At the beginning of July our long-awaited UNESCO evaluation mission was finally upon us. We welcomed our two evaluators Nickolas Zouros (Greece) and Anchel Belmonte Ribas (Spain) to Waitaki as they considered our bid to become the first UNESCO Global Geopark in New Zealand.
The 3-day evaluation mission began on Saturday 02nd July with a Pōwhiri at the Moeraki Marae before visiting various sites including Te Kaihīnaki / Moeraki Boulders, Puketapu, Devil’s Bridge Wetland, Takiroa Māori Rock Art, a helicopter flight across the region, Elephant Rocks, Vanished World Centre and an education programme with Duntroon school just to name a few.
The next step of the assessment is a report written by the evaluators which will be presented to the Global Geoparks Council in September for consideration.
A huge thank you to all our partners, ambassadors and communities for being involved along the way!
Check out the 1News article about our bid to become New Zealand's first UNESCO Global Geopark!
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