The Wilds Municipal Nature Reserve

The Wilds is an inner city park in the suburb of Houghton, in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The park consists of 16 hectares of indigenous vegetation on the sides of two rocky "koppies" or hills with views of the city of Johannesburg and its suburbs. Through the 1990s the park gained a reputation for being highly dangerous and crime ridden, however, it is becoming increasingly popular again largely due to the efforts of volunteers.
History.
The land was donated to the City of Johannesburg by the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company in 1924 with the condition that it remains in its natural state and open to the public. The land was too steep to be used for residential property development. After the end of the Empire Exhibition in January 1937, the plants from a rockery created to celebrated the city's silver jubilee and coronation of King George VI, had to be propagated somewhere and a decision was made to landscape the land as park with these plants. It opened to the public in 1938 with lawns, ponds and waterfalls with paths through park laid out in stone. The park is found on both sides of Houghton Drive and was connected by a footbridge in 1965.
The Wilds was dedicated to General Jan Smuts after his death in 1950. It was declared a national monument on 20 February 1981 and a conservation area in 2006. Whilst The Wilds, since 2013, is managed by the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), a non-profit company mandated by the City of Johannesburg to manage the cemeteries, parks and designated public open spaces, it is private citizens who contribute to the upkeep and rejuvenation of the park with little help from the JCPZ. In January 2019, The Wilds was awarded a Blue Heritage Plaque by the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation.
Whilst writing his novel Jock of the Bushveld, Sir James Percy FitzPatrick lived in the house Hohenheim bordering the area that is now The Wilds which would have formed an extension of his garden.
Decline and rejuvenation.
Decline and rejuvenation
Beginning in the early 1990s, the park started developing a reputation for being a crime hotspot. It was entirely unfenced and due to the dense foliage in parts of the park, it made for easy targets. Residents of the neighbouring areas began avoiding the park and it became well known as a no-go area. In the early 2000, Yeoville resident TJ de Klerk led guided dog walks through the park and lobbied City Parks and some funders to have the park fenced off and have security installed. This led to significant reductions in crime. However, its reputation remained. In 2012, Johannesburg artist, James Delaney, decided to reclaim the park and began an ongoing project of de-weeding and clearing some of the dense overgrowth in order to create good lines of sight between paths. Delaney and de Klerk are part of a handful of South Africans who, due to the decline in the quality of local government and municipal services, have taken it upon themselves to improve the park through personal efforts as Active Citizens. The South African Government Department of Sport, Arts, Culture defines Active citizenry as members of society who take charge of their future and are change agents to improve their communities. 
In 2017, to celebrate Mandela Day Delaney created an installation of 67 metal owls, the first of many art installations he would go on to create for the park. The artwork generated some media attention and residents have slowly begun reclaiming the park. As of 2019, The Wilds is experiencing almost no crime and has become a favourite amongst residents from both nearby suburbs and further afield. Students from neighbouring private girls' school Roedean are also involved with the upkeep of the park.
By the end of 2020, there were over 100 sculptural installations in the park and by January 2021, the pond system had been restored by pumping over 700,000 litres of clean water from the underground river that relieved runoff from the subterranean Gautrain train service. Delaney and his team of volunteers and City Parks Wilds staff have also restored The Wilds by completing numerous improvements, namely through:
· The restoration of 80 park benches, repainting them in bold colours on volunteer days, with donated paint and tools.
· A mini library was donated for the entrance, from which people borrow or take books.
· Negotiating with Roedean School to take down their stone wall, which had become unstable, and replaced with a fence, and the stone donated to The Wilds.
· Construction of the circular entrance area with seating, designed by Martine de la Harpe and built by JJ with the Roedean stone. This used to an eroded slope of dirt, a depressing welcome to the park. This was sponsored by Hollard (South Africa’s largest privately owned insurance group), whose Villa Arcadia head office shares the same ridge as The Wilds, and they have done considerable indigenous planting to restore their landscape.
· Sealing the ponds and the installation of a pump which draws water discarded by Gautrain (they pump millions of litres out of their tunnels into the underground river). This water now flows beautifully though the lower ponds, and back into the river. This system was developed and installed by YPO, and opened by the Mayor. (YPO also got the upper ponds and waterfalls working for a while, but we’re waiting for City Parks to install a new pump for that system.)
