THE Kedah Government will promote the geopark attractions in Langkawi because they add to the allure of the resort island which is now officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said he would direct relevant state agencies to print brochures to promote the geopark attractions.

“We need to effectively disse-minate information to tourists so they will learn all about the geopark,” he added.

Azizan said this in response to a recent misunderstanding that implied that the state govern-ment was not keen on promoting the Langkawi Geopark following the renaming of the island resort.

Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah consented to the new name during an investiture ceremony on Thursday to commemorate his 50-year reign.

The state government had proposed the name change to tell the world that Langkawi was part of Kedah.

Langkawi was accepted as part of the Unesco global network of geoparks on June 1 last year.

Sultan Abdul Halim’s youngest daughter Tunku Putri Intan Safi-naz is the patron of Langkawi Geopark.

Geoparks are nature parks where emphasis is given to the geological features, biological di-versity, management as well as socio-economic development for locals living in the designated parks.

Langkawi Development Autho-rity (Lada) general manager Datuk Kamarulzaman Abdul Ghani said Langkawi had the potential to lead the geopark movement in the world with its outstanding features and components.

Among the attractions and wonders of the geopark are the fossils of ancient sea creatures on top of Matchincang Mountain, and a billion-year-old granite dropstone in Pulau Tepur that in-dicate that part of the island was submerged in waters near the An-tarctic as dropstones are carried and dropped by glaciers.

Other attractions include Pulau Ular which was part of the seabed 5,000 years ago.