New Delhi, Aug. 2 -- Ethiopia launched a national campaign on Thursday to plant 700 million trees in one day as part of an ambitious conservation initiative that aims to plant 50 billion trees by 2026.

The reforestation campaign has been a personal project of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since 2019.

Tesfahun Gobezay, state minister for the Ethiopian Government Communication Services, told reporters before 6 a.m. local time that some 355 million seedlings had already been planted by 14.9 million Ethiopians.

It was not possible to verify the government's figures. Ethiopia has a population of more than 120 million people.

"We kicked off this year's one-day green Legacy planting early this morning," Abiy said on social media platform X. "Our...