From november 6th to 8th, 2018 china unesco global geopark annual conference was held in yandangshan unesco global geopark. this was the first annual conference of china unesco global geopark after the management of the geopark transferred to the national forestry and grassland bureau.

the conference reviewed the main activities and upgrading work of china global geopark in 2018, shared the advanced experiences of management, application and revalidation, protection and development of global geoparks. put forward suggestions and opinions on areas like future development, management systems, institutional settings, and personnel training of natural protection sites such as global geoparks. the conference awarded two new memberes of unesco global geopark network: guangwushan-noshuihe unesco global geopark and huanggang dabieshan unesco global geopark.

                                                                     the conference was going on

According to the relevant person in charge of the department of natural protection sites of the national forestry and grassland bureau, 212 national geoparks and 37 unesco global geoparks have been established in china, making it the world's largest and fastest growing country in the area of geopark. in the new era, the protection of geological heritage and the construction of geopark are important guarantees for maintaining regional ecological security, an important means to achieve harmonious development between man and nature, and an important support for implementing sustainable development strategies. in the past year, the national forestry and grassland bureau has promoted the application and construction of global geopark in an orderly manner, effectively strengthened the protection of geological heritage and the supervision and management of geopark, and fully completed the work related to institutional reform. in the future, it will strengthen the protection of geological heritage in the aspects of top-level design, supervision and management, and policy support, focus on solving outstanding problems in current protection management, and comprehensively improve the supervision and management level of geoparks.

The conference was guided by the department of natural protection sites of the national forestry and grassland bureau, hosted by the china academy of geological sciences, the national geopark network center, the leqing municipal government, and the management committee of yandangshan unesco gloabal geopark.leye-fengshan unesco global geopark sent staffs to attend the conference. the conference determined that 2019 china unesco global geopark annual conference will be held in dunhuang unesco global geopark.

                             representatives of leye-fengshan unesco global geopark attended the conference

                            representative of leye-fengshan unesco global geopark spoke at the conference

  (reported by reporter chicheng)