SFI Plants 202,935 Trees in an Hour, Clinches World Record

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative and partners across North America set a Guinness World Record for the most trees planted in multiple locations in one hour—202,935.

SFI partnered with 29 teams of 25¬–100 each, 1,165 volunteers total, to plant trees in 29 locations from New York to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The planting happened between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on May 20, 2015.

“As SFI celebrates its 20th anniversary, I can’t think of a more exciting way to recognize and reinforce our commitment to healthy forests and sustainable communities, and to reaffirm that the actions we take today can have a significant and material impact on the future of our forests,” said Kathy Abusow, president and CEO of SFI, in a statement.

The world record for planting trees in one location in an hour belongs to 100 volunteers in Thimphu, Bhutan, who planted 49,672 trees—a rate of 496 trees planted per person on average.