The Extension Work of Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark: An
Example of Sustaining Local Communities
Li Sun
1,2
, Lulin Wang
1,*
and Mingzhong Tian
1
1
School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, P.R. China;
2
The Administrator Office of Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark, Zigong 643000, P.R. China.
3
Keywords: Zigong, geopark, sustaining, local community
Abstract: Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark is well known for its dinosaur findings and vertebrate fossils of the
Middle Jurassic Period and a salt mine of the Triassic Period. It was recognized as member of the Global
Geoparks Network in February 2008 and revalidated in December 2012. After the Administration for
Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark submitted an extension application to UNESCO in November 2015, a
new geopark territory was approved, which is 2720% larger than the area initially defined. More geological
heritage as well as natural and cultural heritage has been included in and the increased number of
communities of the territory is actively involved in the management and development of the geopark.
Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark cooperates with those communities as to encourage geotourism with the
help of inspiring local enterprises, creating new jobs and offering high quality training courses. The
connection between Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark and communities have been gradually improved. So
far, it has been proved that the geopark could not only support local sustainable development but also help
local people to acquire earth knowledge as well as to improve their lives.
1 INTRODUCTION
Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) is
located in Zigong Municipal City, Sichuan Province,
Southwest of China. The geoheritage of Zigong
UGGp is dominated by the extremely abundant
dinosaur findings and other vertebrate fossils as well,
the typical section of Ziliujing Formation of the
Jurassic Period and the well mines, relics of mineral
salt production, most of these are considered of
national and international significance. This territory
was recognized as a national geopark in 2001, one of
the pioneer geoparks in China. On account of the
widely and dispersedly distributed heritage
resources, all large-scale sites, with the most typical
and representative geosites were classified into three
areas (five subareas) when the Administration for
Zigong UGGp applied for its membership in the
Global Geoparks Network in 2007. The three areas
were separated from each other without a continuous
boundary, and a total area of 56.62km
2
(Figure 1)
(The Administration for Zigong Geopark of China,
2007).
However, as stated by the Statutes of the
International Geoscience and Geopark Programme
(IGGP) and the Operational Guidelines for
UNESCO Global Geoparks (UNESCO, 2016),
UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified
geographical areas where sites and landscapes of
international geological significance are managed
with a holistic concept of protection, education and
sustainable development. Moreover, the comments
of UNESCO Global Geoparks Council suggest that
Zigong Global Geopark must be promoted as a
single area that all five scenic areas are physically
united within a unified Global Geopark boundary
(UNESCO, 2012). Therefore, with the purpose of
following the Statutes of the IGGP and the
Operational Guidelines for UNESCO Global
Geoparks as well as the recommendations in the
designation letter of Global Geoparks Network
(GGN) membership in 2012 (Ref:
SC/EES/GEO/12/8653)( UNESCO, 2012), the
Administration for Zigong UGGp determined to
unite all scattered areas and its important geosites
within a unified UGGp boundary, and sustain local
156
Sun, L., Wang, L. and Tian, M.
The Extension Work of Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark - An Example of Sustaining Local Communities.
In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Environment and Geoscience (IWEG 2018), pages 156-162
ISBN: 978-989-758-342-1
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

communities and share these valuable geoheritage,
latest research progress and the diverse cultures of
this territory to the world. Zigong UGGp submitted
the dossier of extension reapplication to UNESCO
in November 2015 having been evaluated in August
2016. The “Green Card” for the extension work was
endorsed during the 201
st
meeting of UNESCO
Executive Board in May 2017, decided upon by the
UNESCO Global Geoparks Council.
Figure 1: The sketch map of three areas, Zigong Global
Geopark (
The Administration for Zigong Geopark of
China, 2007
).
2 THE NEW BOUNDARY OF
ZIGONG UGGP
The new boundary of Zigong UGGp after the
approval of its extension is as follows in Figure 2
(The Administration for Zigong Geopark of China,
2015). The border of the western part and north-
eastern part of the revised boundary is coinciding
with the Administration border of Zigong Municipal
City, and the other border is based on the
topographic features. The revised boundary unites
all the three old areas together, integrating several
geosites, natural and cultural sites. The revised
boundary of Zigong UGGp is entirely within the
jurisdiction of Zigong Municipality, covering an
area about 1630.46 km2, 2720% larger than the area
initially defined. Within the new UGGp boundary,
there are four counties, 42 towns and 450
administrative villages with a total population of
over 20,000,000 residents.
Figure 2: The new boundary map of Zigong UGGp ( The
Administration for Zigong Geopark of China, 2015
).
A large number of geosites, and cultural sites
with special value have been discovered since the
geopark carried out an inventory in the area (Table 1)
(The Administration for Zigong Geopark of China,
2015). In this framework, the Mesozoic strata that
crop out continuously brought a great knowledge
about the depositional environment of the dinosaur
fossils systematically found and preserved. There
are 18 new discovered dinosaur fossil sites
discovered in Rongxian County, including the first
dinosaur fossil discovered site in Zigong, the first
scientific record on dinosaur fossil in Sichuan
Province and even in Southwestern China, the first
complete skeleton of dinosaur fossil in Rongxian,
and the Weiyuan Anticline, which encloses rock salt
reserves. The integration of all geological, cultural
and ecological sites displays the important Earth
history and cultural history of this area, affords more
attractions for tourist, which boosts geotourism,
meanwhile reduce the pressure over the environment
capacity in old areas.
