From the turn of the century to 2025, Ethiopia lost 560,000 hectares (2,160 sq miles) of its tree cover<\/a>, due to the expansion of agriculture, commercial logging and the use of charcoal as fuel. This has resulted in devastating impacts on biodiversity, soil quality and water resources as well as increasing the risk of climate-related disasters.<\/p>\n But thanks to a number of initiatives introduced by the Ethiopian government, including a massive tree-planting scheme known as the Green Legacy Initiative<\/a> (GLI) in 2019, the rate of deforestation has slowed. Between 2013 and 2023, the annual deforestation rate fell from 92,000 hectares to 27,703 hectares<\/a>. Meanwhile, forest cover has increased<\/a> from 15.5% to 23.6% during the same period.<\/p>\n Through the GLI, the government claims to have planted 48bn trees<\/a> in seven years, including a reported record-breaking 353m seedlings<\/a> in one day. Its goal is to plant 50bn trees<\/a> by 2030.<\/p>\n Kedir\u2019s neighbour, Fate Abdulahi, has joined in, after seeing what she has achieved. \u201cShe proved us wrong and she has become a role model and someone willing to find local solutions to our issues.\u201d<\/p>\n To ensure her trees survive and thrive, Halima Kedir walks for about an hour to fetch water. Photograph: Amanuel Gebremedhin<\/p>\n Many in the community believe that being Oromo, a society known for guddifachaa \u2013 the traditional practice of adopting a child and integrating them into Oromo society \u2013 has contributed to Kedir\u2019s success in caring for her trees.<\/p>\n She describes her relationship with the seedlings in maternal terms. \u201cJust like we adopt a child in our tradition, I see them like my own children,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Despite severe water shortages in her area, Kedir continues to nurture her seedlings diligently. To ensure some of the trees survive and thrive, she has to walk for about an hour to fetch water.<\/p>\n Kedir\u2019s 13-year-old son, Anwar Hassen, speaks of her with pride and hopes to follow in her footsteps. \u201cI want to make a lifelong commitment in the fight against climate change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Thousands of households in nearby kebeles, or neighbourhoods, have also joined the tree-planting initiative. With the help of WaterAid Ethiopia, the once-degraded land is transforming into greener terrain and serving as a model across the east African nation.<\/p>\n Alebachew Adem, director of WaterAid Ethiopia, says: \u201cTo date, approximately 55,000 indigenous tree seedlings have been distributed to households and community institutions across the area.\u201d He adds that 85% of the seedlings have grown successfully.<\/p>\n \u201cIn dry land and climate-vulnerable areas such as Berbere, these efforts help communities build resilience against the increasing impacts of climate change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter |Every fortnight<\/p>\n Sign up to Global Dispatch<\/p>\n Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features, opinion and photography, curated by our global development team<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Survival rates of seedlings is what counts in the long term, but data is hard to find. In 2022, the government-backed GLI technical committee said the average survival rate of seedlings was 83.4% in 2019 and 79% a year later, but there has been some scepticism over such high success rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n In research conducted in Asia<\/a>, nearly half of all reforestation trees planted did not survive more than five years. Researchers who examined 15 tree-planting schemes in Ethiopia with targets also found that 10 of them<\/a> had achieved less than 50% success.<\/p>\n Oromia\u2019s Berbere district. Reforestation in Ethiopia has had most success in the highlands. Photograph: Amanuel Gebremedhin<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789646420_530_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n