FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT GREENBELT AUTHORITY
- What is the Green Belt Initiative in Malawi?
- What is the aim of green belt?
- What are the goals of the Greenbelt?
- Why is it called green belt?
- What are the effects of green belts?
- How successful are green belts?
- How does green belt reduce pollution?
- What improvement projects do green belts normally lead?
The aim of the organization is to champion large scale commercial irrigation through efficient use of land and water resources in order to accelerate socio-economic transformation of the country. To transform Malawi into a wealthy nation with assured livelihoods and sustainable utilization of land and water resources.
The fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. It is for local authorities to define and maintain Green Belt land in their local areas.
That's why the Greenbelt was created in 2005 to:
- Prevent further loss of farmland and natural heritage.
- Restrict urban sprawl.
- Work with the Growth Plan to develop vibrant communities where people can live, work, and play.
The Green Belt Policy first started back in 1935 in the United Kingdom. The Greater London Regional Planning Committee made a proposition to reserve public open spaces and provide green recreational areas for people who live in urban spaces – hence the term “green belt”.
Green belts absorb most of the greenhouse gas emissions from cities and provide them with better, cleaner air. They prevent unhealthy urban sprawl development from expanding into natural and agricultural lands.
In cities with greenbelts, the decrease in land uptake per person was the most effective measurement that led to a decrease in urban sprawl." Overall, 90 per cent of cities with greenbelts experienced decreases in urban sprawl.
Greenbelts are an effective mode of control of air pollution, where green plants form a surface capable of absorbing air pollutants and forming a sink of pollutants. Leaves with their vast area in a tree crown, sorbs pollutants on their surface, thus effectively reduce pollutant concentration in the ambient air.
Green Belts are traditionally Lead process stakeholders and may also be assigned specific process-level improvement projects to conduct on their own—projects that normally do not require the statistical rigor demonstrated by a Black Belt.
