Since 2001 China has officially approved the establishment of 85 national geoparks (geological parks), eight of them have been ratified as world geoparks and geological relics preservation has been continually reinforced, said Jiang Jianjun, director-general of the Geological Environment Department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, during a press conference held on June 24 by the Information Office of the State Council.

It was learned that in 1996 the Earth Sciences Division of the UNESCO (UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) officially put forward the suggestion of establishing "world geoparks" in a bid to effectively preserve geological relics. In November 1999 the Ministry of Land and Resources of China held a meeting during which the Ten Year Geological Relics Preservation Plan was passed and decision was made to establish China National Geoparks. In the following year National Geoparks Leading Group and National Geoparks Expert Evaluation Committee were founded. Since 2001 China has officially approved the establishment of 85 national geoparks.

The preservation of Geological relics, the optimization of geological environment, the nurturing of geological ecology and the survey and development of geological landscape etc. have raised the attention of the Chinese geologists and the general public. Early in 1987 China had begun the legal construction of geological relics preservation. Since the 1990s it has gradually unfolded the registration work on various levels of geological relics. By now more than 380 sites have been named national, provincial and city level geological relics preservation zones.

In a UNESCO meeting held in Paris in February eight Chinese national geoparks including Wudalianchi, Yuntaishan, Huangshan, Lushan, Shilin, Songshan, Zhangjiajie and Danxiashan were approved as world geoparks. The meeting also made a decision to hold the first World Geopark Conference in China on June 27. The theme of the conference would be geological relics preservation and sustainable development. It is meant to exchange experience of the countries in geological relics preservation and geopark construction, promote the sound development of world geoparks, better preserve geological relics; to enhance the service of geological relics to scientific popularization and to the sustainable development of the local economy; to boost the harmony of man and nature so that man will cherish even more the earth on which he lives.

By People's Daily Online