UNESCO Geoparks: nominations for Platåbergen and Salpausselkä

Halleberg. Photo: Thoasp/CC BY-SA 3.0

Platåbergen in Sweden and Salpausselkä in Finland have moved one step closer to become UNESCO Global Geoparks.

The UNESCO Global Geoparks Council has proposed to forward the nomination of 8 new UNESCO Global Geoparks to the Executive Board of UNESCO, for its endorsement during the 2021 Spring session.

The Geoparks Council assessed 18 new applications for UNESCO Global Geoparks (submitted in 2019 and 2020). As a result of this thorough examination and in presence of more than 50 observers and representatives of more than 30 Member States, 8 applications were nominated.

Platåbergen Geopark  is located in west Sweden, the region of Västergötland. Salpausselkä is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland.

International geological importance

Salpausselkä. Photo: J Hokkanen/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. They apply a bottom-up approach, combining conservation with sustainable development while involving local communities

Should UNESCO’s Executive Board endorse the outcome of the Council during its spring 2022 session, then the designation of these new sites would bring the total number of sites in the Global UNESCO Geoparks Network from 168 to 177, in 46 countries welcoming two new Member States: Luxembourg and Sweden.

The UNESCO Global Geoparks Council is responsible for assessing revalidated and new UNESCO Global Geopark nominations, which are then submitted to UNESCO’s Executive Board for endorsement.