Discovery Geopark, situated in the northern section of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Bonavista Peninsula, has successfully retained its Global Geopark designation from UNESCO. The park’s distinctive rock formations and fossil discoveries initially granted it international recognition in 2020. However, recent concerns raised by UNESCO put the park’s status in jeopardy.
Every four years, independent assessors conduct on-site evaluations at UNESCO Global Geoparks, assessing their compliance to maintain their status. The assessors assign a green, yellow, or red card to indicate the park’s standing. A green card signifies renewal, a yellow card allows two years for improvements to avoid a red card, leading to status revocation.
UNESCO had requested that Discovery Geopark address various issues, including securing stable funding and staffing, creating a staff succession plan, enhancing inland geo sites with signage, updating logos, improving access and visitor safety, and collaborating on tourism promotion with partners. The park, renowned for its 560 million-year-old Ediacaran fossils, some accessible from the Port Union boardwalk, responded to these demands, resulting in the reinstatement of its green card.
This achievement places Discovery Geopark among Canada’s five geoparks and the global network of 229 geoparks.