The 10 million trees that keep Johannesburg green, shady and attractive also help to clean the air of carbon monoxide emissions from cars and trucks, industrial gases and dust from mine dumps.

Johannesburg is one of the greenest cities in the world and boasts the largest man-made urban forest. Satellite images of the city show a vast forest of trees and greenery.

Joburg has a strong culture of environmental conservation that goes back to the early 1900s and the then parks and estates department.

Today the City council is stretching this ethos to preserving the environment and planting trees in previously disadvantaged areas, such as Soweto and Alexandra. It is estimated that there are a million street trees across the city, with a total value of R65-billion.

To create favourable surroundings for living, business and recreation, the City's environmental planning and management department manages air, water, land and noise pollution and implements measures to moderate pollutants.

• Objectives
• Functions
• Legal framework
  • Waste licences
  • Air permits
• Key people
  • Member of the mayoral committee responsible for environment Prema Naidoo
  • Executive Director of the City's environmental planning and management Flora Mokgohloa