A hundred trees were planted at the newly completed Orlando West Park, in Soweto to celebrate Global Community Day. The trees were planted on Saturday, 7 November by City Parks and its partner, Citibank, as part of the Greening Soweto campaign.

"This initiative of Greening Soweto is to transform the dry, dusty streets of Soweto into a vibrant green community, in a way that enhances the lives of all the residents and those who visit Soweto," said Luther Williamson, the managing director of the City utility, speaking at the planting.

"Our mission is to plant 200 000 trees in Soweto by capitalizing on the momentum of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in order to turn the suburb into a green oasis on par with other developed suburbs in Johannesburg."

With football spectacular just around the corner, Johannesburg is preparing for the fans and players expected in the city. It is the primary host city of the cup, with two host stadiums - Soccer City and Ellis Park. Greening Soweto is part of these preparations. It is a 2010 legacy project, aimed at benefiting residents long after the World Cup is over.

Launched in September 2006 by Executive Mayor Amos Masondo, the objective is to turn Soweto into an urban forest, on a par with Joburg's green northern suburbs.

Benefits

Trees not only provide shade and make the city look pretty; they also serve an important environmental function. Trees are crucial in controlling the greenhouse effect, which leads to climate change and global warming.

According to City Parks, when heat rises from tarred roads, trees act as a natural coolant. They also convert carbon dioxide that is released from cars, one of the greenhouse gases, into oxygen. An acre of trees, on average, can store 2,6 tons of carbon pollution annually and generate enough oxygen daily for 18 people. A mature, fertile tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year.

Where there is no shade, the air temperature can rise to 35°C. Such heat can cause cities to be five to nine degrees warmer than surrounding areas. Trees can also reduce noise levels.

Orlando West Park, opened on 21 September, caters for the young and old - there is play equipment and a braai area which has a great view. It is next to Orlando Stadium, which has been rebuilt to serve as a World Cup venue.

Many of the residents around Mlamlankunzi - as Orlando West is fondly known - are very happy that such a beautiful park has been built for them. David Seleo and Martin Deire, who live across the road from the park, said: "We are very proud of City Parks for doing something like this for the community. It keeps all of the children away from the streets and it is safe here because there are also security guards who take care of the kids while they play."

The park has 24-hour security guards who look after the park and make sure it is kept clean and that there is no vandalism. It also has specific opening times - from Monday to Friday it is open from 2pm to 6.30pm, and on the weekends it is open from noon to 6.30pm.

But these limited hours do not find favour with all the park's users. Karabo Mabaso and Thami Dube are just a few of the children who are not impressed with these times. "The security guards sometimes chase us away and tell us to come back later. [But] 12 is too late for us; we want to be able to play at the park at anytime," they said.

Another group of young boys differ. "My friends and I travel about 10 minutes to get to the park and we have never had the guards tell us not to play here. This park is the greatest thing that has happened for us. Now we are able to play in a safe place and have lots of fun," said Kamogelo Kasakang.

Awards

Greening Soweto has been noticed by international bodies. It received a merit gold award in the natural built project category at the prestigious Liveable Communities (LivCom) Awards, in London in November 2007.

LivCom is a United Nations initiative recognising those cities and municipalities which make an effort to create liveable spaces for their inhabitants. More recently, City Parks won a certificate earlier this year from the United Nations Environment Programme which acknowledges its contribution to the international Billion Tree Campaign.

The award recognises it for "planting trees and catalysing environmental action in the service of the Earth and for the benefit of humankind", reads the certificate. It recognises particularly its Greening Soweto legacy project.

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.

Source:City of Johannesburg

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