About the bay area’s greenbelt and greenbelt alliance
What is the Bay Area’s Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt is a wide belt of open land around the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area Greenbelt is one of the largest areas of open land in any U.S. urban area.
How big is the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt includes about 3.75 million of the Bay Area’s 4.5 million acres. The other 731 000 acres are urban or suburban. San Francisco, for example, covers 30 000 acres; Santa Rosa covers 22 000 acres; San Jose covers more than 100 000 acres.
What is the ‘open land’ in the “Greenbelt?
Open land is land that has few buildings and lots of natural areas. The greenbelt’s open land includes parks, forests, beaches, and more than 8500 farms.
What are the benefits of the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt has many benefits for people in the Bay Area, which include:
Walking, camping, and biking areas close to the cities and towns
Places for wild plants and animals
Cleaner air and water
Separate towns (it stops towns from growing together)
Income from farms.
Is the Greenbelt in danger?
Five hundred seventy thousand acres of the Greenbelt are in danger. There are builders who want to build suburbs on them. If those acres become suburbs, many things will change:
The urban and sub urban area will almost double
Many farms will disappear
Traffic will become worse
The air will become dirtier
Many beautiful forested hills will have houses on them.
What is Greenbelt Alliance?
Greenbelt Alliance is an organization that saves land in the San Francisco Bay Area. It began in 1958. We help to save the area’s Greenbelt of open land. We also help to make our cities and towns better places to live.
How does Greenbelt Alliance help save the Greenbelt?
Greenbelt Alliance works alone and with other groups to save the Greenbelt in four ways:
We try to convince people to build new buildings on land that is already urban, not on open land.
We make sure that the city and town governments are all making plans to save the Greenbelt.
We help Bay Area towns and cities to buy pieces of open land to make into nature areas.
We teach people in the Bay Area why the Greenbelt is important and what they can do to help save it.
How can I get involved with Greenbelt Alliance?
You can become a member for $35. Or you can go on one of our Greenbelt Trips (free walks, bike rides, and farm tours). You can also become a volunteer. For more information, call us at I-800-543-GREEN
4.Reading for main ideas. Choose the best ending for each sentence.
1) A greenbelt is …
open land around an urban area.
a group of parks in a city.
a group of people who try to save nature areas.
2) The Greenbelt Alliance is an organization that …
helps people build better cities closer together.
saves land around an urban and suburban area.
takes people on walks, bike rides, and other trips.
3) The Greenbelt Alliance tries to work …
with builders, governments, and people who live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
against builders, but with governments.
with schools and volunteers.
5.Reading for details. The following statements are false. Change on word or phrase in each statement to make it true. There is more than one possible answer for some statements.
1) The Bay Area’s Greenbelt is belt of open land in the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area.
2) The size of the San Francisco Bay Area is 3.75 million acres.
3) The largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area in San Francisco.
4) The whole Greenbelt is in danger.
5) The open land will almost double if 570 000 acres of the Greenbelt become suburbs.
6) The Greenbelt Alliance tries to convince people to build on open land.
7) If you want to become a Greenbelt Alliance volunteer, you must pay $35.
6.Reading between the lines. Circle the number next to each project that you think the Greenbelt Alliance might agree with. Discuss your answers in small groups.
1) A builder wants to build two new apartment buildings on open land in San Francisco.
2) The government of Alameda (next to San Francisco) wants to sell some land on a large open hill to a builder because Alameda needs money for schools.
3) Some people want to build a new highway from the suburbs into San Francisco so that they can drive to work faster.
4) San Francisco wants to build a new fast train from the west side of the city to the downtown area.
5) A group of volunteers wants to invite several hundred people to a three-day meeting in San Francisco to learn about California’s plants and animals.
6) The National Park Service wants to build a campground in the redwood forest north of San Francisco.
7.Expanding the topic. Greenbelts exist all over the world. You learned about the San Francisco Bay Area’s Greenbelt. Now read about a greenbelt in Africa. Give your answers to the questions.
KENYA’S GREENBELT MOVEMENT
Kenya’s greenbelt movement started in 1977, when a woman named Wangari Maathai decided to help save the forests in Kenya. In Kenya, many people cut down trees because they need wood to burn for cooking and heating. But when all the trees are cut down, the forest doesn’t grow back. Then people have no more wood. Eventually, if no trees are replanted, the area becomes desert. Wangari started growing and selling young trees in her garden for people to plant in places where they cut down trees. Soon, other women became involved and began to grow trees to sell, too.
Today in Kenya there are more than 1500 people selling young trees, and more than 10 million trees have been planted. Twelve other African countries have started greenbelt projects like Kenya’s.
Why did Wngari Maathai start the greenbelt movement?
What happens to the land if all of the trees are cut down and nobody plants more trees?
8.Linking readings together. Complete the chart. Then in small groups, discuss your answers to the questions that follow.
|
SAN FRANCISCO’S GREENBELT ALLIANCE |
KENYA’S GREENBELT MOVEMENT |
When did these movements start? |
|
|
What do the people who work for these movements want to save? (What is in danger?) |
|
|
Why are these places in danger? |
|
|
How are the people trying to save these places? |
|
|
What are the benefits of the greenbelts? |
|
|
Look at the last item. Can you think of any other benefits a greenbelt might have, perhaps in another country or another urban area?
What will happen in Kenya, San Francisco, and other places if greenbelts disappear?
What else can people do to help save nature areas and greenbelts?
Listening Comprehension
Listening 1
Community Gardens
Listen to Laura Lee talking about community gardens. Then answer the questions:
What are you listening to?
Where is the woman?
What do you think she will learn about community gardens?
2.There are many reasons to have a community garden. Here is a list of several reasons. Listen to the complete radio interview. Check the reasons the man tells the reporter.
Community gardens make neighborhoods look nice.
Community gardens are good places for people to enjoy nature.
Community gardens are good places to walk dogs.
Community gardens are good places to grow food.
Community gardens are good places to grow flowers to sell.
Check the statements that are true.
Ten years ago this was an empty lot.
One person in the neighborhood planted the community garden.
Before the garden, there was garbage on the empty lot.
There are enough apartment buildings in New York.
The neighbors made the neighborhood a nice place to live.
Before the garden, there wasn’t a place to sit and relax.
Now, people sell vegetables, not drugs.
The man grew up in the country.
The man has a yard at his apartment.
Tomorrow night the radio show will be about the city’s plans.
Listen to the excerpts from the previous listening and answer the questions.
Excerpt One
What does the city want to do?
How does the man feel about the city plans? Why?
What do you think the city should do? Why?
Excerpt Two
Why can’t people in the city grow food?
Why do you think the man likes to grow food?
Do you like to work in a garden and grow food? Why or why not?
Listening 2
Listen to the radio call-in show about urban greening and city beautification. Sum up the plans.
Listening 3
Listen to the text and answer the following questions:
What is the topic of the text?
What is the city Curitiba, Brazil doing right?
Listen to the text and fill in the gaps.