Region is Awarded UNESCO Global Geopark Status

Good news for the region, as we celebrate the accolade of achieving UNESCO Global Geopark status. Think Sandwell reported back in November last year that Sandwell was part of a consortium of the four Black Country authorities (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton) that submitted an application to become a UNESCO Global Geopark.

Since then the group has waited to hear whether the bid would be successful and now the wait is over. More than ten years on since the project was first conceived it has become a reality, the Black Country has been officially recognised as an area of outstanding geological heritage.

The executive board of UNESCO confirmed that the Black Country has been welcomed into the network of Global Geoparks as a place with internationally important geology. The park encompasses sites in Dudley, Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Walsall and becomes the UK’s eighth UNESCO Geopark.

Unesco said the area had been recognised due to its cultural heritage and the active partnerships committed to conserving, managing and promoting it.

The role the region played in the Industrial Revolution was at the heart of the bid for status which was backed by partners including Natural England, the Canal and River Trust and the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country.

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Source: Think Sandwell