The Bükk Region Geopark could become UNESCO Global Geopark 09/07/2023 8:04 AM

The UNESCO Global Geoparks Council accepted 16 applications from prospective UNESCO Global Geoparks during the first meeting of its 8th session, organized under the auspices of M’Goun UNESCO Global Geopark in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 4 and 5 September 2023. According to the latest news, the Bükk Region Aspirant UNESCO Geopark is among them.

The UNESCO Global Geoparks Council plays a crucial role in evaluating new and renewed UNESCO Global Geopark nominations, according to the official UNESCO website. Its members meet annually to determine whether new applications meet the required standards and can be forwarded the Executive Board of UNESCO for endorsement.

Should the UNESCO Executive Board endorse the applications that were accepted thus-far, this would bring the total number of UNESCO Global Geoparks from 195 to 211, in 48 countries. It is hoped that this will make our Bükk Region Geopark the third country to hold this noble and honourable title, after the Novohrad-Nógrád and Bakony-Balaton Geoparks.

The 16 accepted applications from prospective UNESCO Global Geoparks are:

• Uberaba, Brazil
• Biokovo-Imotski Lakes, Croatia
• Enshi Grand Canyon Tenglongdong Cave, China
• Linxia, China Longyan, China
• Mount Changbaishan, China
• Wugongshan, China
• Xingyi, China
• Det Sydfynske Øhav, Denmark
• Impact Crater Lake, Lappajärvi, Finland
• Armorique, France
• Normandie Maine, France
• Bükk Region, Hungary
• Schelde Delta, Netherlands-Belgium
• Oeste, Portugal
• Volcanes de Calatrava - Ciudad Real, Spain

Further details of the decision are expected to be announced at the 10th UNESCO Global Geoparks Conference, which starts today in Morocco and will be attended by representatives of the Bükk Region Geopark. As we wrote, the 2nd UNESCO Global Geoparks International Film Festival will be held in conjunction with this programme, and will also feature a film from our geopark.