Ecuador's reforestation operation recognized by Guinness World Records
Xinhua, July 31, 2015 Adjust font size:
Ecuador received recognition from the Guinness World Record foundation on Thursday for setting a record of simultaneous sowing of 765,073 plants over 2,269 hectares in a number of locations in the country in a reforestation operation in just a single day.
The certificate of recognition was publicly delivered to Ecuador's President Rafael Correa by a delegate from the Guinness World Record foundation.
"On May 16, Ecuador made history and it was placed in the lead globally for caring for the planet," said Correa, calling the reforestation operation a "great feat".
The South American country set the record through the operation known as "Siembraton" (Sow-athon in English), which involved more than 57,000 volunteers and citizens in 191 parishes.
The president confirmed his commitment to the environment and said that he would convert his country into "a green paradise", calling on the population "to stick together so that deforestation no longer exists."
Through adequate forestry control between 2012 and 2014, Ecuador succeeded in lowering the rate of deforestation by half, which represents around 47,000 hectares per year, according to a survey quoted by Correa. Endi