Speech by Mogale City Executive Mayor Lentswe Mokgatle

MANY city planners are increasingly acknowledging the role that appropriate use of vegetated lands can play in urban land management. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, as well as its recommendation is Agenda 21, advanced the recognition of environmental stewardship as being closely tied in the long-term provision of jobs, food and the quality of life in both rural and urban environment. There is a growing acknowledgement throughout the world that the scope of urban migration and internal population growth now make providing an acceptable quality of life in urban areas questionable if sustainability is not a top priority when dealing with the urban environment.

The list of benefits that people are expecting from urban vegetation is expanding. Landscape and amenity values would always be important benefits, the relative importance perceived by planners and the public alike of other objectives has risen over a past decade. Environmental issues have been increasingly prominent in the media and people from all walks of life have expressed concern about caring for the earth and providing a sustainable future for their descendants.

Environmental and urban development programmes are increasingly recognizing the contribution trees and green areas make in the environment by reducing air pollution, floods, water contamination, health risks, heat, noise and excessive wind. This consideration of a widening range of environmental benefits would continue to grow over coming decades and add further status to the urban greening concept.

The legacy of Apartheid has not only left segregated communities with a lack of basic services such as roads, water, sanitation and electricity but also with a living environment that was polluted and dusty with a lack of dispensation recognized these discrepancies and made the necessary legislative provisions to address these imbalances.

Emanating from the Constitution, as basis for the country's legislative framework, came environmental legislation and policies. Urban Greening has been clearly identified by the South African government as a key component of urban development. Cities of the past were designed for mechanized efficiency with the focus on industrialization. Unfortunately the human scale was neglected which resulted in social downfall like crime, ill health and poverty. The new approach to city design followed by Mogale City, emphasizes human centered considerations that promotes physiological, psychological and sociological health. Urban Greening is a valuable tool for city planners to transform cities into organic-cities aimed a human living.

Urban greening's core function as instrument is to develop a sustainable urban environment. It is used to invest in the environment and to 'empower' the environment to mitigate the side-effects developmental pressures has on the sustainability of human and ecological well-being. This partnership with Food and Trees for Africa and the National Department of Agriculture's Green Lungs Programme will assist Mogale City in advancing its sustainable development and urban greening objectives. Our communities will learn from these trees that investing in the environment can bring about great rewards. Each household will receive a tree and seeds, which will reward them with fruit if they are well cared for. These trees will provide shade in future for your children to play under. They will clean the air around you and contribute to your health.

Today is also the 35th Earth Day, which is celebrated globally. It is significant that this momentous occasion of tree planting and urban greening can be launched on international Earth Day. It is a reflection of this Municipality's sincere commitment to protect our earth at local level. We can all contribute to saving our earth for future generations by saving water, saving electricity, not to litter but reduce, reduce, reuse and recycle our waste, and to plant trees. It is a combination of small efforts by each one of us that will determine the future of our earth and our children. We are only borrowing the earth from our children and we therefore need to care for it in a responsible manner. Every day should be Earth Day.

The Mayor