Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
KL Forest Eco Park, at the foot of KL Tower in central Kuala Lumpur, began as Bukit Nanas, meaning Pineapple Hill, a name recalling pineapples once planted as a defensive barrier around a hilltop stockade during the Klang War of the late 1860s. British planters called it Weld Hill after Straits Settlements governor Sir Frederick Weld once a coffee-planting concession was granted there in 1880, and the Convent Bukit Nanas, St John's Institution and Kuala Lumpur's first courthouse were built on its slopes soon after. In 1906, colonial authorities gazetted 17.5 hectares of the hill as a forest reserve, first as Bukit Weld Forest Reserve and then Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, making it one of Peninsular Malaysia's oldest permanent forest reserves. Only about 9.3 hectares survive today, the rest absorbed by Kuala Lumpur Tower and other development. Renovated and rebranded as KL Forest Eco Park with a new 200-metre canopy walkway completed by the mid-2010s, the reserve introduced its first entrance fees in 2024, ending more than a century of free public access.
Weld Hill (Kopi San, "Coffee Hill", to Chinese planters)
from 1880
Bukit Weld Forest Reserve (Hutan Simpan Bukit Weld)
gazetted 1906
Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve (Hutan Simpan Bukit Nanas)
early 1900s to 2010s
KL Forest Eco Park (Taman Eko Rimba Kuala Lumpur)
2010s to present
1880
European planter R.B. Downall obtains a coffee-planting concession on the hill and names it Weld Hill after Sir Frederick Weld, Governor of the Straits Settlements from 1880 to 1887; Chinese labourers call it Kopi San, or Coffee Hill.
1880s-1900s
Convent Bukit Nanas and St John's Institution are established on the hill's slopes and Kuala Lumpur's first courthouse is built there; the courthouse building later houses the old Selangor Museum after the museum relocates in 1909.
1906
Colonial authorities gazette 17.5 hectares (about 43 acres) of the hill as Bukit Weld Forest Reserve, soon renamed Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, making it one of Peninsular Malaysia's oldest permanent forest reserves.
1934
The reserve, by then about 10.5 hectares, is gazetted as a Wildlife Reserve.
1950
A roughly 5-hectare pocket of undisturbed forest within the reserve is designated a Virgin Jungle Reserve and the site also gains Bird Sanctuary status.
1970s-1980s
A cable car service is installed on the hill in the 1970s but is discontinued and dismantled in the 1980s after a short operating life.
1996
Construction of the 421-metre Kuala Lumpur Tower on part of the reserve, together with other development, shrinks the surviving forest to about 9.3 hectares from the original 17.5.
May 2014
A landslide along the Jalan Ampang edge of the reserve requires slope-stabilisation repairs, resulting in the removal of some mature trees on that boundary.
2012-2015
The reserve closes in stages for slope-stabilisation work and the construction of a new elevated walkway, then reopens rebranded as KL Forest Eco Park with a 200-metre canopy walk suspended up to about 20 metres above the forest floor, linking the information centre to the KL Tower entrance.
2024
The Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia introduces the park's first entrance fees, RM10 for Malaysian adults and RM40 for international adults, ending more than a century of free public access.
200-metre canopy walkway
Completed as part of the mid-2010s renovation, the walkway is anchored by towers up to about 20 metres above the ground and runs roughly 15 metres above the forest floor at its main span, connecting the park's information centre to the KL Tower entrance and giving visitors a rare canopy-level view of an untouched forest set against the KL Tower and surrounding skyline.
Virgin Jungle Reserve pocket
A roughly 5-hectare section designated a Virgin Jungle Reserve in 1950 has been left undisturbed since gazettement, distinguishing it from the surrounding recreation forest that has seen trail-building and slope repairs over the decades.
Old-growth lowland dipterocarp forest
The reserve preserves a remnant of the lowland dipterocarp forest that once covered this part of the Klang Valley before Kuala Lumpur's founding, with mature emergent trees including Jelutong specimens recorded at up to around 35 metres in height and never logged since the reserve's establishment.
Colonial institutions built on the hill
Convent Bukit Nanas, St John's Institution and Kuala Lumpur's first courthouse were all sited on the hill in the late 19th century, while St John's Cathedral (1883) stands at its base, reflecting the hill's role as a preferred, elevated site for colonial-era civic and religious buildings.
The hill's defensive-stockade origin
The Malay name Bukit Nanas, or Pineapple Hill, comes from pineapples planted in dense rows around a hilltop stockade as a defensive barrier against attackers during the Klang War (Selangor Civil War) of the late 1860s, long before the hill became a forest reserve.
The reserve was gazetted in 1906, when 17.5 hectares of Bukit Nanas were set aside as Bukit Weld Forest Reserve. That makes it one of the oldest permanent forest reserves in Peninsular Malaysia, predating most of Kuala Lumpur's urban development.
The name comes from pineapples planted in rows around a hilltop stockade as a defensive barrier during the Klang War of the late 1860s, well before the area became a forest reserve. The Malay word nanas means pineapple.
British colonists called it Weld Hill from 1880, after Straits Settlements Governor Sir Frederick Weld, when a coffee-planting concession was granted on the hill. Chinese labourers working the concession called it Kopi San, or Coffee Hill.
The reserve was renamed and rebranded as KL Forest Eco Park (Taman Eko Rimba Kuala Lumpur) by the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia during a renovation completed by the mid-2010s, which also added the park's 200-metre canopy walkway. Many Kuala Lumpur residents still refer to it by its older name, Bukit Nanas.
Of the 17.5 hectares gazetted in 1906, only about 9.3 hectares remain today. The rest was absorbed by the construction of Kuala Lumpur Tower in 1996 and other surrounding development.
Convent Bukit Nanas, St John's Institution and Kuala Lumpur's first courthouse were all built on the hill's slopes in the late 19th century, with St John's Cathedral added at its base in 1883. Several of these institutions are still operating today.
Yes, a roughly 5-hectare pocket was designated a Virgin Jungle Reserve in 1950 and has remained undisturbed since. It sits within the wider reserve, which also gained Wildlife Reserve status in 1934 and Bird Sanctuary status in 1950.
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