Arbor Day is a secular holiday devoted entirely to trees. It encourages people of all ages to plant them, care for them, and even climb them. While it’s usually celebrated in spring, the exact date varies around the world to match each region’s best planting season.

The first documented arbor plantation festival took place in 1594 in Mondoñedo, Spain. The mayor organized a tree-planting celebration that still lives on in the Alameda de los Remedios, where lime and horse-chestnut trees stand alongside a commemorative marker.

In 1805, the small Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra held what many consider the first modern Arbor Day. A local priest transformed tree planting into a three-day festival filled with bells, dancing, feasting, and a written manifesto promoting love for nature.

That 1805 celebration began on Carnival Tuesday with church bells ringing before villagers planted a poplar tree, blending religious ceremony, community spirit, and environmental awareness long before “going green” was trendy.

The first American Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska. An estimated one million trees were planted in a single day, essentially the 19th-century version of a viral environmental challenge.

Birdsey Northrop helped take Arbor Day global in the late 1800s by promoting it not only across the United States but also in Japan, Australia, Canada, and parts of Europe.

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an Arbor Day Proclamation addressed specifically to American schoolchildren, arguing that forestry and conservation deserved a place in education. Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, also supported educating young people about conservation, helping make tree awareness part of the national conversation.

Australia has celebrated Arbor Day since 1889. Today it includes National Schools Tree Day and National Tree Day, turning late July into a nationwide planting effort.

In Flanders, Belgium, International Day of Tree Planting around March 21 sometimes doubles as a cancer awareness campaign, combining environmental action with public health advocacy.

Brazil celebrates Dia da Árvore on September 21, when schools across the country mark the day with environmental lessons and tree-planting activities.

Cambodia’s Arbor Day on July 9 includes a ceremonial tree planting attended by the king, giving the event a distinctly royal touch.

In Canada, Sir George William Ross established Arbour Day in Ontario in the late 19th century to beautify school grounds and inspire civic pride among students. Calgary’s Arbour Day is so community focused that every first-grade student receives a tree seedling to plant at home, turning children into tiny forest stewards.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) celebrates Arbor Day on March 12 to honor Sun Yat-sen, a major advocate of afforestation whose legacy is closely tied to tree planting.

In the People’s Republic of China, citizens aged 11 to 60 are encouraged to plant three to five trees per year, making Arbor Day not just symbolic but a civic expectation. March 12 is also a popular wedding season moment, with couples planting a tree to symbolize growing together alongside their sapling.

Cuba first observed its Day of the Tree in 1904 and now officially celebrates it each year on June 21, aligning the holiday with the start of summer.

Germany’s Tag des Baumes has been celebrated on April 25 since 1952, reinforcing postwar environmental awareness.

India’s Van Mahotsav, launched in 1950, is a week-long nationwide tree-planting festival held each July. Millions of trees are planted to promote forest conservation. The festival traces its name back to a 1947 tree-planting drive in Delhi that included leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, blending environmentalism with early national identity.

In Iran, National Tree Planting Day falls around March 5 and kicks off Natural Recyclable Resources Week, during which saplings are distributed and planting techniques are taught.

The Jewish holiday Tu Bishvat, celebrated in Israel in January or February, is known as the “new year for trees” and is often marked by planting trees and eating dried fruits and nuts.

Japan’s Greenery Day on May 4 celebrates nature in a way similar to Arbor Day, recognizing the cultural and environmental value of plants and forests.

Kenya significantly expanded its tree-planting efforts in 2023 by declaring National Tree Growing Day a public holiday as part of an ambitious plan to plant 15 billion trees by 2032.

In South Korea, Singmogil on April 5 was once a public holiday. Even after losing that status in 2005, citizens still actively participate in tree-planting events.

Luxembourg observes National Tree Planting Day on the second Saturday in November, proving that even small countries set aside time for big environmental gestures.

Mexico’s Día del Árbol was established by presidential decree in 1959 and is observed on the second Thursday of July.

Mongolia celebrates National Tree Planting Day twice a year, on the second Saturdays of May and October, reflecting its unique climate challenges.

The Netherlands created Nationale Boomfeestdag in 1957. Each March, thousands of Dutch schoolchildren head outside to plant trees near the spring equinox.

New Zealand shifted its Arbor Day from August to June 5 to better match optimal planting conditions, aligning it with World Environment Day.

Niger celebrates Arbor Day on August 3 as part of its Independence Day festivities, tying environmental restoration to national pride.

North Macedonia once organized a massive campaign in which citizens planted two million trees in a single day, symbolically one for each resident.

The Philippines institutionalized Arbor Day in 1947 and later passed a law requiring able-bodied citizens aged 12 and up to plant at least one tree per year.

Poland has marked Arbor Day on October 10 since 2002, with ecological foundations organizing awareness events nationwide.

Russia’s All-Russian Day of Forest Plantation, first held in 2011, takes place in spring and adapts to regional weather conditions.

South Africa expanded its original Arbor Day into National Arbor Week, highlighting one common and one rare indigenous tree species each year.

Spain officially recognized Arbor Day nationwide in 1915, though individual towns choose their own dates between February and May.

Turkey celebrates National Tree Planting Day on November 11, reinforcing reforestation efforts across the country.

The United Kingdom’s National Tree Week, first launched in 1975, marks the start of the winter planting season and sees roughly one million trees planted each year.

In the United States, National Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday in April, though individual states often select dates that better match their local climates.