Johannesburg City Parks' senior stakeholder liaison manager Oscar Oliphant plants one of 10 indigenous trees at the DD Dliwayo Primary School

RELATED LINKS: Thousands of trees planted in Soweto AS PART of the City's initiative to green the south of Johannesburg over the next five years, 6 000 trees were planted in Soweto on Arbor Day. Read more Leaving a green legacy in Greater Lenasia COINCIDING with Arbor Week, 2 000 trees were planted in Lenasia, Vlakfontein and Lehae as part of a City Parks legacy project ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Read more Jozi's urban forest now at 10m trees, and growing JOBURG'S urban forest has grown to 10 million trees, with active planting taking place in the city and on periphery areas. Since 2001 the City has planted around 1,3 million trees, bringing the tally of trees it maintains to 2,5 million, with a further 7,5 million trees in residents' gardens. Read more

The children of DD Dliwayo Primary School in Protea Glen, Soweto, celebrate International Peace Day

DD Dliwayo school plants trees for peace Ten indigenous trees were planted at Soweto's DD Dliwayo Primary School as part of International Peace Day celebrations - and to green the area in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. September 22, 2006 By Thabang Mokoka TO CELEBRATE International Peace Day, 10 indigenous trees were planted at DD Dliwayo Primary School in Protea Glen, Soweto, on Thursday, 21 September. An International Peace Day was declared by the United Nations in 1981; in 2001 it set 21 September as "a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the day…." The day has been dedicated by the UN to promote world peace, and is celebrated to provide opportunities for individuals, organisations and nations to create practical acts of peace. The planting ceremony DD Dliwayo Primary was also part of an initiative to plant indigenous trees to green and beautify Soweto in time for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. Oscar Oliphant, Johannesburg City Parks's senior stakeholder liaison manager, said, "We see this as our broader programme of planting trees, especially in our townships where there are virtually no trees." Johannesburg had more trees that any other city in the world, he said, and when viewed from a satellite it looked like a rainforest. However, its urban forest was not evenly distributed, with the southern areas generally looking like a desert. Oliphant hoped that the schoolchildren would take care of the trees. Miss Earth South Africa, Nancy Dos Reis, walked the talk, getting her hands dirty and muddying her pedicured feet to help the planting. "I'm giving hope to [these] children so that the environment can look after their wellbeing and life style," the beauty queen explained. She said the 10 trees were a symbol of the opportunities for the young and an investment in a brighter tomorrow. "We feel very blessed to have contributed to this school in our own little way." Struggle veteran Daniel Donald Dliwayo established DD Dliwayo Primary School in1969. Dliwayo said he was extremely excited that his school had been selected to celebrate International Peace Day. DD Dliwayo Primary is a financially independent school; Dliwayo and others approached corporates and individuals during the apartheid era to raise funding for the school through the Rand Bursary Fund. 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