Paris: UNESCO’s Executive Board has approved the designation of eight new UNESCO Global Geoparks, which brings the number of sites participating in the Global Geoparks Network to 169 in 44 countries.
"Due to COVID-19, no new applications could be evaluated, and the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council was only able to consider candidates from older applications which had been deferred by the Council in 2017-2019," said UNESCO in a press release issued on Wednesday.
According to the United Nations (UN) Agency, evaluation missions to these sites had already been carried out before the beginning of the pandemic and the applicants submitted additional reports providing information requested during their previous evaluation by the Council.
The newly designated UNESCO Global Geoparks are: Vestjylland UNESCO Global Geopark (Denmark), Saimaa UNESCO Global Geopark (Finland), Thuringia Inselsberg – Drei Gleichen UNESCO Global Geopark (Germany), Grevena – Kozani UNESCO Global Geopark (Greece), Aspromonte UNESCO Global Geopark (Italy), Majella UNESCO Global Geopark (Italy), Holy Cross Mountains UNESCO Global Geopark (Poland), and Belitong UNESCO Global Geopark (Indonesia).
The Belitong UNESCO Global Geopark is located approximately 400 kilometres to the north of Jakarta and encompasses Belitung Island and over 200 small islands in a marine area of 13,000 km².
The marine area represents about two-thirds of the Geopark’s total surface area.
Belitong is known for its spectacular Tor granite landscapes, landforms of large, free-standing rock outcrops created by erosion and weathering. It also features rare tektites formed by meteorite impacts known as Satam Stone or Billitonite and unique mineral deposits such as the Nam Salu primary tin deposit, the wealthiest single tin lode in the southeast Asia region.
Located on historic maritime trading and migration routes, the Geopark is home to over 288,000 people of diverse cultures including the Sawang Tribe.
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