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Fez – The 10th International Conference on Global Geoparks of UNESCO announced to be held in Marrakech in 2023.
The Executive Board of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) made the announcement during the closing ceremony of the 9th UNESCO Global Geoparks Conference held on Jeju Island, South Korea.
Four countries competed – Morocco, Brazil, Mexico, and France -to host this auspicious international conference that will bring together more than 1,500 people of 50 nationalities.
UNESCO identifies geoparks as “single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development.”
Morocco ran for the nomination with the Geopark M’Goun in Azilal. M’Goun is the only geopark in the Arab and African region registered in the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network, along with Ngorongoro-Lengai in Tanzania.
M’Goun Geopark was recognized during the 6th World Conference of Geoparks held in 2014 in Stonehammer Geopark in Canada. The 9th UNESCO Global Geoparks Conference elected Morocco as a member of the GGN for the next four years.
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President of the M’Goun UNESCO Global Geopark Association Driss Achbal thanked the members of the GGN Executive Board and the Advisory Committee for their support and confidence in Geoprac M’Goun’s candidacy. Morocco was the only country that ran for hosting the conference from the African continent and the Arab world.
“Morocco is a country of hospitality, cohabitation, and tolerance,” said Achbal, highlighting the country’s “civilization of more than 12 centuries.” The M’Goun president also insisted on the “modern and prosperous” nature of the North African country and that it “ensures the preservation of its human values and its tangible and intangible heritage under the leadership of King Mohammed VI.”
Members of the organizing committee of the 10th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks include the Wali of the Beni Mellal-Khénifra Region, the Governor of the Azilal Province, the President of the Beni Mellal-Khénifra Regional Council, as well as the members of the M’goun Geopark Association.
