Volunteers in Ethiopia planted 350 million trees Monday, as part of a national campaign to help tackle the global climate crisis. Eighty percent of Ethiopia’s population depends on agriculture for its livelihood, but Ethiopia suffers from soil erosion, deforestation, flooding and harsh drought conditions. According to the organization Farm Africa, less than 4% of Ethiopia’s land is forested, down from around 30% at the end of the 19th century. A study released earlier this year found that planting 1.2 trillion trees could cancel out 10 years of CO2 emissions. This is scientist Samuel Geleta speaking about the initiative Monday.

Samuel Geleta: “The issue of the environment is of major concern even at the global level, but more so for this country. Most of the problems and famine we see in this country could be linked to the lack of protection for our environment.”