This Wednesday (13) UNESCO declared two Brazilian sites as world geoparks. They are the Seridó Geopark, in Rio Grande do Norte, and the Caminhos dos Cânions do Sul Geopark, between Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
Until now, the Araripe Geopark was the only Brazilian one among UNESCO’s geoparks. It is located in the Araripe basin, between the states of Ceará, Pernambuco and Piauí.
As the name says, geoparks are related to geological heritage of international relevance. According to UNESCO, the objective is also to explore, develop and celebrate the relationships between the geological, natural, cultural and intangible aspects of the area.
The title of world geopark lasts for four years. After that, there is a revalidation process that can result in another four years with the title.
If the reassessment finds that the park no longer meets any criteria, the site will have two years to adapt. If this does not happen, then the geopark loses its title.
Discover the geoparks of Brazil recognized by UNESCO
Araripe
The site has geological records from the Lower Cretaceous period, between 90 and 150 million years ago, highlighting its paleontological importance.
This geopark was named in 2015 by Unesco and covers an area of 3,441 km².
serido
Under the domain of the caatinga, Brazil’s exclusive biome, the geopark has an area of 2,800 km².
There are 120,000 inhabitants and quilombola communities in the region.
The region has one of the largest reserves of the scheelite mineral in South America and bears witness to the 600 million year evolution of the Earth.
Paths of the Southern Canyons
The geopark, in an area of Atlantic forest, has an area of 2,830.8 km² and is inhabited by 74,120 people.
Among the structures that draw attention in the region are the huge paleoburrows, extinct animals from the megafauna, such as giant sloths, excavated.
