On 16 May 2015, thousands of Ecuadorians including Scouts and volunteers took part in a historic nationwide reforestation campaign – the Siembraton. This successful campaign broke the Guinness World Records for having the most plant species planted in eight hours in 237 locations. The certificate of recognition was delivered to the President of the Republic of Ecuador on 30 July 2015. Sowing the seeds of positive change The tree-planting project of the Scouts of Ecuador began five years ago when the Scouts of the senior branch of Quito-Ecuador invited Scout groups from other cities to join their efforts to create positive impact on their cities through reforestation. More Scouts were roped in after the project was presented at the national level, resulting in 7000 trees planted. Subsequently, the project became part of World Scouting’s "Trees for the World" campaign. In 2014, they planted 23 500 trees in a day during a nationwide campaign. Their tree-planting campaign attracted the attention of the Ministry of Environment, which decided to sponsor it, naming the campaign “Siembraton” (plant-a-thon). The ministry invited all citizens to reforest different ecosystems throughout the country with plants provided by the ministry, expanding the campaign to an unprecedented scale. Through the campaign, a total of 57 512 participants, including all Scouts groups in the country, restored 2269 hectares of land by planting 765 073 trees and plants. The logistics of the national event was largely organised by Scouts. The Scouts of Ecuador are very proud to have played a significant role in this record-breaking feat, and they continue to serve their communities by organising annual tree planting campaigns to help their country achieve the target of zero deforestation by 2017.