3 IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE
UGGP AREA EXTENSION
With a view to fully implement recommendations
for Zigong Geopark made by GGN Executive Board
experts during the 2012 revalidation, the
Administration for Zigong UGGp has implemented
the following reform and improvement measures.
The Extension Work of Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark - An Example of Sustaining Local Communities
157

Table 1: A table of heritage sites in Zigong UGGp.
Main category of geoheritage Quantity
International
significance
National
significance
For educatio
n
For
researc
h
For
tourism
Paleontology (Figure 3) 39 4 3 4 39 3
Minerals and mineral deposits (Figure 4) 15 1 2 12 15 7
Geological section (Figure 5) 18 - 2 18 18 9
Geological structure 9 - - 2 9 1
Landform landscape 13
- - 12 13 8
Water landscape 9 - - 5 5 4
TOTAL 103 5 7 53 99 32
Ecological heritage 5 - 1 5 5 3
Cultural heritage (Figure 6) 36 - 12 26 36 15
TOTAL 144 5 20 84 140 50
Figure 3: Dashanpu fossil fauna— the most famous burial
site in the world.
Figure 4: Shenhai Well—the world’s first 1000-meter-
deep well.
Figure 5: Fossil bearing section of Xiashaximiao
Formation.
Figure 6: Salt Industry History Museum— the first
specialized salt museum in China.
3.1 Management
The Administration for Zigong UGGp is led by the
Mayor of Zigong City (Figure 7). The administrator
office takes charge of the daily management. There
were 236 staff members, including 21 talented
people, covering more than 10 specialities. Staff
capacity building plan has been made. Zigong
UGGp provides training sessions for geopark staff
members from UGG and CGN members.
International and national experts were invited to
our geopark to give lectures in the geopark. Both
full-time and part-time tourist guides received
appropriate trainings (Figure 8).
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Figure 7: Management structure of Zigong UGGp.
Figure 8: Geopark staff training course.
3.2 Protection
Since 2012, Zigong UGGp has carried out a
thorough investigation on various aspects of geosites,
history, humanities, and ecology in Zigong area.
Overall Planning for the Zigong Global Geopark
(2010-2020) has been completed and a Five-year
Action Plan for the Zigong Global Geopark (2012-
2016) has been formulated. The Five-year Action
Plan of Zigong Global Geopark (2017-2021) has
been compiled.
Zigong UGGp established the safety supervision
mechanism, implemented graded protection, and
upgraded the protection database in order to achieve
the comprehensive geoheritage protection. A lot of
activities of heritage protection have been hosted to
promote the conception of protect our territory and
precious heritage in schools and communities
(Figure 9).
More than 28.70 million RMB have been
invested for the protection of geological heritage. In
addition, more than 10 protection projects have been
carried out (Figure 10).
Figure 9: Geopark exhibition in communities.
Figure 10: Geological protection projects.
3.3 Scientific Research
Figure 11: International symposium.
Table 2: The table of research projects.
Date Item Cooperating Unit
2011-2014 System classification
research of Mamenchi
saurus class
CAS Nanjing
Institute of
Geology and
Paleontology
2012-Now Research of weathering
mechanism and
protection methods of
palaeontology
Sichuan
University of
Science and
Engineering
2012-2013 Morphology and the
function of the cervical
spine of Sauropods
Flensburg
university,
Germany
2012-2014 Cooperative research of
footprint fossils of
theropod dinosaur at
Gongjing, Zigong
China University
of Geosciences
(Beijing)
2014 "Zigong Jurassic
dinosaurs fauna
platform project" sub-
project of " Sharing
platform project of
national rock fossils
resources "
China University
of Geosciences
(Beijing)
2015 "Zigong Jurassic
dinosaurs fauna
platform project" sub-
project of "Sharing
platform project of
national rock fossils
resources "
China University
of Geosciences
(Beijing)
2015-Now A detailed study of the
Sichuan
gigantspinosaurus
The Extension Work of Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark - An Example of Sustaining Local Communities
159

Zigong UGGp has continuously improved its
scientific research and achieved a number of
knowledge progresses. In this context, it was carried
out several research projects during the past years
(Table 2) and set up the Jurassic Strata and
Palaeontology Research Centre in 2015. During the
same time several symposia have been hosted in the
territory as well (Figure 11).
Since 2012, the Geopark has published 3 school
monographs, 97 research papers (14 SCI indexed)
and 11 books on science popularization, and 16
issues of the national and international public
publication “Salt Industry History Research” have
been published. In 2014 this journal was included in
the CSSCI Source Journals Extended Edition
Collection List (2014-2015).
