Walter_Sisulu_National_Botanical_Garden
Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden
Botanical reserve in Roodepoort near Johannesburg
The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, previously known as the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden, is a 300 hectares (3.0 km2) botanical reserve in western Roodepoort near Johannesburg. It was formally established in 1982 as the Transvaal National Botanic Gardens, at which time it was the 14th of South Africa's National Botanical Gardens. It was opened to the public in 1987 as the Witwatersrand National Botanical Gardens,[1] on the occasion of the handing over of some 120 ha of farm Roodekrans by the Krugersdorp Town Council for inclusion in the reserve.
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Though one of the youngest of South Africa's National Botanical Gardens, the site has been popular with visitors for many decades before its proclamation. The garden has a restaurant, gift shop and bird hide overlooking a small dam. Up to March 2015 it operated a nursery which cultivated native South African plants. The Garden has been recognised as one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.[2]
The Roodekrans, marked by alternating layers of quartz and shale, forms a backdrop to the gardens, beyond which natural bankenveld vegetation is conserved.[1]