UNESCO Designates Bohol Island as PH’s First Global Geopark
(Photo courtesy of Bohol Local Government)
PARIS 08 June 2023 – The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Executive Board, during its 216th session held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 24 May 2023, designated Bohol Island as the first UNESCO Global Geopark of the Philippines.
The Bohol Island UNESCO Global Geopark covers 8808 square kilometers of land and surrounding lush marine protected areas. The island province is home to 1.4 million inhabitants who have kept alive more than 400 years of rich history and cultural traditions in harmony with its unique geological treasures. The geopark abounds in karstic geosites such as caves, sinkholes and cone karst, including the famous Chocolate Hills, which show distinct and mostly uniformly shaped conical limestone hills in the central portion of Bohol.
The Danajon Double Barrier Reef along the northern coast is the only one of its kind in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. A modern day showcase of the powerful movements inside the earth’s crust is the recent raising of the seabed forming the uplifted marine terrace in Maribojoc and Loon, and the creation of the rupture site in Inabanga.
Similar forces within the earth have also raised Bohol’s oldest basement rock, the Alicia Schist from under the ocean floor. The geopark is not only a testament to the earth’s very dynamic history preserved in the diverse rocks and geomorphological features in and around the island, but it is also a demonstration of the Boholanos’ strength and steadfast faith while embracing the uncertainty of geological hazards coming their way (source: UNESCO - Philippine National Commission).
More information on Bohol Island Geopark and the Philippines’ participation at the UNESCO Executive Board may be accessed at https://geopark.bohol.gov.ph/en/ and https://parispe.dfa.gov.ph/, respectively. END
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