Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is taking to work more closely with UNESCO on the Global Geoparks initiative for mutual benefit.

Natural England works with the UK Committee for UNESCO Global Geoparks and the UK National Commission for UNESCO to mentor and support existing and aspiring UNESCO Global Geoparks. We are responsible for designating and enabling good management of geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) many of which are of international value and provide the primary mechanism for protecting the geological value of our Geoparks. In return Geoparks are exemplars of best geoconservation practice.

More recently we have enabled the participation of Geoparks in the cross-government Climate Change and UNESCO Heritage Shared Outcomes Fund project and facilitated Geopark participation in the UNESCO Local to Global initiative which has focused on capacity and resilience building, notably including the urban Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark.

In 2025 we anticipate new applications from the Charnwood Forest Aspiring Geopark as well as the Cross-Channel/Transmanche Aspiring Geopark which is a unique transboundary collaboration between the Kent Downs National Landscape and the Parc naturel régional des Caps et Marais d'Opale.

Geoparks are locally driven and are a key part of our ambition to restore nature, at scale, and to enable more people to both act for and connect with nature through our rich geological heritage.

UKRI funded a project that partnered with Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geoparks, see GtR (attached as a PDF), between July and November 2022.