Over the last few decades, Ethiopia had launched several tree planting schemes including one led by an august sounding institution, the Ethiopian Millennium Secretariat, that envisioned planting nearly two billion trees in 2007, but none surpass the ambition of planting four billion tree seedlings announced by this government.

The sweeping project leaves many questions unanswered. Are there even any nurseries, both government-owned and private, that can propagate and supply that many seedlings in the country? What are the plant species selected for planting? How do they get transported from the nurseries where they are grown to where they will be planted? How will they be maintained once planted? How is the government financing the project?

The Ethiopian News Agency reported that “4.5 billion tree seedlings [were] planted during rainy seasons [between 2000 and 2015, but only 20pc to 30pc of the seedlings survived and grew.” The very fact that that only a few seedlings survived is worrisome and raises questions about the viability of the current effort.

Information is hard to come by in Ethiopia and this project is no exception. But the state-owned and even the private media have joined the cacophony of noise cheering the campaign to plant trees. With the usual bluster, the government is leading the clamour and has announced a plan to plant 200 million saplings in 12 hours, on Monday, July 29, 2019, to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

The noble purpose of planting trees to fight climate change and restoration of degraded landscapes of Ethiopia has suddenly been overtaken by a frivolous ambition that contributes nothing to the final outcome of the project. It is a typical response of a government that has led the nation to flounder repeatedly into distress by setting unachievable and grandiose goals. This may be another occasion for another possible disappointment.

A website designated to provide public information does not list the names of plant species or the locations of the nurseries. There is no information as to where the trees are planted and by whom. The website claims that nearly 2.6 billion seedlings are planted to date of the close to 4.8 billion seedlings grown. There are four categories of seedlings listed: agroforestry, tree species, bamboo and others, but nothing else.

Most popular ‘agroforestry’ plants are species of pines, spruces, larch and poplar; and are mostly imports rather than native trees. Apparently, this category includes fruit trees such as mangoes, avocados and peach trees, along with leguminous plants that are coupled in farmlands. It also includes plants selected for riparian corridors and as erosion control material. And then there is the bamboo category. The ‘tree’ categories can be any number of trees from exotic species to indigenous trees, ranging from eucalyptus to acacia species that are growing in the nurseries. The ‘other’ category includes grasses that are primarily used for cattle fodder, rather than reforestation purpose.

How these different planting parameters will be implemented under this project is not very clear. Just the planning and logistics involved in sorting out the deliveries of plants to specific locations, planting area preparations, the proper installation of seedlings in planting holes and the necessary maintenance and monitoring in caring for the plantings are not addressed.