On April 15 local time, at the 224th session of the UNESCO Executive Board held in Paris, France, Changshan in Zhejiang Province and Mount Siguniang in Sichuan Province successfully passed the review and were officially designated as UNESCO Global Geoparks. As a result, China now has 51 UNESCO Global Geoparks, distributed across 24 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Wetland Landscape of Changshan UNESCO Global Geopark
Changshan UNESCO Global Geopark is located in Changshan County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, covering an area of 1,043.10 square kilometers. The geopark preserves continuous strata from the Neoproterozoic to the Cenozoic and is one of the areas in eastern Asia with the most continuous stratigraphic sequence recording nearly one billion years of geological evolution. It has China’s first “Golden Spike” and a large number of paleontological fossils such as graptolites, trilobites, and conodonts. Its juvenile-stage reef karst, magnificent granite peaks, and the beautiful waters of Changshan Port together form a unique natural landscape. Changshan’s distinctive geology and landforms provide a stage for its splendid cultural heritage and lay a natural foundation for its rich local products. Specialty ecological agriculture, including huyou pomelo, fragrant pomelo, and camellia oil, has developed from this foundation, forming an industrial system that drives shared prosperity in local communities and making the geopark a model of coordinated community development.
Mount Siguniang
Mount Siguniang UNESCO Global Geopark is located in Xiaojin County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, at the transition zone between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin. It covers an area of 2,764.01 square kilometers. The geopark is mainly characterized by the “Xikang-style” folds of the Songpan–Ganzi orogenic belt, the turbidite flysch formation of the “Xikang Group,” extremely high mountain peaks on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and unique glacial landforms. It records the geological evolution of the region from the evolution of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean to the uplift of the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, giving it important scientific value and global correlation significance. Mount Siguniang is part of a global biodiversity hotspot, with more than 2,000 species of higher plants, the world’s largest and oldest natural forest of Chinese sea buckthorn, and more than 300 species of vertebrates, including giant pandas and snow leopards. The geopark also preserves rich Jiarong Tibetan culture, with distinctive regional traditions such as mountain worship festivals, Guozhuang dances, and Tibetan song gatherings.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has actively implemented the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” continuously promoted the construction and sustainable development of UNESCO Global Geoparks, formulated and issued the Measures for the Administration of Global Geoparks, and strengthened standardized management. It has adhered to the principles of protection first, adapting measures to local conditions, and highlighting distinctive features, while actively building a mechanism led by the government, participated in by multiple parties, and shared by society, so as to achieve the unity of nature conservation, green development, and livelihood improvement.
(Source: Ministry of Natural Resources)