting in Washington on Wednesday with his Greenlandic counterpart, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a “fundamental disagreement” remained. He acknowledged that “we didn't manage to change the American position” but said he hadn't expected to.

However, Wednesday's events did point to ways ahead.

Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. agreed to form a high-level working group “to explore if we can find a common way forward,” Løkke Rasmussen said. He added that he expects the group to hold its first meeting “within a matter of weeks.”

Danish and Greenlandic officials didn't specify who would be part of the group or give other details. Løkke Rasmussen said the group should focus on how to address U.S. security concerns while respecting Denmark's “red lines.” The two countries are NATO allies.

“Whether that is doable, I don't know,” he added, holding out hope that the exercise could “take down the temperature.”

He wouldn't elaborate on what a compromise might look like, and expectations are low. As Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen put it Thursday, having the group is better than having no working group and “it's a step in the right direction.” It will at least allow the two sides to talk with each other rather than about each other.

Trump has argued repeatedly that the U.S. needs control of Greenland for its national security. He has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.

Just as the talks were taking place in Washington on Wednesday, the Danish Defense Ministry announced that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland, along with NATO allies. France, Germany, Norway and Sweden announced that they were each sending very small numbers of troops in a symbolic but pointed move signaling solidarity with Copenhagen.

The U.K. said one British officer was part of what it called a reconnaissance group for an Arctic endurance exercise. The German Defense Ministry, which dispatched 13 troops, said the aim is to sound out “possibilities to ensure security with a view to Russian and Chinese threats in the Arctic.” It said it was sending them on a joint flight from Denmark as “a strong signal of our unity.”

Poulsen said that "the Danish Armed Forces, together with a number of Arctic and European allies, will explore in the coming weeks how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can be implemented in practice,” he said.

On Thursday, he said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” and to invite allies to take part in exercises and training on a rotating basis, according to Danish broadcaster DR.

While the European troops are largely symbolic at this point, the timing was no accident.

The deployment “serves both to send a political signal and military signal to America, but also indeed to recognize that Arctic security should be reinforced more," said Maria Martisiute, an analyst at the European Policy Center in Brussels. "And first and foremost, this should be done through allied effort, not by the U.S. coming and wanting to take it over. So it complicates the situation for the U.S.”

The European efforts are Danish-led and not coordinated through NATO, which is dominated by the United States. But the European allies are keen to keep NATO in play, and Germany said that “the aim is to obtain a well-founded picture on the ground for further talks and planning within NATO."

Poulsen has said he and Greenland's foreign minister plan to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday to discuss security in and around the Arctic. NATO has been studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic region.

“I’m really looking forward for an announcement of some kind of military activity or deployment under NATO’s framework,” Martisiute said. “Otherwise there is indeed a risk that ... NATO is paralyzed and that would not be good.”

Sylvain Plazy in Brussels contributed to this report.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

A man rides by on a quad bike past a row of Greenlandic national flags in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)