Barberton Mountains expected to be declared a World Heritage Site

According to an article published on Tourism Update the Barberton Mountain Land, or the Barberton Greenstone Belt, in Mpumalanga is on the tentative list of Unesco’s World Heritage Site (WHS) programme, as the region contains some of the most widely accepted fossil evidence for Archaean life, dating back 3.5 billion years. A major drive for international recognition of the mountains started a few years ago and is finally bearing fruit. Declaration of the site as a Unesco World Heritage Site should take place mid-July, according to Astrid Christianson, Marketing Director of Barberton Tourism, who says the declaration is “imminent”. “I am very sure we are going to get it.” This was reiterated by Wildlife Ecologist and Park Planner, Tony Ferrar, who has been involved in WHS and the Barberton Makhonjwa Geotrail, the first geo-heritage product for tourism and education in the area running along the R40 across the Barberton Greenstone Belt to the Swaziland border at Bulembu, since 2007. “My colleagues managing the WHS project expect the proclamation to happen in July 2018,” says Ferrar. Both Ferrar and Christianson have noticed an increase of requests and information for the area. Once the Barberton Greenstone Belt is declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, the publicity around it will create further demand for the region, both locally and foreign, says Ferrar. Read the full story.