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Greening projects run by the City utility
have been recognised at LivCom London, LivCom China, the World Conservation Union
and now the United Nations Environmental Programme.
CITY Parks has another coveted award under
its belt, one which acknowledges its contribution to the international Billion
Tree campaign.
Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel participate in the Greening Soweto project
The City-owned utility has been awarded a
certificate by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which recognises
it for "planting trees and catalysing environmental action in the service of
the Earth and for the benefit of humankind", reads the wording on the certificate.
Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign
is a worldwide tree-planting project initiated by the UN to urge people,
communities, business, civil society organisations and governments to plant
trees, in a bid to avert any calamity that may be caused by climate change or global
warming.
The objective is to plant at least one
billion endemic and indigenous trees worldwide each year. This goal was
intensified in 2006, when UNEP decided to plant 7 billion trees by the end of
2009, a mission now complete.
Already, over 7 billion trees have been
planted around the world as part of the campaign, which has pioneered the planting
of "one [tree] for every person on the planet". The greater mission is to
encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and
enabling nations to improve quality of life without compromising the planet.
Quality of life
Jenny Moodley, City Parks' marketing and communications manager, says the
accolade is a milestone in the utility's efforts to green Johannesburg. "The recognition by UNEP
reinforces that as a collective - together with business and residents - we can
address greening disparities and increase the quality of life of residents in Johannesburg."
City Parks is the custodian of public open
spaces in Johannesburg.
The certificate recognises particularly its Greening Soweto legacy project,
designed to increase the aesthetic beauty of the township and so create a
lasting legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
Planting trees at the Shomang Primary School in Orlando West, Soweto
Greening Soweto
started in 2006 when Executive Mayor Amos Masondo led the planting of
6 000 trees on pavements, streets and roads in Soweto. The overall aim was to plant 200 000
trees around the World Cup to level the greening imbalance in the southern
parts of the metro. This imbalance is the result of apartheid planning
policies.
With 165 300 trees planted so far, there
are only about 40 000 to go to reach the target.
"Projects such as the 2010 Greening Soweto
legacy project and the 200 000 tree planting campaign championed by the mayor
have been acknowledged at LivCom London, LivCom China, the World Conservation
Union and now the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)," Moodley says.
"The accolade by UNEP serves as an
inspiration and a motivation for us to continue to strive towards building a
vibrant Joburg that can act as a blueprint for greening throughout South Africa."
Luther Williamson, the utility's managing
director, says each tree is planted to ensure a more vibrant and healthy Johannesburg.
Billion Tree
The Billion Tree campaign was jointly launched with the World Agroforestry
Centre during the UN climate convention in November 2006 in Nairobi,
Kenya, under the patronage
of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of
Monaco.
"Its initial goal was to catalyse the
pledging and the planting of one billion trees as a way of giving public
expression to the challenges of climate change and also forest and ecosystem
degradation," reads a statement from the UNEP.
Since then, the Billion Tree campaign has
more than surpassed its aims, the statement continues.
Other countries that have participated in
the campaign include Ethiopia,
which planted 1,4 billion trees, Turkey
with 711 million trees, Mexico
with 537 million trees, Kenya,
Cuba and Indonesia.
Through it, governments are encouraged to "take
concrete action to reforest their lands".
Achim Steiner, the United Nations
under-secretary general and executive director of UNEP, says planting trees is
the only way to save the planet from the harsh effects of climate change.
"The Billion Tree campaign shows that the
simple act of planting a tree resonates and unites a child in the slums of
Africa with a president in Mexico,
or a corporate CEO in Paris
with UN peacekeepers in Timor-Leste. It is the kind of solidarity that now
needs to be expressed at the level of all governments and heads of state
between now and December in order to move economies towards a low carbon,
sustainable path," he notes.
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