Leaders of the Provincial People’s Committee worked with a delegation of consultants to build Lang Son Geopark

Mr. Duong Xuan Huyen, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee spoke at the meeting

On March 27, Mr. Duong Xuan Huyen, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Construction of Global Geopark chaired the meeting with the delegation of consultants for construction and development of Lang Son Geopark led by Mr. Guy Martini, PhD in geology, international senior consultant, Chairman of the UNESCO Global Geopark Council. Attending the meeting were representatives of leaders of departments, commissions and sectors of the province; People’s Committees of some districts and city.

According to the report of the delegation, from March 11 to March 15, 2023, the delegation conducted an overview survey of the current status of the value of geological heritage, biodiversity, cultural heritage, and tourism products in districts of Loc Binh, Huu Lung, Chi Lang, Binh Gia, Van Quan, Cao Loc and Lang Son city.

After the survey, the delegation selected a number of potential sites in the districts and city to build 4 sightseeing routes with 41 expected attractions. In which, each sightseeing route has paleontological fossil sites, geological heritages and at least one relic site associated with Mother Goddess beliefs.

According to consultants, to meet the criteria of UNESCO, there must be 3-4 routes to visit the panorama of the Geopark for tourists. With the expected 4 sightseeing routes as above, Lang Son Geopark will meet a number of criteria on heritage diversity, geology, geomorphology, culture, history, archeology, typical local sectors…

In the meeting, the consultants also stated the specific roadmap and minimum conditions to proceed with the construction of the Global Geopark such as it is necessary to adjust the scope of Lang Son Geopark in the direction of expanding to Lang Son city, some communes in Cao Loc district and narrowing the scope of Binh Gia district in the geopark. For the 4 sightseeing routes, it is necessary to arrange parking lots at the attractions in the Geopark as soon as possible; building information centers in districts and city; at the same time, it is proposed to sign, basic agreements and special agreements with a number of units and businesses…

The head of the expert delegation spoke at the meeting

At the meeting, the delegates discussed and proposed orientations and measures to develop the Geopark such as planning parking lots at locations for long-term use; proposing to add some additional typical places to the planned sightseeing routes, as well as serve the intra-district tourist routes; Geopark construction associated with socio-economic development…

Speaking at the meeting, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee highly appreciated the recommendations of the delegation. He suggested: The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism receives the opinions of the delegation, complete the report to the Provincial People’s Committee and submit a proposal to the Provincial Party Committee’s Standing Committee on adjusting the scope and boundaries of the Lang Son Geopark; The People’s Committees of districts and city in coordination with the Geopark Management Board urgently finalize the report on the addition of tourist attractions to the 4 planned sightseeing routes in the Geopark before March 30, 2023; at the same time consider the planning of parking lot infrastructure, Geopark information center, billboards and presentations at attractions.

For the basic agreements, he suggested the Lang Son Geopark Management Board to coordinate with the People’s Committees of the districts, city and partner units to soon complete the agreement documents; He also asked the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with other departments, sectors and People’s Committees of districts and city to advise the Provincial Global Geopark Steering Committee to implement the tasks according to the planned schedule.