Graskop Gorge Lift Co in Mpumalanga has installed 50 new interpretation panels along its Forest Trail to provide visitors with information about the trees within the Afromontane Forest ecosystem.
Around 50 tree species along the trail were previously identified with name plates. The new panels, developed by Mbombela-based Hamilton-Fynch, include information about leaves, flowers and fruit as well as the birds, bats, butterflies and moths that depend on the trees.
The panels are designed to give visitors a closer look at features that can be difficult to see from the forest floor as many of the trees have high canopies.
The projects are part of Graskop Gorge Lift Co’s effort to combine tourism with conservation using the attraction as a way of educating visitors about the fragile ecosystem.
Visitors access the forest via a 51m glass-fronted viewing lift and elevated timber boardwalks. In 2025, the 600m Forest Trail was extended to 1 000m with the addition of the Next-Level Walk, which follows the cliff face to Cliff Café.
The new tree panels follow the installation of larger biodiversity panels earlier this year. A 60-page booklet covering the Panorama Route and Graskop Gorge is also available at the attraction.
Hamilton-Fynch plans to develop panels explaining gap dynamics and how the forest changes and recovers after natural disturbances. Panels covering the gorge’s bats are also planned for information on 14 bat species likely to occur at different levels of the forest.
