The 1st Forum of Shennongjia UNESCO Global Geopark was held in Muyu Town, Shennongjia Forestry District on October 10th – 13th, 2016.

At opening ceremony, Ms. Chen Xiaoning, Deputy Director of the Department of Geological Environment, Ministry of Land and Resources addressed the delegates, followed by opening address by Mr. Mu Bo, Vice Mayor of Shennongjia to officiate the Forum.

opening ceremony 

Focused on the theme of the Forum, A Fundamental Function of Geoparks: Proper Presentation of Geo-heritages to the Public; 14 domestic and foreign experts and geopark managers shared ideas, experience and best practices on this big challenge and significant task of all geoparks.

After the field trips they offered many good recommendations on the conservation, management and the interpretation system of Shennongjia Geopark. The experts include Dr. Guy Martini, General Secretary of the GGN Bureau,  Mr. Liu Jiaqi, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr. Lee Soojae, Chief Research Fellow of the Korea Environment Institute, and Professor Teodoro Palacios, Director of the Paleontology Department, School of Sciences, University of Extremadura, etc.

Guy Martini giving a presentation 

Liu-Jiaqi giving a presentation 

Mr. Wang Daxing, Director of the Administration Bureau of Shennongjia UNESCO Global Geopark said at the closing ceremony that as China’s only designated area with three UNESCO titles (Global Geopark, MAB reserve and World Heritage), Shennongjia will improve its common conservation and differentiated conservation of the three designated areas according to the experience and recommendations from the experts and delegates, and continuously make effort to establish a characteristic model of sustainable development that can become an international example.

The Forum was supervised by the Ministry of Land and Resources of China, Chinese Geoparks Network, Global Geoparks Network Beijing Office, China National Commission on Stratigraphy, and the Department of Land and Resources of Hubei Province, hosted by the People’s Government of Shennongjia Forestry District, organized by the Administration Bureau of Shennongjia UNESCO Global Geopark, Hubei Shennong Tourism Investment Group Co., Ltd. and Shennongjia Zhonghe Tourism Co., Ltd., and co-organized by the Tourism Science Commission of China Science Writers’ Association and the Geology Society of Hubei Province. Over 60 delegates including government leaders, experts, geopark managers attended the Forum.