UNESCO designates 15 new Geoparks in Asia, Europe, and Latin America
UNESCO’s Executive Boards has approved the designation of 15 new UNESCO Global Geoparks, which brings the number of sites participating in the Global Geoparks Network to 161 in 44 countries. The Executive Board also approved the extension of the Kula-Salihli UNESCO Global Geopark in Turkey.
UNESCO Global Geoparks were designated for the first time in Nicaragua, the Russian Federation and Serbia.
The newly designated Geoparks are:
Cliffs of Fundy UNESCO Global Geopark (Canada)
On the North shore of the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia, Canada, the Geopark features a varied landscape of hills, mountains, valleys, heavily forested areas, and coastal marshlands. Its broad biodiversity includes rare birds, fungi and plants. Minas Basin, an inlet in the Bay of Fundy, which is known for having the highest tides on Earth, is part of the Geopark that features exposures of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, the largest outpouring of lava in Earth history, fossils of early dinosaurs, vertebrates and more. The indigenous people of the region, The Mi’kmaq, have lived in the area for thousands of years, making it one of the earliest known sites of human habitation in northeastern North America. Passed down through the ages, their stories explain many geosites and the communities of Cliffs of Fundy are committed to preserving them for future generations.