Tony Ferrar recently spoke at the Barberton Geological Society’s monthly meeting to update the members on the status of the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountain Lands World Heritage Site (BMML WHS).

According to Tony the project is still on the tentative list that has been submitted to UNESCO, and are they working around the clock to complete and fulfill all the obligations required.

This site will be the first heritage site in Mpumalanga and will therefore provide a major global marketing boost for tourism in the province.

He said that it is a unique area as it contains the oldest and best preserved sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks on earth. It has provided an unparalleled source of scientific information on the formation of the early earth.

Besides the geology, the area is also rich with fauna and flora, and includes various small nature reserves that provide key elements for developing diverse and innovative tourism partnerships, and businesses such as adventure tourism geology, birding, game viewing, historical and cultural tours, hiking and off-road trials.

The area is known as the Barberton Greenstone Belt and stretches from Badplaas to Barberton, including the Nkomazi and Mountainlands reserves.

The task team that has been working on the highly formalised and technical document was established in November 2007 and it was approved in June 2008.

Key players in the whole process were Tony (consulting ecologist, park planner and eco-tourism development specialist), Sue Brandt (social and economic development consultant), Dion Brandt (consulting geologist), Marc Stalmans (consulting ecologist and local biodiversity and wildlife and habitat management specialist) and Anthony Emery (consulting conservation biologist and GIS specialist).

So far the process of being declared as a WHS has been supported by a broad cross-section of relevant government and other agencies at the local, provincial and national level. They include the Mpumalanga Office of the Premier, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, National Heritage Council, Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, South African Heritage Resources Agency, Umjindi Municipality, Albert Luthuli Municipality, Barberton Community Tourism, Geological Society of South Africa, South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Academic geologists from Research Institutions and Universities and landowners in affected Nature Reserves (Nkomazi and Mountainlands).