The City's mayoral committee member for environment, Prema Naidoo

Gautrain Rapid Rail Find out more about the train on the Gautrain web site. RELATED LINKS: Jozi's urban forest now at 10m trees, and growing PROUD of its six million trees three years ago, Johannesburg has even more cause to celebrate as the urban forest has now grown to 10 million trees with active planting taking place in the city and on periphery areas. Read more Hundreds of trees to be removed for Gautrain Hundreds of trees are to be uprooted from some of the city's leafy areas to make way for the construction of Gautrain. Read more Gauteng's bullet train gamble The highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria is the busiest in the southern hemisphere, carrying 300 000 passengers each week day between the country's commercial heart and its administrative capital. Not surprisingly, it takes no more than one accident, or one bad rain storm, and traffic can be snarled up for two hours in either direction. Read more

City to gain trees in Gautrain removal plan Allaying residents' fears that the Gautrain project will lead to the loss of the urban forest, the City has announced that every tree removed will be replaced by three new ones. September 14, 2006 By Lucille Davie THE City is to gain trees through the Gautrain street tree removal programme – every tree removed will be replaced by three new ones. This was announced by Gautrain spokesperson Barbara Jensen, at a media briefing on Wednesday. "The currency is trees," she added. Each tree removed will be replaced by three 100L indigenous trees of between 3.5m to 4.5m in height. A golden trumpet tree in Rosebank Last week a golden trumpet tree or tabebuia chrysotricha, on the corner of Jellicoe Avenue and Oxford Road in Rosebank, was the first tree to be removed. Radio 702 talk-show host Jenny Crwys-Williams hosted a programme last week on the removals and the public responded vehemently, indicating they were not willing to give up their trees. Johannesburg City Parks was overwhelmed with telephone calls from the public in response to the programme. The city has one of the world's largest urban forests, with around 10 million trees in gardens, parks and on streets. "The City [is] committed to ensuring that fewer trees are removed and as many tree[s] as possible are planted in the process," the committee member for environment, Prema Naidoo, said at the press briefing on 13 September. "This approach would therefore ensure that the environment is not lesser off, post the development of the Gautrain Express." City Parks had conducted an intensive analysis and evaluation of the trees affected by the construction of the Gautrain, he added. It was ascertained that 300 trees would have to be removed for the train, of which 203 are exotics. The logistics "Out of the 100 tree[s], 95 trees which included Washingtonias, white stinkwoods, pinoaks, jelly palms, leopard trees, tabebuias and strelitzias, will be uprooted and replanted in Emmarentia, Soweto and along the Golden Highway. This is due to the location and high survival rate of these species." Naidoo said that the life span of the present trees is between 20 and 40 years – although some of the trees are around 70 years old. The new trees will have a life span of up to 100 years, increasing the life span of the City's trees three-fold. "As trees get older they have to be replaced anyway," said Mike Griffiths, senior manager of street trees for City Parks. He added that private bodies had approached the City regarding the removal and replanting of the trees, and they would only be considered if they were prepared to fit the bill, which could include interference with underground service systems and possible damage to residents' walls with extensive root systems. They would have to be removed within specified time frames. Griffiths said that the City had undertaken similar projects in the past, with some success. He indicated that there was a 95 percent survival rate for transplanted trees, but added that one could never be sure with factors like the shock of removal and inclement weather playing a decisive role in a tree's survival. The process of a tree successfully being re-established could take up to a year, he added. Naidoo said that the value of the City's trees was R1,9-million, and the cost of replanting a single tree was R1 000, while maintenance once transplanted was R1 000. Etienne van der Lith, environmental manager for the Gautrain construction consortium Bombela, said the cost of replanting and replacing the trees was R1,8-million. Naidoo emphasised that the City would not be responsible for any removal and transplanting costs - these would be paid by Bombela. The removal is expected to start in several weeks, once tenders have been received and evaluated. Naidoo said that it was important that the tree removal programme tied in with the City's "safe, clean and green city" policy. At the same time, he said that "the City regards the Gautrain as a very important project, and when completed, it will be a great success". Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za