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2010-04-19: Mayor calls for cities to act against climate change   

THE battle against climate change will be won or lost in the cities and towns of the world, says Clr Amos Masondo, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg.

Opening the annual convention of the Institute of Environmental and Recreation Management, Mayor Masondo said cities should use its green resources to mitigate and adapt to climate change. We can find local solutions to global problems!

Our parks and open spaces serve as green lungs that absorb and filter pollutants. Our rivers and streams provide much needed aquatic life and provide us with drinking water. Our trees act as carbon sinks that absorb the harmful carbon dioxide to give off oxygen that provides life.

Mayor Masondo said it is a myth that cities are only seen as "massive concrete jungles." The City of Johannesburg is one of the largest "man-made forests" with an estimated 10 million trees worth more than R30 billion.

The green assets of the City consist of:

2343 hectares of parks and arterials; 
6303 hectares of developed parks and arterials; 
1202 hectares of nature reserves; 
1568 hectares of conservation areas; 
366 hectares of bird sanctuaries; 
107 km of rivers and streams; 
81 hectares of Botanical Garden which hosts the largest selection of succulents in South Africa; and 
6 environmental and education centres. 

Mayor Masondo said Johannesburg is also proud of its innovative "extreme make-over parks" which are completed within  24 hours involving communities. The City has also made parks accessible to people with disabilities for example a stimulation section built at a park in Diepkloof, Soweto.

In its preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup the City has identified two important legacy projects which will have far reaching benefits for Johannesburg in the future.

A project is underway to rehabilitate the Klip River catchment area which eventually runs into the Vaal Dam. And, by the start of the tournament in June the City will have planted 200 000 trees, mainly in former disadvantaged areas in the south of Johannesburg.

"We need to act to turn the world from its current path of unsustainable development," said Mayor Masondo. "We need to defeat poverty and underdevelopment. There are complex links between poverty, wealth and environmental degradation."


Issued by:
Nthatisi Modingoane
Deputy Director: Communications
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Tel: (011) 407 7354
Fax: 403 3494
Cell: 082 467 9228
E-mail: nthatisem@joburg.org.za