Volunteers in India's mountainous desert region of Ladakh set a world record for most trees planted simultaneously when they set nearly 100,000 willow saplings into the earth, a newspaper reported Thursday. The plantation drive at the Hemis monastery near the regional capital, Leh, was organised this week by a volunteer organisation founded by the spiritual head of a Buddhist Drukpa sect, Gyalwang Drukpa.
As many as 9,814 volunteers planted 99,103 saplings of the Ladakhi willow, and although short of the targeted 100,000 trees, the number broke the previous record of 66,000 trees set in the Philippines in January 2011, the Times of India reported. Kimberly Dennis from Guinness World Records confirmed the success of the record attempt, the report said. The drive was part of a project to improve the environment in the harsh, high-altitude Himalayan region.