With the participation of 70 scientists from 35 countries, the Annual Meeting of the Global Geoparks Network was held at the University of the Aegean on the island of Lesvos, hosted by Professor Nikolaos Zouros, Secretary General of the Global Geoparks Network and Head of the UNESCO Chair on Geoparks and the Sustainable Development of Island and Coastal Areas at the University of the Aegean. The meeting was attended, among others, by President Professor Artur Sá and members of the 15-member Executive Committee of the Global Geoparks Network, as well as President Professor Setsuya Nakada and members of the 12-member Council of UNESCO’s Global Geoparks Programme.

(Cover Photo: https://www.lesvosgeopark.gr/en/lesvos-geopark/)

The Global Geoparks Network is an international organization based in France and an official partner of UNESCO for the implementation of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Programme. It currently includes 241 geoparks in 51 countries as members.

During the meeting, important issues concerning international networking and cooperation among geoparks were discussed, including the sustainable management and conservation of geological heritage sites; funding opportunities and jointly funded projects; actions for the protection of geoheritage monuments from climate change and natural hazards; collaborative initiatives to promote geoparks as sustainable tourism destinations and participation in international tourism exhibitions; strategic cooperation with the European Union; and initiatives to support the development of geoparks in Africa and in regions not yet represented within the Global Geoparks Network. Moreover, the organization of an International Training Course for Geopark Managers in Lesvos will contribute to promoting the island internationally, while also creating opportunities for these issues to become the focus of scientific activity in the Aegean region, with significant development prospects.

Greece’s 10 recognized UNESCO Global Geoparks are: Lesvos Island, Psiloritis, Vikos–Aoos National Park, Helmos–Vouraikos National Park, Sitia, Grevena–Kozani, Lavreotiki, Meteora–Pyli, and Kefalonia–Ithaca, Nisyros Island. (https://www.visitgreece.gr/inspirations/geoparks-in-greece/)

Parallel to the meeting, the Global Geoparks Network and UNESCO are organizing the International Training Course for UNESCO Global Geoparks Managers, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Geoparks and Sustainable Development of Island and Coastal Areas at the Department of Geography of the University of the Aegean and the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest.

The 2026 International Training Course for UNESCO Global Geoparks Managers, entitled “UNESCO Global Geoparks: Geoconservation, Sustainable Tourism and Local Development,” takes place from 16 to 25 May 2026 at the University of the Aegean and includes field visits to significant geological heritage sites on Lesvos.

The International Training Course for UNESCO Global Geoparks Managers is the flagship capacity-building activity of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Programme and is held this year for the 14^th consecutive time in Lesvos with in-person participation.

More than 80 participants are taking part in the course, including geopark managers, tourism officials, local government representatives, university professors, doctoral candidates, and representatives of scientific organizations collaborating with geoparks and developing or implementing innovative actions for the protection, management, and promotion of geological heritage. Participants come from 27 countries: Belgium, Vietnam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, France, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia, Ireland, Iran, Spain, Italy, China, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Türkiye, and Greece.

In parallel with the lectures, educational field visits will be organized across Lesvos, aiming to familiarize participants with the island’s natural environment, geological monuments, habitats, archaeological sites, museums, monasteries, traditional settlements, women’s agritourism cooperatives, and local products.

Lesvos has an impressive hydrographic network due to the climatic conditions, rainfall, geological formations and active tectonics. Thus Lesvos hosts impressive gorges, valleys and waterfalls which are scattered throughout the island. They are sites of aesthetic value but also important ecological hot spots. Along the riverbeds appear steep waterfalls which are usually associated with the presence of active faults.  Impressive waterfalls appear such as: the Man’ katsa formed in the ignimbrite rocks close to Mandamados. (https://welcometolesvos.com/lesvos-geopark/)

The Petrified Forest of Lesvos is a rare petrified forest ecosystem made up of large concentrations of fossilized trees and animals which were covered by volcanic material and petrified in place 18 million years ago. The area of the Petrified Forest is characterized by impressive volcanic geosites, witnesses of the intense volcanic activity during Miocene. Lesvos island for this reason could be characterized as a window on the geohistoric development of the Aegean over the last 20 million years and is considered one of the most beautiful and rare monuments of geological heritage in the world. (https://welcometolesvos.com/lesvos-geopark/)

Not far beneath the surface of Lesvos there are still large concentrations of hot magma, which act as vast heaters, warming water which penetrate the crust to a considerable depth. When it approaches the magma chamber, the meteoric water is heated and comes up through the surface of the Earth via thermal springs. The most important thermal springs on Lesvos are at Polichnitos, Lisvori, Thermi, Therma at Geras gulf, Eftalou and Argenos. (https://welcometolesvos.com/lesvos-geopark/)

(Source: https://www.ertnews.gr/perifereiakoi-stathmoi/voreio_aigaio/i-lesvos-sto-epikentro-tou-pagkosmiou-diktyou-geoparkon-tis-ounesko/)

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Greece’s UNESCO Global Geoparks

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