Given that people have lived in this area since the Stone Age and that the ridges are thought to be 2.9 billion years old, Melville Koppies Nature Reserve is a World Heritage Site of significant historical significance. Since people have lived here since the Stone Age and the ridges are thought to be 2.9 billion years old, Melville Koppies Nature Reserve, also known as Melville Koppies, is more than just a lovely green area close to one of the trendiest suburbs and the city centre of Johannesburg. It is also a World Heritage Site and of significant historical importance.
The 60-acre nature reserve on the first section of Melville Koppies, which has been designated a national monument, is exclusively accessible to the public on Sundays. To the west of this open area, there is a 100-hectare piece known as the Westdene Ridge and a 10-hectare tract known as the Louw Geldenhuys view site.
A rather lengthy “green corridor” has been created in the centre of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs by Melville Koppies, which is located just 5 kilometres from the city centre, next to Melville, and seemingly connected by a narrow strip of land between the Jan Van Riebeeck Park Nature Reserve and Johannesburg Botanical Garden.
Melville Koppies, as its name suggests, is primarily a ridge. In actuality, it is the last of Johannesburg’s ridges that have been preserved in the manner in which it was before the finding of gold in the late 1880s. The koppies were designated a nature reserve in 1959, and after an Iron Age furnace was found, they have also designated a national monument.
More than 200 different species of birds, as well as a variety of small mammals like mongooses, civets, hares, hedgehogs, and shrews, as well as numerous lizards, chameleons, and tortoises, can be found on Melville Koppies. Additionally, several snakes, including rinkhals, can be found in the native grasses and flora. Even though this hill is covered with granite, it has some greenstone, which is some of the oldest rocks on the planet.