Forestry and grassland departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and all departments and bureaus, dispatched agencies, and directly subordinate units of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration
In order to improve the level of protection and management of China's global geoparks and promote the sustainable development of global geoparks, our bureau has formulated the "Global Geopark Management Measures", which is hereby issued to you for your compliance.
Notice is hereby given. National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
January 25, 2024.
Measures for the Management of Global Geoparks
Chapter I: General Provisions
Article 1In order to standardize the management of UNESCO Global Geoparks (hereinafter referred to as "Global Geoparks"), improve the level of construction of Global Geoparks, and promote the sustainable development of Global Geoparks, these measures are formulated in accordance with the "Operational Guidelines for UNESCO Global Geoparks" (hereinafter referred to as the "Operational Guidelines") and relevant laws, regulations and policies of China.
Article 2The term "Global Geopark" in these Measures refers to the sustainable development area recognized by UNESCO as having geological relics of global or international significance and rich natural and cultural resources, with clear boundaries and appropriate area.
Article 3These measures apply to the management of national global geoparks.
Article 4The National Forestry and Grassland Administration is responsible for the organization, coordination, supervision, management and operational guidance of the National Global Geoparks, and liaises with UNESCO and other international organizations on matters related to the Global Geoparks as the national competent authority.
The local forestry and grassland authorities at or above the county level shall be responsible for the organization, coordination, supervision, management and operational guidance of the Global Geopark within their respective administrative regions.
The Global Geopark Management Agency is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Global Geopark.
The National Geoparks Network Center is responsible for organizing and carrying out activities related to the Global Geoparks Network.
Article 5The construction of a global geopark shall adhere to the principles of unified management, scientific planning, key protection and sustainable development.
Article 6The National Forestry and Grassland Administration has set up a global geopark expert database to provide technical support for the management, review and sustainable development of global geoparks.
Article 7The State encourages enterprises, public institutions, social organizations and citizens to participate in the protection, research, education, publicity and promotion of Global Geoparks through donations, technical support, volunteer services, etc.
Chapter II Declaration
Article 8The National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) has established a Global Geopark Project Preparatory Bank (hereinafter referred to as the "Preparatory Bank").
The declaration of the reserve library shall be filled in by the people at the county level where the declaration area is located and submit an application to the provincial forestry and grassland authorities, and submit them to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration after being reviewed by the provincial forestry and grassland authorities. If it crosses the county level, the municipal people** shall apply to the provincial forestry and grassland authorities; If it crosses the municipal area, the relevant municipal people** shall jointly apply to the provincial forestry and grassland authorities; If it crosses provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government), it shall refer to the above-mentioned intra-provincial procedures and submit applications to the relevant provincial-level forestry and grassland authorities, which shall be jointly submitted to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration after examination and approval.
The National Forestry and Grassland Administration reviews the application project and issues a confirmation letter.
Article 9The application of the Global Geopark is divided into two stages: domestic recommendation and international application.
Article 10The domestic recommendation procedure shall refer to the second paragraph of Article 8 of these Measures.
The following conditions shall be met to apply for the recommended area in China:
1) Geological relics of global or international significance.
2) Natural and cultural resources with comparative value.
c) for a single order. 1. A unified geographical area with clear boundaries and appropriate areas, and there is no dispute over the ownership of land, sea areas and islands.
4) Carry out the protection of geological relics, scientific research, nature education, geoscience tourism and other work, and achieve remarkable results.
5) The declared construction has been widely supported by local residents, and the community participation is high.
6) There are clear management units and professional and technical personnel.
7) It has been included in the reserve bank and has been in operation for one year with reference to the standards of the Global Geopark.
8) Comply with other requirements for the declaration of UNESCO Global Geoparks.
Provincial-level forestry and grassland authorities shall organize a review and submit the following materials to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration:
a) Recommended documents. The main content shall include the name, area, and scope boundary of the declared area; resource conditions and values; the state of conservation management; Review opinions of provincial-level forestry and grassland authorities, etc.
2) Application materials. The main content should include the domestic declaration; Comprehensive Investigation Report; **Materials (no more than 15 minutes in length); Self-assessment document (Form A); Provincial people** agree to declare the document; publicity, etc. Where major matters such as national territorial sovereignty, ethnic, religious, military, and transnational cooperation are involved, a letter of consent from the relevant provincial-level competent departments shall also be submitted.
Article 11The National Forestry and Grassland Administration shall review the submitted materials, organize expert on-site inspections, and convene a global geopark recommendation review meeting, and if it passes the review and has no objection to the publicity, it can be determined as a candidate site for the global geopark (hereinafter referred to as the "candidate site").
Article 12The international application procedures shall be implemented with reference to the requirements of Article 8, Paragraph 2 of these Measures and the Operational Guidelines.
The candidate site shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Operational Guidelines, prepare a letter of intent and application materials for the application of the Global Geopark.
The provincial-level forestry and grassland authorities where the candidate is located shall submit a letter of intent to declare to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration before the end of April of the year in which the international application procedures are performed. After the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has been approved, the letter of intent to apply shall be submitted to UNESCO before the end of June of the same year.
The provincial forestry and grassland authorities where the candidates are located shall, before the end of September of the same year, submit the application materials signed by the provincial people's ** responsible person and sealed by the provincial people** to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration, together with relevant departments, shall submit the application materials to UNESCO before the end of November of the same year.
