Geoparks: A global approach to promote

sustainable tourism for local communities

Global Eco Asia Pacific Conference 2015

Rottnest Island, WA

17-19 November, 2015

Expanding Ecotourism Horizons

Dr Young Ng

Association for Geoconservation, Hong Kong

Copyright reserved Young Ng 2015

Outline

1. Geopark: concept & principles

2. Social benefits

3. Economic benefits

4. Cases in China

5. Conclusions

1. Geopark: concept and principles

4 spheres of Planet Earth & environment

Atmosphere

Hydrosphere(sea, rivers, underground water)

Biosphere (plants, animals)

Lithosphere (land, rocks, soils)

• Least known

• Least protected

• Stories untold

UN’s protection

programmes and

initiatives

• Man & Biosphere (651 sites in 120 countries)

• World Heritage Listing (1031 sites in 163 countries)

• Global GeoparksNetwork (120 sites in 33 countries)

(Sources: UNESCO’s MB, WH, GGN 2015)

• Geopark: ‘an area with particular geological heritage

with international significance but also with a

sustainable development plan or strategy involving

local communities’. (McKeever 2015)

• A holistic approach to manage and protect geological heritage

with the consideration of their interaction with the biological

and cultural environment, particularly the livelihood of the

people living within or near them.

Geopark’s objectives & mission

Sustainable development

Conservation

Education

All these factors generate

geotourism and ecotourism opportunities

Education

Conservation

Sustainable

development

Community

engagementNetworking

Ecotourism and geotourism

Ecotourism:‘Ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation’. (EA 2015)

Geotourism: ‘Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents’ (National Geographic 1997)

‘Tourism which focuses on geology and landscape as the basis for providing visitor engagement, learning, and enjoyment’. (GSA 2015)

Nature-based &

cultural tourism

Geology & landscape

Culture/ history

Ecology

Other environmental

components

(Ecotourism)

(Cultural tourism)

(Geotourism)

Principles of geotourism

• Geology as a basis

• Experiences enjoyment, learning Sustainable manners of enjoying, learning and engaging experiences

• Raises awareness, interest, appreciation, understanding of geoheritage and geoconservation

• Communicates geosciences with understanding geology through effective interpretation and story-telling skills

• Fosters sustainable tourism and local development

• Takes place in anywhere, any season and at anytime

• Geopark and mining parks are ideal venues for geotourism activities

Geotourism & Geopark

• Geopark branding = quality assurance

• Regular national and international quality monitoring of the site and its services

• Geopark: ideal platform for geotourism� Tranquil environment

� Outstanding and attractive scenery

� Internationally significant geological and geomorphological features with good interpretation

� World class management and services

� Superb facilities and reasonable accessibility

� Excellent safety and security measures

2. Social benefits

• Revives deprived areas, towns and villages

• Engages local communities

• Preserves local culture

• Establishes strong local, national, regional and international networks

• Creates strong sense of place and identity

• Develops sense of pride and belonging

3. Economic benefits

Economic benefits to local communities

• Geoparks driven by geotourism

• Encourages investments

• Generates businesses

• Creates jobs

• Improves livelihood

4. Chinese cases

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

2004 2005 2006 2007

Huangshan

Lushan

Stone Forest

Wudalianchi

Danxiashan

Yandangshan

Ningde

Hexigten

S

L

H

Y

W

D

N

H

Number of tourists before (2004) and after (2007) the

establishment of geoparks(in million)

(Source: CGN 2014)

Case 1Performance of 8

geoparks in their

first 4 years

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2004 2005 2006 2007

Huangshan

Lushan

Stone Forest

Wudalianchi

Danxiashan

Yandangshan

Ningde

Hexigten

L

H

Y

W

D

SH

N

Total geotourism

related revenue Before (2004) and after (2007)

the establishment of geoparks(in million CNY, USD1 = CNY 6.3)

(Source: CGN 2014)

Jiaozuo City

Case 2Yuntaishan

Geopark,

Jiaozuo, Henan

Jiaozuo (JJ) phenomenon

• Jiaozuo City, Henan Province – poor,

environmentally devastated coal mining

city, heavily polluted , low employment

city in 1999

• In 1999, GDP dropped by 16%, tax

revenue fell by 24%

• Yuntaishan Geopark was established and

used to transform Jiaozuo City in 2001

• ‘Jiaozuo Phenomenon’ – A model of

geopark-induced drastic change as

geotourism related income increased by

nearly 50 times from 0.6 billion in 2001

to 25 billion in 2012

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

No. of tourists

Million

Comparing

2000/2014

+ 29.6 million

+ > 8 times

JJ Phenomenon - Number of tourists to Jiaozuo City

2014: 33.0m

2000: 3.4m

Source: Jiaozuo 2014

Yuntaishan

Global Geopark

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

JJ Phenomenon -

Total geotourism related revenue, Jiaozuo City(in billion CNY, USD1=CNY 6.3)

Total tourism revenue

(in billion CNY)

Billion CNY

Comparing

2000/2014

+ 24 billion

+ > 40 times

2000: 0.6 b

2014: 25 b

Source: Jiaozuo 2014

Ancient

volcano

(caldera)

Changyu Town

Shanghai

Changyu Quarry and Cave

Case 3 Changyu Cave,

Yandanshan Global

Geopark

Changyu Cave

• Six geosites (Eight Fairy Cave, Sky & Heaven Cave,

Water & Cloud Cave, Double Gate Cave, Double Gate

Sculpture, Sunset Cave) and one Panda House

Transforming & restoration projects

• Total quarry area 16.18 sq. km

• Shapes of pits – Open or closed/underground bench-like, perpendicular, bell-like

• 28 tunnel systems, 1,314 grottos

• Hammered and chiseled manually for over 1,500 years

• Largest man-made cave in the world (Guinness Record 1998)

• Artefacts: bridges, roads, floodgates, wharfs, slabs, houses, window frames, arches, tombs, posts, household utensils, tools

• Taoist, Buddhist temples, concert hall

• 1st stone culture museum in China – 5 exhibition areas

Environmental improvement

• Upgrading the overall environment

• Solving environmental problems – tailings, dust, flooding, safety, water

quality, toxic soils, abandoned machines and equipment, improve

aesthetic value

Before After

No. of visitors

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

No. of visitors

No. of visitors

+43%

Source:

YDS Management

Authority 2014

0.69m

0.99m

Ticket revenue

0

5

10

15

20

25

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

CNY in million

Ticket sale (CNY)

+184%

20.53m

(USD3.34m )

Source:

YDS Management Authority 2014

7.24m

(USD1.18m)

Non-ticket revenue

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

CNY in million

CNY in million

+32 times

Source:

YDS Management Authority

20140.28 m

9.12m

(USD1.45m)

(USD0.05m)

5. Conclusions

• Nature-based tourism is about telling stories of our Nature

• Telling stories of our Earth has long been missing or insufficient in nature-based tourism and this can be done through geotourism and geoparks

• Geotourism can grow better and faster with geopark

• UNESCO Global Geopark is a global movement and is moving very fast in the past decade

• Geopark is more than just rocks, it comes together with a sustainable management and development strategy of our geological heritage benefiting local communities

• Many successful cases in China may provide insights for some similar sites in Australia and other areas in the Asia Pacific region

Thank you!

young@rocks.org.hk