An Indian state planted 50 million trees in just 24 hours last week

Uttar Pradesh state and the 800.000 volunteers involved hope to shatter the world record

Uttar Pradesh state and the 800.000 volunteers involved hope to shatter the world record

An extensive tree planting project took place on Monday the 11^th of July in Uttar Pradesh - India's most populous state- in order to help the country’s efforts to increase its forest cover, and to get into Guinness World Records for the most trees planted in a day. More than 800.000 people participated in the event with enthusiasm, planting 50 million saplings at designated spots along country roads and highways, rail tracks and forest lands. The days that followed, auditors from Guinness World Records were moving around incognito in the state to check on the numbers, trying to maintain full transparency. The current record of 847.275 planted trees in one day was set in Pakistan in 2013.

"The world has realized that serious efforts are needed to reduce carbon emissions to mitigate the effects of global climate change. Uttar Pradesh has made a beginning in this regard," said Uttar Pradesh's top elected official, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. India's government is encouraging all 29 states to start tree-planting initiatives to increase the country's forest cover as part of commitments made at last year's climate change summit in Paris. A budget of more than $ 6.2 billion will be allocated towards this goal, in order to push India's forest cover to 95 million hectares (235 million acres) by 2030.

However, the long-term survival of trees planted in such mass campaigns remains a concern. According to officials, usually only 60% of saplings survive, with the rest succumbing to disease or lack of water. Senior forest official Sanjeev Saran said the sites where the trees have been planted would be monitored through aerial photographs taken at regular intervals to monitor the state of all the saplings.

Photo credits: AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh

Photo credits: AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh

Photo credits: AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh

Source: Associated Press