The candidate shall supplement, revise and improve the application materials within the specified time in accordance with the comments put forward by UNESCO.
Article 13Candidates should undergo a UNESCO site visit in the year following the submission of their nominations, as required by the Operational Guidelines.
Article 14The application materials for the Global Geopark shall be true, objective and accurate. In addition to force majeure reasons, if there are circumstances in the application process, including but not limited to serious man-made damage or threat to important resources, false or deliberate concealment of the content of the declaration, and slow progress of the declaration beyond the time limit, etc., it will be deemed that the candidate site will automatically give up its qualifications, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will no longer accept the application for a global geopark from the province involved within the next two years.
Chapter III: Reassessment and Scope Adjustment
Article 15Global Geoparks should be regularly re-evaluated by UNESCO. The re-evaluation is divided into copywriting evaluation (mainly including summary and work progress report) and on-site evaluation.
Article 16The Global Geopark shall prepare a summary and a progress report in accordance with the Operational Guidelines and other provisions, and submit the summary reviewed by the National Geoparks Network Center to UNESCO between May and July of the year before the re-evaluation, and submit the work progress report to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration after being reviewed by the provincial forestry and grassland authorities before the end of December of the same year, and submit it to UNESCO before the end of January of the year of re-evaluation after being approved by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Global Geoparks shall be subject to re-evaluation field visits by UNESCO in accordance with the requirements of the Operational Guidelines.
Article 17Global Geoparks can apply for area adjustments.
If the adjustment area (the sum of the increase and decrease area) is less than 10% of the original area, the application report for area adjustment shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Operational Guidelines, and the provincial forestry and grassland authorities shall submit it to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration before the end of October of the year of application, and submit it to UNESCO before the end of November of the same year after being approved by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
If the adjusted area is greater than or equal to 10% of the original area, the application materials shall be resubmitted with reference to the international application requirements of the Global Geopark specified in Article 12 of these Measures.
Article 18If an application is made for the change of the name of a Global Geopark, a report on the application for name change shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Operational Guidelines, and after the original application unit of the Global Geopark shall be submitted to the provincial people** for approval, the provincial forestry and grassland authorities shall submit it to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration before the end of October of the year of application, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration shall submit it to UNESCO before the end of November of the same year after being approved by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Chapter IV: Supervision and Management
Article 19The management of global geoparks shall be in accordance with the relevant statutes of UNESCO and relevant national regulations, and do a good job in resource protection and regional sustainable development. Areas where Global Geoparks overlap with nature reserves shall also comply with the relevant management and control requirements of nature reserves.
Article 20Provincial-level forestry and grassland authorities shall guide and supervise the management institutions of global geoparks within their respective administrative regions to fulfill relevant international regulations and declaration commitments, and provide necessary guarantees for the protection, construction and management of global geoparks.
For cross-provincial (autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government) global geoparks, the relevant provincial-level forestry and grassland authorities and the global geopark application units shall establish a work coordination mechanism.
Article 21The Global Geopark Management Agency shall formulate a protection management system, prepare a development action plan, and establish a Global Geopark**, database and archive.
The content of the development action plan shall include, but is not limited to, the protection of geological relics, the investigation and monitoring of resources, the construction of interpretation systems, nature education and geoscience tourism, the management and capacity building of geoparks, community development plans, publicity and promotion, network exchanges and cooperation, capital investment and guarantees, etc.
The preparation of the development action plan shall widely solicit the opinions of relevant departments, enterprises and institutions, community residents and experts, and be connected with the territorial spatial planning and the planning of various nature reserves within the scope of the Global Geopark.
The Global Geopark Management Agency shall carry out its work in accordance with its development action plan and refine the tasks within the assessment cycle to ensure the orderly development of the Global Geopark.
Article 22The management institutions of global geoparks shall establish and improve the system of nature education and science popularization, improve the construction of facilities, strengthen cooperation with scientific research institutions and communities, and improve the public's awareness of global geoparks.
The Global Geopark Management Agency shall fulfill the responsibilities of membership in the Global Geoparks Network, participate in the World and Regional Geoparks Conferences, establish sister parks, strengthen international exchanges, train and transport Global Geopark assessors, and pay membership dues on time.
Article 23The Global Geopark Management Agency shall, before the end of January of each year, submit the Global Geopark Management Report of the previous year to the provincial forestry and grassland authorities, the main contents of which shall include resource protection and management, the implementation of development action plans, nature education and geoscience tourism, domestic and foreign exchanges and cooperation, etc., which shall be reviewed and summarized by the provincial forestry and grassland authorities and submitted to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration before the end of February of the same year.
Chapter V: Supplementary Provisions
Article 24The use of the UNESCO Global Geopark logo shall be authorized by UNESCO and comply with the relevant regulations on the use of the logo. Commercial use or authorized third-party use is strictly prohibited.
Article 25All relevant units and individuals shall abide by state secrecy provisions, and lawfully use, exchange, and keep confidential documents, data, and drawings in the process of declaration, reassessment, scope adjustment, and so forth. All materials related to secrets shall be declassified before reporting.
Article 26In accordance with the decision of UNESCO, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will publish the results of the declaration and re-evaluation of Global Geoparks.
If the application is for a transnational (border) global geopark, it shall be decided separately.
Article 27The State Forestry and Grassland Administration is responsible for the interpretation of these measures.
Article 28These Measures shall come into force on the date of promulgation.
*: National Forestry and Grassland Administration**Net.