Tree planting offsets carbon emissions from conference

The project is being managed by South Africa's greening organisation Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA). The first trees were planted earlier this year for residents of Mogale City and Polokwane, and the latest planting is part of the Greening Soweto programme.

The Greening Soweto project, announced by Mayor Amos Masondo on 1 September this year, aims to plant hundreds of thousands of trees to improve the environment of Soweto for its citizens and to ensure it is a place that will welcome all the visitors expected in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup.

To achieve this, FTFA was approached to help to raise the funds and implement its award-winning Trees for Homes programme to distribute 200 000 fruit and indigenous trees to 200 000 Sowetan homeowners. This programme includes the training of unemployed community members who become community-based educators (CBEs), and short-term employment for these CBEs who spread awareness of the need for clean and green neighbourhoods, the sponsors of these trees, the many benefits that they bring and even how they can mitigate climate change.

The final batch of Design Indaba carbon offset trees were planted in Mapetla, a township located in Ward 16, which is at the heart of Soweto, surrounded by a number of other townships. There is a high rate of unemployment, and the training and short term employment of the group of community-based educators as a component of this Greening of Soweto programme has been welcomed.

For more information on the Greening of Soweto and FTFA's other programmes, go to www.trees.co.za.