South Africa

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

WHS Score 2.31
rate
Votes 15 Average 2.7
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Votes for Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

1.5

  • Mihai Dascalu
  • Richard Stone
  • Thomas van der Walt

2.0

  • Philipp Leu
  • Solivagant
  • Thomas Buechler

2.5

  • Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero
  • Zoë Sheng

3.0

  • Ralf Regele
  • Randi Thomsen
  • Svein Elias

3.5

  • SirLoydd

4.0

  • Christoph
  • Piotr Wasil

4.5

  • Joshuakirbens

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains contain some of the oldest exposed parts of the Earth’s crust, providing a wealth of information about early Earth.

The volcanic and sedimentary rocks are estimated to be around 3.6 billion years old, dating from the Paleoarchean. The geosites show a great variety. Scientists have also found evidence of the largest terrestrial meteor impact event to date near the area.

Community Perspective: There’s a 38km long Geotrail (paved) that you can follow by car, with 11 stops that explain the various geological features. The surrounding landscape is stunning.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (ID: 1575)
Country
South Africa
Status
Inscribed 2018 Site history
History of Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains
2018: Advisory Body overruled
IUCN advised Referral
2018: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • viii
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Aug. 22, 2018 talkofthetown.co.za — How 500 tons of gold almost foiled heritage site
  • July 25, 2018 dailymail.co.uk — Scientists uncover 3.22 billion year old microbes in South Africa that push back estimates of when terrestrial life started on Earth by 500 million years

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Mountain
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (9) .
Connections of Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains
Geography
Damaged
  • Meteorite impact
    meteorite-impact fallback breccias dating to just after the end of The Great Bombardment (4.6 to 3.8 billion years ago) (AB ev)
World Heritage Process
  • Inscribed on a single criterion only
    crit viii
  • No Buffer Zone
    South Africa deemed it unnecessary, and there is a de facto 10 km zone around the nominated property subject to the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act (AB ev)
  • Extension Supported
    "Invites the States Parties of South Africa and Swaziland to continue their collaboration regarding protection, management and research on the key geosites in the greenstone belt that extends into Swaziland, and to evaluate further the possibility to include additional sites in Swaziland in a transboundary extension of the property, should further research indicate this potential" (Decision 42 COM 8B.5)
Human Activity
  • Gold production
    Barberton was established during the 1884 Barberton Gold Rush, and gold has been mined in Barberton nearly continuously since that time (AB ev)
Timeline
  • Archean
    the best-preserved, thick and diverse succession of volcanic and sedimentary rocks dating back 3.6 to 3.25 billion years to the early part of the Archean Eon (AB ev)
WHS Names
  • Named after individual people
    "The town was named after Graham Hoare Barber (1835-1888) who discovered a rich gold-bearing reef there in 1884" - Wiki
  • Named after a Mountain
    - "The Makhonjwa Mountains or Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains are a range of small mountains and hills that covers an area of 120 by 60 kilometres (75 by 37 mi), about 80%... South Africa, and the remainder.... Eswatini......The area ranges in altitude from 600 to 1,800 metres (2,000 to 5,900 ft) above msl. It has a number of rocky hills, with moist grassy uplands and forested valleys. The region lies within the Barberton centre of endemism.....The mountains lie on the eastern edge of the Kaapvaal Craton. The range is best known for having some of the oldest exposed rocks on Earth" (Wiki)

    See en.wikipedia.org

News
talkofthetown.co.za 08/22/2018
How 500 tons of gold almost foiled…
dailymail.co.uk 07/25/2018
Scientists uncover 3.22 billion ye…

Community Reviews

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First published: 13/10/22.

Svein Elias

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (Inscribed)

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains by Svein Elias

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains world heritage site is in the northeast corner of South Africa bordering northwest Eswatini. There are several reserves in the area and the world heritage site is large and covers a few of them.

The sleepy little town of Barberton, which was founded in the 1880s during a goldrush, is an entrance gate to the geotrail of this site. We started out visiting the museum in the town, but it wasn’t very interesting because it’s focus was golddigging.

We enjoyed this route towards the border of Eswatini. The geotrail is road R40 upwards to the Bulembu border post. The road is paved (asphalt) and can easily be done by a saloon/domestic car. Its 35-40 km and has many stops along the road with information about the earth crust and what is displayed on each stop. Even to an amateur this is interesting, and it’s a very nice journey. The view gets more and more fantastic the higher you go! We found no paths to enter, so there did no hiking. The mountainside is steep so it would have been either steep up or down. In the end (close to the border) the saloon car must return to Barberton.

As we had “another wheels” we wanted to enter Eswatini through the Bulembu border crossing and follow the border south to Ngwenya, but the border post was closed due to covid. The only option left (except to turn around) was to follow the border on the …

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First published: 23/02/19.

Zoë Sheng

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (Inscribed)

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains by Zoë Sheng

I understand now why there is no buffer zone to this site. Most of the site is on privately owned land and there is no need to protect it with more areas surrounding it. I am actually shocked how this can be listed as WHS but a massive chunk, 20% perhaps, is a private game reserve called Mountainlands.

Coming from the Oshoek border crossing I didn't take the 4x4-only path leading to the Genesis Road. I took the long way around and eventually made it into the core zone. The Genesis road leads you along the border towards the Geotrail but don't expect anything aside from bumps and nice views. There is even a lodge village with a security gate but they are happy to let you through.

The Geotrail completed in 2014 then continues to Barberton. Along the 38km road are 11 spots to park, read a panel and see the rocks for yourself. Some stops are just lookouts to see the mountains and the valleys. The highlight of these is surely the Lebombo View. Not only is the view fantastic, there is a panel for each different rock as seen at the individual spots, e.g. tidal sandstone. Plus there is a toilet (and it encourages going in the fields)!

The area has the oldest most well preserved sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks on earth, from time periods 3.2-3.5 billion years ago. With Vredefort Dome, 20% of South Africa's WHS are currently geology related. Add …

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