Protection of geological heritage: A North American perspective on Geoparks

Abstract

The First International Conference on Geoparks was held in Beijing, China in June 2004. At that conference we were immersed in the UNESCO concept of Geoparks for the first time. As North Americans, we take for granted national, provincial and state parks, which are scattered throughout the continent and provide recreational and educational opportunities. The concept of parks is a long standing one in North America, whereas the UNESCO concept of geoparks is relatively new. In this paper we compare the two kinds of parks and explore the value of both as sites of geoscience experience and education.