City Parks has another coveted award under its belt, one which acknowledges its contribution to the international Billion Tree campaign.
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™.
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," his notes.
Written by: Losego Madumo
Source: www.joburg.org.za