Barberspan Designated 12 March 1975

Barberspan is the largest of a series of pans in the fossil bed of the Hart's River, measuring about 600 m wide and 1 550 m long. It is shallow, alkaline and perennial, connected to the Hart's River via a channel, and surrounded by gently undulating or flat grassy plains. The pan is located in the Barberspan Nature Reserve, which also houses one of the most important bird ringing stations in South Africa. Approximately 40 000 birds of 190 species are ringed annually in order to study their distribution and migration.

Situated in the North-West Province, Barberspan is one of the few permanent water bodies on the western highveld and provides food and shelter during the dry months for large numbers of waterbirds, with over 320 recorded species. These include Palaearctic migrants such as knot Calidris canutus and blacktailed godwit Limosa limosa . At the time of designation, Barberspan was the only locality in South Africa where the pintail Anas acuta had been recorded. A number of Red Data bird species such as the African fish eagle Haliaeetus vocifer, openbilled stork Anastomus lamelligetus, goliath heron Ardea goliath, pinkbacked pelican Pelecanus rufescens, white pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, Caspian tern Hydroprogne caspia and yellowbilled stork Mycteria ibis also occur here.