Sanqingshan Global Geopark attended the 2017 Annual Meeting of Chinese UNESCO Global Geoparks.
November 14, 2017
From November 13 to 15, 2017, the 2017 Annual Meeting of Chinese UNESCO Global Geoparks was held at Ningde UGGp. More than 200 participants, including representatives and experts from 35 UGGps, 2 candidate Global Geoparks, and competent authorities of geoparks across China, gathered to exchange achievements and share experiences. Sanqingshan UGGp sent representatives to attend the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by He Qingcheng, Executive Director of the National Geopark Network Centre, with the theme “Sustainable Tourism Boosting Local Economic Development”. At the meeting, Guan Fengjun, Director-General of the Department of Geological Environment, Ministry of Land and Resources, comprehensively summarized the work carried out by the Ministry since the 12th Five-Year Plan period in terms of geopark management and the establishment of the national geopark system, and put forward the challenges facing the sustainable development of geoparks in China and the corresponding countermeasures. Liu Yuan, Inspector of the Department of Geological Environment, delivered a report on the work summary for 2016–2017 and the work plan for 2018.
During the conference, the participants from Sanqingshan UGGp carefully listened to the experience sharing on geopark construction, development and management by Arxan UGGp and Koktokay UGGp, as well as the case study on tourism-driven poverty alleviation and prosperity for local residents presented by Ningde UGGp. They also learned from the experience of nomination and re-assessment of several global geoparks including Guangwushan-Nuoshuihe UGGp, Dabieshan UGGp and Shennongjia UGGp, together with the experience of new members of the Global Geoparks Network evaluation team.
Through this annual meeting, Sanqingshan UGGp gained a deeper understanding of the direction for geopark construction and development, clarified the methods and approaches for using geopark tourism development to boost local economic growth and poverty alleviation, and mastered the key points, contents, details and precautions for the preparation of the Global Geopark re-assessment. This has pointed out the direction for the future construction and development of the geopark as well as the 2018 geopark expansion assessment.