· Mulching of flowerbeds.
· Design and installation of 100 items of signage throughout the park, with the support of Hollard – directional, rules, information and welcome signage.
· Weeding, every summer, which has broken the seed cycle of blackjacks and khakibos in most of the West Wilds.
· Restoration of the hillside where the sundial is, including replanting indigenous grasses and aloes and removing all rusted wire fencing.
· Resurfacing of the carpark and internal road, and painting the pedestrian bridge.
· Repairs to broken and missing pieces of fence, especially on the East Wilds (which is an ongoing job).
· Installation of fencing along Munro Drive, to complete the fencing of the entire perimeter of the park.
· A friend of The Wilds replaced the decrepit security hut, with a new structure.
· Regular “Walk ‘n Talk” sessions where visitors are led around the park in conversation with interesting people.
· Several weekly exercise classes on the lawns, run by various people who love outdoor training.
· Corporate events, weddings, small events and school tours have become a regular occurrence, providing an income stream to the city (unfortunately this doesn’t directly benefit The Wilds). These are booked via City Parks.
· Moving large aloes from locations where they are in too much shade (as they start rotting) into the sun.
· Collecting cuttings for the nursery, which now has several thousand plants, particularly succulents. This has been an ongoing job benefiting from dozens of volunteer hands.
· Restoration of the abandoned compost area with the Rosebank Scouts.
· Large new flowerbeds around Giraffe Lawn, and repairing the little bridge, now adorned with crocheted flowers by local artist Curious Sleuth.
· Other artists are making their mark too; there was a land art project, and Gordon Froud’s sculpture installation, made from orange beacons, stands on the East Wilds.
· Planting of indigenous trees. Volunteers have started labeling them too. We now also plant along the streets surrounding the park, to extend the forest canopy.
· Clean-up of the climbing wall, which is now regularly used.
· Clearing of invasive alien trees on the edges of both the East and West Wilds.
· Lining several kilometres of pathways with stones, to prevent damage to the plants on the edges.
· The restoration of 4 drinking fountains, broken for decades. Local mosaic artists are making beautiful detailing.
· The Munro Centenary Gates, which Delaney drew using aloes as a motif which now stand on the Munro Drive side.
The Wilds has now won several awards from Business Arts SA, the SA Institute of Architecture, Caxton’s Best of Joburg and Rotary. The park has been featured in media articles all over South Africa and the world. It has also been awarded an official Blue Plaque from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation.
Features and vegetation.
The Wilds features over 8 kilometres of stone pathway. There are also a number of water features including streams, ponds and waterfalls, however, water was cut off to these during the abandonment of the park and the City of Johannesburg is yet to restore this, despite numerous efforts from those involved in rejuvenation of the park.
After the 1936 Empire Exhibition hosted in Johannesburg, The Wilds was designated as an indigenous South African botanical garden. The topography is highly contrasted, featuring lush lawns, Yellowwood forests, and Highveld koppie.
On the Southwest side of the park, there are a collection of greenhouses which have fallen into decay and are fenced off from public access.
The park offers views of Hillbrow, Berea and the inner city. This includes views of several Johannesburg landmarks, including Ponte City Apartments, The Hillbrow Tower, St. Johns School for Boys, Roedean School for Girls, and many mansions in the suburb of Houghton.
Artworks.
The Wilds has become home to a number of artworks over the since 2017. Most of these have been contributed by James Delaney who creates brightly painted laser cut animals. This began with the Owl Forest, a collection of 67 Owls contributed for Mandela Day in 2017. Delaney has also named and signposted sections of the park according to the artworks which he has contributed to these areas.
Community involvement.
Since Delaney's Owl Forest, a number of community organisations have joined in trying to bring people back to The Wilds.
In May 2019, "We Love Killarney" a non-profit community organisation set up to implement a series of improvements to the adjacent neighbourhood of Killarney revealed a plan to reopen an entrance to The Wilds from Killarney with an archway connected to the Killarney park by an upgraded pavement.
Another initiative launched in 2019 is a series of Sunday "Walk and Talks" where presenters can sign up to lead a guided walk through the park whilst speaking on any topic of their choice.
The park also has regular yoga and meditations sessions taking place on the lawns.