International Geodiversity Day established by UNESCO
International Geodiversity Day was established this by the 41st session of the UNESCO General Conference! From now on, the 6th of October will be an annual worldwide celebration, raising awareness across society about the importance of non-living nature for the well-being and prosperity of all living beings on the planet!
The success of this initiative was in no small part due to the breadth of international and national organisations that endorsed the proposal. We would also like to note the particular support of both IUGS, and the Permanent Delegation to UNESCO from Portugal, for the essential role they played in submitted the proposal.
The Global Geoparks Network (GGN) was among the organizations supporting the proposal submitted to UNESCO. The International Geodiversity Day provides an opportunity for the society at large to understand the links between geodiversity and life. Geological heritage represents the foundations of the habitats for all living creatures.
Geodiversity provides us with the evidence to reconstruct the long history of our planet and the evolution of life on it.
Geodiversity is the source of materials that build our landscapes, our cities, our monuments and our civilizations.
Geodiversity is a source of inspiration for our poets, painters and musicians and the driving force for the development of geo-tourism that supports sustainable development of rural communities.
The website geodiversityday.org is the virtual focal point for all information regarding this International Day. We have also launched new social media feeds that you can use to stay updated with plans for International Geodiversity Day.