Two Canadian UNESCO Geoparks cautioned to make improvements or risk losing status

Two unique areas of Atlantic Canada recognized for their geological significance five years ago have been cautioned to make changes or risk losing their rare status as UNESCO Global Geoparks — a designation that puts them on bucket lists of people around the world.

"If I lose that, then my future is kind of uncertain to be honest," said Anna Hergert, the owner of Tide Rollers and Mudlarkers, a local tour company. Hergert takes people on custom tours through the Cliffs of Fundy UNESCO Global Geopark, on the north shore of the Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.  

"For me that was one of the main reasons to settle in this area," she said during an interview inside the park, standing on the ocean floor during low tide.

Geoparks are not pre-existing provincial or national parks, but rather distinct regions with internationally important geology — rock formations, caves, mountain ranges and fossil sites — that tell the story of Earth's history, and where local and Indigenous communities can promote their culture. 

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, revalidates geoparks every four years, and three of the five in Canada — among only 229 on the planet — have been told they need to improve. Cliffs of Fundy and the Discovery Geopark in Newfoundland and Labrador are still in limbo. The Percé Geopark in Quebec's Gaspé region, first designated in 2018, was also given recommendations to improve, but has since had its status confirmed for another four years. 

Cliffs of Fundy and Discovery both received their UNESCO designations in 2020. 

Unlike the more common UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which are reviewed every eight years or so and of which there are more than 1,200 globally, geoparks undergo a "rigorous revalidation" every four years.     

"This time frame reflects the dynamic nature of the program, which places strong emphasis on ongoing community engagement, educational outreach, sustainable tourism and international co-operation," said a UNESCO spokesperson in a statement to CBC News. 

He said it is rare for a designation to be revoked.  

The revalidation is conducted by independent evaluators and includes a four- to five-day visit to the site, at the end of which the park receives a green card, meaning its status is renewed, a yellow card, meaning it has two years to make changes or get the dreaded red card, which means it will lose its status. 

In 2023, Cliffs of Fundy and Discovery received visits from two independent evaluators from Germany and France, who produced a report in 2024. In July, both parks are expecting visits from two more evaluators — this time from Portugal and Iceland — to examine whether the previous recommendations have been implemented. 

The towering Cliffs of Fundy — steeped in Mi'kmaw history — boast the highest tides in the world and the oldest dinosaur bones in Canada. Geologists say it is also the only place on earth where they can see the record of the assembly of the world's supercontinent, Pangea, more than 300 million years ago, and when it broke apart 100 million years later, drifting into the positions the continents are in today. 

The park received 10 recommendations, including the need to secure funding, put up more signage, improve infrastructure and access roads and better share the area's story.

"Obviously it would have been lovely to have just received the green card," said Devin Trefry, Cliffs of Fundy's managing director.