Kinabalu Geopark has bright prospect to become UNESCO Global Geopark

RANAU: The Kinabalu Geopark has a bright prospect to become a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Global Geopark this year, said Sabah Parks director Dr Maklarin Lakim.

He said a four-day assessment would be conducted starting today by assessors from UNESCO Global Geopark together with other committee members who will visit three districts, namely Ranau, Kota Belud and Kota Marudu.

"We have identified the route and 18 stop-overs, and believe it represents the true colour of our national geopark with prospects of qualifying to be inscribed as a UNESCO Global Geopark," he said in his welcoming speech at an event to start the assessment at Kinabalu Park Headquarters here today.

He said the geopark status provides hope, particularly for Kinabalu Geopark, in helping the conservation effort, infrastructure provision and socioeconomic gain for the local community.

Maklarin said he was confident with Kinabalu Geopark's strength to attain the status, adding that he was also aware of the challenges, particularly considering the park's gigantic size that is 10 times larger than Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark.

"We feel privileged to be part of this assessment process, contributing something valuable to the future generation and probably creating another history.

"Our heartfelt gratitude goes to our assessors for being brave enough to take the golden opportunity to come over to assess this truly beautiful area, we simply put as 'ABC' aspects which stand for Abiotic geological feature, Biotic biodiversity marvel and Cultural aspects of the local community," he added.

-- BERNAMA