Ethiopia plants more than 350 million trees in a single day

July 30 (UPI) -- Officials in Ethiopia said a tree planting initiative was successful in getting more than 350 million seedlings planted in a single day.

Getahun Mekuria, the country's minister of innovation and technology, said a total of 353,633,660 seedlings were planted within a 12-hour period Monday as part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Green Legacy Initiative.

The prime minister's office shared photos on Twitter of Ahmed participating in one of the planting events across the country.

Officials said they are working to get the planting event recognized by Guinness World Records.

The Green Legacy Initiative, which began in May, aims to plant 4 billion new trees in the country by October. Officials said 2.6 billion seedlings have been planted so far.