First posted on X (Twitter) on August 25, 2024
https://x.com/AlMariam1/status/1827567835016560782

𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒- 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐲 (𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐲) “𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬; 𝐀 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬!”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 (𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐀) 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 (𝐌𝐄𝐆𝐀). 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐌𝐄𝐆𝐀-𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐀! “𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 (𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥) 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐇.𝐄. 𝐏.𝐌. 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐲 𝐀𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡, 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗. ==========================

Ethiopia is turning green with her Green Legacy Initiative. So are her enemies. Except they are turning green with envy. In 2024, nearly 8 billion seedlings are set to be planted on 2 million hectares of land. On August 23, 2024, (what I call “Ethiopian Arbor Day (Tree Planting Day)”), the national goal was to plant 600 million seedlings and saplings throughout the country. Millions of Ethiopians showed up to do their national moral duty and plant their share. A a self-described and self-styled tree hugger, I love trees, enjoy hiking in the woods and writing about them. (I must confess as a kid I used to climb tall trees using my belt or rope tied around my feet and refuse to come unless offered candy or cookies (biscuits).)

In June 2019, I wrote about “My life as a tree hugger.” “I pride myself as a committed environmentalist. A tree hugger is a committed environmentalist who would hug a tree to prevent it from being cut. The first movement I joined when I came to the U.S. nearly fifty years ago was NOT the anti-war movement, the civil rights movement, the free speech movement or even the hippie counterculture movement. Those came later. The first movement I joined in America was the environmental movement. The early 1970s marked the beginning of environmental activism in America. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established the year I came to the U.S…” To read the full story, open this link: https://almariam.com/2019/06/04/generation-abiy-and-the-greening-of-ethiopia/…

On Ethiopian Arbor Day, I was part of a public and private tree planting crew. Our crew for the public planting consisted of dozens of tree planters (mostly “diasporans”) who joined thousands of locals at Legedadi Reservoir (Addis Ababa’s main water supply) located about 30 km northeast of Addis Ababa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diaspora Office and the Ministry of Tourism, with Tourism Minister H.E. Nassie Chala, joined forces to promote the campaign. The access road to the Legadadi tree planting site and the site itself were muddy and soggy from days of rain. The site was slippery and boggy, and walking around was difficult and tough. But we did not care. Our motto, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Men, women and children got going. We dropped seedlings and saplings into the countless holes ground. I dropped quite a few myself, no need to mention numbers. I even dug out a few holes myself using a digging bar. You can bet your bottom dollar I worked my tail off. In the private group tree planting campaign in the afternoon, I joined a group of three dozen friends in the Hanamariam area at the southern tip of Addis Ababa. I enjoyed both tree planting events. It was a memorable event for me.

𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 on Ethiopian Arbor Day (Tree Planting Day): 𝟏) 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 (𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭); 𝟐) 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. The irony is the Western media often depicts Ethiopia as the land of doom and gloom, a land of drought and in a perpetual state of imminent ecological collapse due to climate change, environmental degradation, deforestation, desertification, pollution, biodiversity loss and so on. Behold Ethiopia today and marvel at its ecological transformation.

𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 “𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝,” 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭. Anyone who has flown over Ethiopia can attest to the fact that the whole country is carpeted with green. Even the arid regions of the country are turning green with fruit trees. I have written various commentaries and social media posts over the past 5 years. I invite you to read a couple of them at the links below. July 29, 2019, “Ode to 4 Billion Tree Saplings by the River Ghion (Ethiopia).” https://almariam.com/2019/07/29/ode-to-4-billion-tree-saplings-by-the-river-ghion-ethiopia/… June 4, 2019, “Generation Abiy and the Greening of Ethiopia.” https://almariam.com/2019/06/04/generation-abiy-and-the-greening-of-ethiopia/…

I wish to thank PM Abiy Ahmed for his relentless efforts to Make Ethiopia Green Again. Doggone it, he has succeeded in creating and institutionalizing tree planting as a national crusade by constantly raising awareness and teaching by example. If he is not in the office, he is out planting trees, visiting farms or inspecting megaprojects. Kudos PM Abiy!

𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞. 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 (𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐀) 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 (𝐌𝐄𝐆𝐀). Let us all become MEGA-MAGAs