Green Johannesburg

Think Johannesburg and it’s unlikely that the notion of a green belt will spring to mind.

Known throughout the world for its rich mineral veins of gold, Johannesburg is also blessed with another natural treasure: more trees grow here than in any other urban centre in the southern hemisphere, making it the largest non-commercial forest below the equator.

Those arriving in the city by air for the first time are often astonished to see a verdant forest below them, stretching as far as the eye can see. It’s not what one expects from a city built far from any major waterway. Beneath the seemingly endless greenery is a densely populated, highly industrialised, bullish, burgeoning city. On satellite pictures, however, it’s hard to tell the difference between Johannesburg and the Amazon rainforest.

Role of the Gold Mines

The thriving city that we call Johannesburg was born in the Gold Rush of the 1880s, immediately becoming a cacophonous settlement that would grow and spread wildly over the next century. In those early days, trees were not a significant feature of the landscape. The natural vegetation is rolling grassland, which was once grazed by vast herds of browsing antelope and zebra. There were virtually no trees until the early farmers - who preceded the prospectors - planted oaks and walnuts from seeds they brought with them when migrating northwards from the Cape. Orchards were planted in the eastern regions where ancient gnarledfruit trees can still be seen in some gardens, survivors of those early plantings.

The discovery of gold heralded the start of mining companies, and mines needed strong wood to prop up their shafts. A horticultural centre was founded at Zoo Lake – still a favoured leisure spot for locals - where saplings were tested for strength. Eucalyptus trees, commonly known as bluegums, were found to be most suited to this task and were planted en masse. The growing populace chose more attractive trees for their gardens, and the streets of spreading suburbia were planted with pepper, oak, jacaranda and plane trees. Pepper trees were particularly popular as they were believed to repel fleas, but over the years most were removed as they outgrew the pavements - although there are notable exceptions that survived in Parktown and Houghton.

Forest Takes Root

Thus Johannesburg’s forest took root. Most original trees were exotic species, partly because the settlers found them familiar, and partly because indigenous trees, which tend to be thorny, were not suitable for gardens or for lining streets. South Africa’s Working for Water project has taken on the task of eradicating harmful alien trees that lower the water table and actively supports growing trees that aid the environment. Thus many indigenous trees are replacing the thirsty eucalyptus and jacaranda species.

Six Million Trees

Johannesburg now has almost as many trees as it has people. In 2002, a statistical count undertaken by the City Parks Board revealed that there were approximately 6 million trees in the city. Of these, 1.2-million were counted in parks, on pavements and in public areas, and another 4.8-million in private gardens in the city’s leafy suburbs.

More than Beautiful

Furthermore, the Parks Board is continuing the tree-planting tradition in some of the outlying, dusty townships built in the apartheid era. Ongoing projects involve greening these areas, not only to beautify them, but to provide some shade for hot summer days and to control the greenhouse effect by releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees also play a vital role acting as noise buffers, insulating urban areas from the surrounding roar of constant traffic.

Leafy Suburbs

Mostly, though, Johannesburg’s residents appreciate their trees for the way they have transformed what could have been an ugly, industrial city into a lush garden setting. Despite their exotic origins, the jacarandas are still a dazzling sight each spring. In October, Munroe Drive in Houghton, which lies between Parktown and Killarney, provides one of the most breath-taking spectacles - a wide aerial view of delicate mauve flowers intertwined with red, shocking pink and golden bougainvillea.

Observation Points

Perhaps the best observation point for Johannesburg’s myriad trees is at the Westcliff Hotel, set high on the ridge opposite the Johannesburg Zoo in Forest Town (off Jan Smuts Avenue). The hotel’s pool deck offers a panoramic view of treetops and has a telescope for closer examination ofthe foliage or the animals across the road.

Tolstoy Farm, once Mahatma Gandhi's settlement for passive resisters, offers visitors a historical tour as well as a look at some more of the city’s remaining pepper trees. The farm is situated 35 kilometres southwest of Johannesburg and still has a circle of the trees Gandhi loved, now more than a century old.

The Kingston Frost Park between Brixton and Auckland Park, The Wilds in Houghton and the Johannesburg Botanical Garden in Emmarentia also contain superb varieties of indigenous trees.

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