Cuban Site Applies for UNESCO Global Geopark Status

Havana, Nov 20 (ACN) Cuba today asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to consider the possibility of granting Viñales site, in the province of Pinar del Río, the status of a Global Geopark.

The western mountainous site boasts its geological heritage, exceptional karstic landscape, and geological sites of national and international significance.

The National Geoparks Committee approved the proposal this week during a special session held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem). The meeting was attended by representatives of 13 bodies of the Central State Administration and related institutions; by the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean—which includes Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti—and by Dulce María Buergo Rodríguez, ambassador of its Cuban National Office.

MINEM Geology director Enrique Castellanos, who is the vice president of the National Geoparks Committee, explained that to obtain such a designation, the site must possess heritage of international relevance. Such geological heritage is evaluated by scientists from the UNESCO Global Geoparks Evaluation Team, based on peer-reviewed and published international research on its geological sites.

In addition, the evaluation includes a global comparative assessment to determine whether it has similar attributes—an analysis that has been underway in Cuba since 2021, when the first steps toward preparing its dossier began.

He added that in that same year, and by agreement of the Cuban Council of Ministers, the Viñales region—which includes the National Park and the area declared a World Heritage Site—was granted the status of Cuba’s first National Geopark, as it is a unique and unified geographical area in which sites and landscapes of geological importance are managed through a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development.