MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared Bohol islands as one of the new 18 Global Geoparks.
This makes Bohol country's the first global geopark.
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In a release, UNESCO said it recognized the island for its “geological identity has been pieced together over 150 million years, as periods of tectonic turbulence have raised the island from the ocean depths."
It cited that the geopark has abundant karstic sites like caves, sinkholes and cone karst, which include the iconic cone-shaped Chocolate Hills that can be found at the heart of the province.
UNESCO also cited the Danajon Double Barrier Reef consisting of two sets of large offshore coral reefs that were formed by tidal currents and coral growth. It described the reef located along the northern coast as “one of its kind in Southeast Asia” and one of the six documented double barrier reefs on Earth.
Aside from these, UNESCO also featured Bohol’s three-tiered Can-umantad waterfalls, the highest in the province, as well as the uplifted marine terrace, in Loon, now dubbed the “Coral Garden” by the residents.
Other geoparks named by UNESCO are the following:
- Brazil’s Caçapava UNESCO Global Geopark
- Brazil’s Quarta Colônia UNESCO Global Geopark
- Greece’s Lavreotiki UNESCO Global Geopark
- Indonesia’s Ijen UNESCO Global Geopark
- Indonesia’s Maros Pangkep UNESCO Global Geopark
- Indonesia’s Merangin Jambi UNESCO Global Geopark
- Indonesia’s Raja Ampat UNESCO Global Geopark
- Iran’s Aras UNESCO Global Geopark
- Iran’s Tabas UNESCO Global Geopark
- Japan’s Hakusan Tedorigawa UNESCO Global Geopark
- Malaysia’s Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark
- New Zealand’s Waitaki Whitestone UNESCO Global Geopark
- Norway’s Sunnhordland UNESCO Global Geopark
- Republic of Korea’s Jeonbuk West Coast UNESCO Global Geopark
- Spain’s Cabo Ortegal UNESCO Global Geopark
- Thailand’s Khorat UNESCO Global Geopark
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Mourne Gullion Strangford UNESCO Global Geopark
The addition of these 18 sites to UNESCO’s Global Networks has been endorsed by its Executive Board. Of these, only the Philippines and New Zealand are new to the network.
There are currently 195 global geoparks in 48 countries.