The Horticultural Society donates R10 000 to Melville Koppies Reserve
EMMARENTIA – The garden club held its monthly meeting at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens and took this chance to donate and show their support to another nature reserve.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve and to acknowledge this valuable heritage asset in Johannesburg, The Horticultural Society donated R10 000 to the reserve.
The handover took place at the Horticultural Society monthly meeting on 28 August at The Floreum at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens and the donation was received by reserve volunteer Wendy Carstens. The money will be used to purchase three Polywood benches for the hut and the area where there are the remains of an iron-smelting furnace from the Stone Age. Polywood is a durable recycled plastic product that has been developed particularly for outdoor furniture.
Carstens has been a volunteer at the Melville Koppies Reserve for 22 years and she said, “On behalf of the reserve, I would like to thank the Horticultural Society for their support. The money is going to good use for our environment and the balance of the most-welcome R10 000 donation will be used for new overalls for the conservation team and maintenance materials.”
The Horticultural Society is an established garden club and is more than 100-year-old. Members meet once a month. At this meeting, Peter Webb spoke about the importance of bees in the garden, both colony, and solitary bees and the different species of bees in South Africa. Webb’s talk also focused on the shelter that can be provided for bees in the garden.
For a calendar or maps of the Melville Koppies Reserve, their website www.mk.org.za has details of organised guided tours and hikes at Melville Koppies, or phone 011 482 4797.
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