Back in August, a pair of UNESCO evaluators were in town, exploring the Tumbler Ridge Geopark and making sure it was up to snuff.
The evaluation is in, and the Geopark is good for another four years.
The evaluators—Hartmut Escher from Germany and Miguel Cruz from Mexico—came to Tumbler Ridge in early August to determine if the area was still meeting the criteria and the obligations of a UNESCO-designated site, something required every four years.
The goal of the evaluation, says Geopark Manager Manda Maggs, is to assess whether the Geopark is operating sustainably and productively based on over 200 stringent criteria points.
During their inspection, says Maggs, the evaluators took a trip with Wild River Adventure Tours down the Murray River to Kinuseo Falls, took a helicopter out to the far reaches of the Geopark with Ridge Rotors to view it from the air, spoke with local politicians and community members, and the Geopark’s partners such as Northern BC Tourism.
After their visit, the evaluators create a comprehensive report of their observations which is taken to an international committee, who discuss and decide whether or not that Geopark will be allowed to use the prestigious UNESCO designation going forward. The committee met on December 6-8 to discuss new applications and renewals.
“Each application and documentation is reviewed and given three possible outcomes,” says Maggs. “A green card means that the Geopark is on the right track, and can continue to participate in the international program for another four years. A yellow card indicates that the committee has serious concerns about the site and requires correction of the issues within two years, at which point they are subjected to another inspection. The red card is a worst case scenario and indicates that the site isn’t fulfilling UNESCO’s standards and is stripped of the UNESCO designation.”
But Tumbler Ridge received the green card, as well as some suggestions for improvements going forward. “We will always have more work we can be doing to become more sustainable and improve the quality of what we have to offer”, says Executive Director Manda Maggs. “Our Geopark has a lot of great things coming down the pipeline that strengthens what we’re already doing, like the Dark Sky Reserve project.
“The endorsement of UNESCO shows that we have earned our place at the highest level of sustainable tourism promoting geological and cultural heritage.”
The Tumbler Ridge Global Geopark’s next revalidation process will take place in 2026.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
