India Plants 50 Million Trees in One Day, Smashing World Record

The world record for most trees planted in one day used to be 850,000 saplings planted by Pakistan in 2013 – now, thanks to 800,000 Indian volunteers, that record is 49.3 million.

The volunteers from Uttar Pradesh spent 24 hours planting 80 different sapling species on public lands as a means of meeting the country’s environmental promises made during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

MORE: Village in India Plants 111 Trees Whenever a Girl is Born

The nation had promised to spend $6 billion on reforesting 12% of its lands, boosting forest cover by 2030. Since the top four of the most polluted cities in the world by particulate matter concentration are all in India, the forestry will hopefully reduce the country’s amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

“The world has realized that serious efforts are needed to reduce carbon emissions to mitigate the effects of global climate change,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said at an event promoting the planting.

Plant Some Positivity: Click To Share – Photo by Bioversity International, CC