In 1972, UNESCO passed the ‘Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage’, which aimed at developing a list of the world’s natural and cultural heritage. By 1995, only a few geological heritage sites had been listed in the directory. During the 30th International Geological Congress in 1996 in Beijing, the UNESCO Division of Earth Science and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) jointly proposed the initiative of establishing ‘world geological parks’ with the objective of increasing the protection of geological heritage around the world. As a result, the English term ‘geopark’ was first used in Beijing. The initiative was immediately supported by more than 30 countries, including China. The European geologists that participated in the Congress discussed the establishment of geoparks in Europe. In November 1997, at the 29th Plenary Session of UNESCO, it was unanimously agreed that a global network of geological heritage with unique...
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(2020). Global Geopark, Development History. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_929
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