Tourists on the nature trail at the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve
	GREEN CITY

Along the Melville Koppies trail JOHANNESBURG'S history can be traced back millions of years ... and you can still see the traces on unspoilt Melville Koppies, a last bit of nature in central Johannesburg The greening of Johannesburg THERE are 2 000 hectares of open space in Soweto, much of it disused and unkempt. Now that space is to be made greener and more user-friendly, in a R1.5-million project in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Jo'burg goes greener for World Summit March 22, 2002 By Thomas Thale JOHANNESBURG'S parks and roads will be greener and cleaner this winter. As part of preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), the City of Johannesburg has embarked on a massive project to refurbish 12 parks in the inner city, restore two nature reserves and plant trees and lawn on arterial routes. Councillor Christine Walters, the chairperson of Parks, Roads and Community Services in the city, this week unveiled Project Eden, a plan to restore 12 city parks. The parks are: AlecGorshel, JZ deVeilliers, Mitchell, Pullinger Kop (all in Berea), Donald Mackay, Honey, Jager, O' Reilly, Pieter Roos, Bonero (Hillbrow) Yeoville Park and End Street Park in Doornfontein. Pullinger Kop in Berea: to be restored to its pristine beauty The project entails installing lighting, fencing, basket ball courts, play equipment and park furniture to make the parks safer and more user friendly. The renovations commenced this month and will be completed by June. The city has budgeted R4,5-million for the project. Plans are already afoot to preserve and restore two historical nature reserves, the Melville Koppies in the north and the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve in the south of the city. According to Walters, toilet facilities and a visitors' room are to be constructed at the Melville Koppies, whilst the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve will soon boast two replicas of Batswana villages from the stone age. The Green City-Pride Campaign, a project to clean up, cut grass and plant trees along the main roads of Soweto is already underway. "Spin-offs from the World Summit are already evident. Soweto, the key tourist destination for many of the 60 000 delegates attending the conference, will be given a green facelift through landscaping, grassing and the planting of trees. The wetland rehabilitation project close to Moroka Dam and Thokoza Park, funded by the Department of Water Affairs, has so far created 120 local jobs and is aimed at reviving the Kliprivier wetland system," said Amos Masondo, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg. The mayor appealed to individuals and communities to take pride in their environment and to keep their neighbourhoods clean.