Melville Koppies Nature Reserve and Heritage Site continues to rely heavily on guided tours, hikers, and Sunday visitors to keep the historic landscape alive, says Jenny Grice. The organisation manages the reserve on behalf of City Parks and the city, offering guided walks, self-guided trails, and a range of activities that help fund the three-man conservation team working daily to maintain the area.

Grice explains that income from tours is essential, as it allows the team to weed, maintain paths, burn firebreaks, and remove invasive plants – work that keeps the reserve functioning as both a natural sanctuary and a protected heritage site.

Read more: Enjoy the last storytelling for 2025 at the Melville Koppies

Over the past year, Melville Koppies welcomed people of all ages and backgrounds: Hikers, schoolchildren, university students, tourists, trail runners, and those who simply sought a quiet place to breathe. A new partnership with the TrailFund Project brought fresh energy to the reserve, with runners integrating into the network of trails.

Regular monthly activities – a storyteller on the second Sunday of the month and an 8km guided hike on the last – continued to anchor the reserve’s community offering, alongside mid-week tours arranged on request, but the year also brought challenges. Continued theft of palisade fencing around the perimeter has forced the organisation to hire an additional security guard on Sunday mornings, when the reserve is open. Important indigenous plants have been stolen, and metal pipes inside the reserve have disappeared – losses that cut deeply into both the natural environment and operational safety.

Still, Grice credits the entire Melville Koppies team for keeping the reserve the gem that it is. The conservation team, committee members, and volunteer guides have all worked together to preserve the space, despite these setbacks.

Also read: Trail runners and citizen scientists partake in Melville Koppies splendour

Looking ahead to the festive season, the organisation hopes for one simple gift: Visitors. “We’d love for people to come and experience the Koppies on Sunday mornings when we’re open,” says Grice.

Her wish for 2026 centres on stronger partnerships. She hopes for a solid, collaborative working relationship with the City of Johannesburg, City Parks, and the neighbouring communities – not only for operational support, but so that residents who see the Koppies every day from their windows will feel encouraged to visit and connect with the land.

In the coming year, the team wants to attract more members of the public and more school groups so they can continue sharing the reserve’s history, geology, and natural richness. Strengthening fencing, in co-operation with City Parks, remains a priority.

What Melville Koppies needs most is volunteers – especially younger ones – who can guide tours, manage reception on open days, and bring new ideas to help broaden the reserve’s reach.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration!