UNESCO Global Geopark Evaluators Visit Pelham
Written by Brian Green on Jan 14, 2023 9:30 AM for https://www.pelhamtoday.ca/
Pelham News- UNESCO Geopark Evaluators Visit Pelham
As part of Niagara’s application to join a worldwide network of Geoparks, evaluators learned about some of Pelham’s cultural, geological and natural features
Written by Brian Green on Jan 14, 2023 9:30 AM for https://www.pelhamtoday.ca/
Pelham played host to two evaluators from the Canadian Global Geopark UNESCO Certification body last summer, showing off some of the town’s attributes as part of a bid to get Global Geopark certification for the Niagara Region.
The inspectors, from Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, and Charlevoix, Quebec, were here to tour the Region with representatives from the Niagara Peninsula Aspiring Global Geopark (NPAGG), a volunteer group which is trying to make Niagara an official UNESCO Geopark.
In its mission statement, the NPAGG outlines the purpose and goal of the organization, emphasizing “sustainable tourism”:
“The Niagara Geopark is a non-regulatory, non-profit entity that benefits all Niagara residents, educational institutions and business operators by fostering hyper-local tourism, developed in such a manner and at such a scale, that it remains viable indefinitely while safeguarding the earth’s life support systems on which the welfare of current and future generations depend.”
The Niagara initiative is an “aspiring” UNESCO Global Geopark because it is going through an exhaustive application process to be approved as one of the worldwide network of such parks. There are 177 Geoparks worldwide, only five of which are in Canada.
The evaluators began their tour in Grimsby and Lincoln before arriving in Pelham, where they were joined by Mayor Marvin Junkin for a walk along the Roland Road trail in Short Hills Provincial Park to the viewpoint over Swayze Falls.
