[News] Possible Nova Scotian United Nations geopark a hidden gem

[Personal note: The UNESCO team has been on site these past few days and I'm sure they're amazed by what they've seen. You can visit the Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Global Geopark facebook page -- https://www.facebook.com/fundygeopark/ -- to get updates. Let's hope that they'll join the Canadian Geopark family¹!]


from The Chronicle Herald - published June 25th

Evaluators from UNESCO will be in Cumberland and Colchester counties in late July to evaluate the proposed Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Geopark as a potential UNESCO Global Geopark. - Tourism Nova Scotia Evaluators from UNESCO will be in Cumberland and Colchester counties in late July to evaluate the proposed Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Geopark as a potential UNESCO Global Geopark. - Tourism Nova Scotia


Maybe we should turn left at Truro once in a while.

Many, if not most, Haligonians escaping the city on a summer road trip just sail through the hub city on their way north to P.E.I., New Brunswick or central Canada, or east to answer Cape Breton’s siren call.

There are highway signs, though, that tease the knowing traveller west, to places like the beguiling Great Village, the incomparable Five Islands Provincial Park, the natural wonders of Parrsboro and at the southwestern tip of Highway 209, the spectacular views at Cape d’Or Lighthouse.

We’ve slighted all the marvelous places in between by not mentioning them, of course, but the point is that the Parrsboro shore is another of our great undiscovered wonders.

Some of the people who live there want to do something about that.

As detailed in a story in Tuesday’s paper by Darrell Cole of the Amherst News, officials from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, are due to visit the area this summer to evaluate it designation as a Global Geopark.

It’s a project of a group called the Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Geopark, and if the evaluators approve, the group will be able to market the area around the world to adventure tourists. It will also attract infrastructure funding to develop various sites.

It would be Nova Scotia’s first geopark, joining other Canadian sites like Stonehammer in New Brunswick and Tumbler Ridge in B.C.

The idea is to recognize geologically significant areas, protect sensitive sites and promote sustainable tourism to these places. Globally, there are 145 geoparks certified by the UN agency in 40 countries.

The cliffs along this shore reveal Canada’s oldest dinosaur fossils, evidence of the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, and, as we all know, some of the world’s highest tides. The area is also home to the legendary Mi’kmaw figure Kluskap and has been inhabited for more than 11,000 years.

Organizer John Calder, who was also involved in efforts to have nearby Joggins named a UNESCO World Heritage site, said his group is confident they’ve done everything necessary to pull it off, and is nervously excited about the agency’s visit.

We offer kudos to all those who’ve worked on this project, and look forward to the eventual unveiling of Nova Scotia’s newest tourism and heritage mecca.


¹ Canadian Geopark family comprises of Stonehammer Geopark (Southern New Brunswick), Tumbler Ridge Global Geopark (Eastern British Columbia), and Percé Geopark (Eastern Quebec).


Original Source -- https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/editorials/editorial-possible-nova-scotian-united-nations-geopark-a-hidden-gem-326568/

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Martin Head (Southern New Brunswick)

Image
There's a place, called Martin Head, located just West of Fundy Park that people having been going to for a very long time. I've been talking to people and every time I mention camping sites, people would ask me: "Have you gone to Martin Head yet?". As it turned out I hadn't, so thus became an item that went up in my 'To do' list. Martin Head is a mash up of very old and not as old rocks. The 'island' which goes by the name Martin Head is made up mostly of Cambrian rocks, or even older. The basalts are mixed with some sedimentary rocks of about the same age, and some mineral deposits (I couldn't find which type of minerals occurred). The section between the island and the beach which includes some sections of the cliffs are of younger age, dating close to the Late Triassic. Click here for information about the fossilized Sand Dunes of Martin Head. These are mostly buff or reddish sandstones. There is a small section that juts out fr...
Read more

Amethyst Cove (Blomidon, Nova Scotia)

Image
This past Summer I talked to people about collecting local minerals to add to my collection, and several people mentionned Amethyst Cove. Amethyst Cove is a section of Blomidon Provincial Park, near Canning, Nova Scotia. This location is quite difficult to get at as the options to get there are slim. You can access Amethyst Cove either by boat (preferably from Parrsboro at high tide), by walking around Cape Split or from White Water (which could take half a day or more, making it quite fucking impossible), or by repelling down a cliff 300 to 400 feet high, by shaky ropes. I talked to Matt about going to Amethyst Cove someday and didn't think that I would have made it this year. Matt offered to take me there. He was very familiar with the area as he has gone there several time. We picked September 24th to go down. I left Moncton at around 6:30AM and made my way to Halifax to pick up Matt and his buddy Chris. From there we proceeded to drive North towards Wolfville on the 101. (1...
Read more

Rock Hunting in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Image
Me and my buddy Matt went for a trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia this past Saturday (November 26th, 2011) to snoop around the city and try to collect rocks and minerals. Why snoop around a big city for minerals? Halifax lies on top of a granitic pluton, a mass of magma located under the surface which has slowly cooled. The batholith intrusion was exposed over a long period of time, over several million years. The granite that you see on most road cuts leading in and out of the city was part of that feature. With igneous rock comes the chance to find interesting crystals. The area is known for its quartz (smoky), feldspar (K-feldspar), tourmaline, pyrite (fool's gold), and gold among other things. When we arrived in Halifax, we had driven by some road cuts that had yielded several minerals. We parked the car close-by so that we could go take a look before going for a bite to eat. We took some of our gear and headed out to check the outcrops. The granite contained fine to bigg...
Read more