Addis Ababa: Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative has created conducive environment to expand indigenous knowledge on soil preservation across the country, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, First Lady Zinash Tayachew, and staff of the Office of the Prime Minister have plant seedlings today. Community members drawn from Harar and Konso have also participated at the planting activity held on the terrace they built inside Chaka Project using their indigenous skills to preserve soil. In that regard, the eucalyptus trees in the area have been replaced by indigenous tree seedlings. During the planting, the premier stated that this year's Green Legacy program will be carried out differently from the previous ones. Accordingly, individuals from Harar and Konso had worked on terraces inside the Chaka Project in order to stop the problems with soil erosion in the surrounding area. This has helped to address the difficulties that had been hindrances to plant seedlings in the area due to soil erosion, he added. At present, indigenous plants including fruits like apple are being cultivated, it was learned. The PM further underscored the need to expand similar indigenous knowledges that exist in other areas across the nation, commending the farmers of Harar and Konso for completing the work on the terraces in short time. According to him, activities are underway to increase the forest coverage of Addis Ababa to 30 percent with the objective to change the image of the city. Ethiopia has been carrying out extensive seedling planting activities over the past five years. The nation has so far planted 32.5 billion seedlings. The country's goal for this year is to reach 40 billion seedlings from its overall target of 50 billion. Accordingly, the nation is working to plant 7.5 billion seedlings this planting cycle. Ethiopia's forest coverage had increased to 23.6 percent by 2023 from 17.2 percent in 2019. Source: Ethiopian News Agency