3.4 Education
Zigong UGGp is considered as "Base for
education and science popularization of the
Ministry of Land and Resources", "National
youth science and technology education base",
and "National popular science education base",
with the collaboration of local schools and
communities, the Administration for Zigong
UGGp hosted various activities (Figure 12,13,
and 14).
Figure 12: Geopark little guide.
Figure 13: E-classroom with Hong Kong UGGp students.
Figure 14: Zigong students visited Hong Kong UGGp
museum.
Since 2012, the Administration for Zigong
UGGp has published a number of popular science
books. The two books, Uncovering Secrets of the
First Dinosaur in Asia, Mamenchisaurus and
Legend of Salt Wells and Hometown of Dinosaur
were elected as the most popular science works by
the Ministry of Land and Resources in 2014 and
2015.
3.5 Visibility and Promotion
Through a global solicitation, Zigong UGGp logo
and mascots (Figure 15) were collected and applied
in the territory signage system, publications and
tourist souvenirs. In order to increase the visibility,
the Administration for Zigong UGGp prepared
welcome panels in traffic roads and cooperated with
the Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival
to carry out promotional activities in different areas
(Figure 16). The Administration for Zigong UGGp
also improved the visibility in geosites, cultural and
natural sites, tourism centers, and museums.
Figure 15: Zigong Geopark logo and mascots.
Figure 16: Zigong Lantern Festival.
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To promote the UGGp, Zigong hosted 12
promotion activities during the period between 2012
and 2016, published more than 30 types of
brochures, leaflets, posters, reading materials, guide
maps, and all are free for visitors. Zigong UGGp
also positively improved its visibility in media,
including cooperation with CCTV, produced TV
programs, documentaries and films, operated its
own website and geopark online show, and also
cooperated with the e-commerce to sell tickets
online.
3.6 Geotourism and Cooperation with
Communities
Several geoparks within the Global Geoparks
Network have already proved that they can sustain
territory development. A geopark will not succeed
without the support of local communities. It is
significant to give local people a sense of pride in
their region and sustain communities through using
geoheritage and all other aspects of the area’s
natural and cultural heritage. Geoparks nowadays,
being the tourist final destinations, encourage
geotourism with the help of inspiring local
enterprises, creating new jobs and offering training
courses (Wang, 2015).
To reduce the old areas’ pressure, Zigong UGGp
developed new geotrails, including four geopark
routes and seven rural tourism routes. The Shisun
Valley, featured with geosites, cultural heritage sites,
ecological tea base and geopark agritaiments,
closely linking the geopark with local communities,
now has become a new popular touristic attraction.
Scientific panels have been included in all museums
and scenic spots to present the geological changes of
Zigong UGGp. Geopark tourism guide panels have
been established in accordance with the standard of
the territorial signage system. Treasure Exhibition
hall and Salt Production Exhibition hall were rebuilt.
More displays in the flora and fauna hall in the
dinosaur museum have been added, including fossils,
panels, and videos. The Administration for Zigong
UGGp made three new cartoon films, including the
4D movie--Jurassic Adventure (Figure 17).
In order to encourage communities and local
enterprises to be involved in the Geopark
development, Zigong UGGp have now 23 geopark
partners, including eight local agritainments, 13
local enterprises and two geopark schools. Zigong
UGGp and technical staff also cooperates with
community in order to establish the Tuzhu Fossil
Village (Figure 18) and the Zhujiamiao Fossil
Conservation Station.
Figure 17: 4D movie—Jurassic Adventure
Figure 18: Dinosaur paintings in the Tuzhu fossil
village.
3.7 Network Activities
Zigong UGGp is actively involved in network
activities. It designed 35 panels for GGN members
in China in order to celebrate the 10-year
anniversary for Chinese Geoparks Network in 2014,
and hosted exhibitions in Zigong UGGp as well as
Dalicangshang UGGp and Zhijindong UGGp.
During the past four years, Zigong UGGp
established twining agreements with 11 geoparks
and carried out mutual visit and sharing activities.
Zigong UGGp also takes part in the Global
Geoparks Network meetings, sharing experiences
with other GGN members, and providing technical
trainings for our sister geoparks, delivering lectures
and presentations for sharing UGGp concepts and
knowledge.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Zigong UGGp is an old member of GGN with a
history of 10 years. Due to its internationally and
nationally significant geological resources as well as
natural and culture heritage, Zigong UGGp attracts
millions of visitors from all over the world each year.
The Extension Work of Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark - An Example of Sustaining Local Communities
161

However, only a few local communities could enjoy
the benefits at first due to the limited geopark
boundaries. Zigong UGGp successfully extended its
territorial boundary in 2017, being a pioneer
geopark which successfully reapplied its
membership for the Global Geoparks Network in
China. It has been a turning point after Zigong
UGGp submitted its extension application that
increasing communities are actively involved in the
management and development of the geopark.
Zigong UGGp cooperates with local communities to
set up a new connection, not only the peripheral
hardware but also quality of personnel, management
and services, covering conservation, education,
geotourism and sustainable development. So far, it
has been proved that the geopark could not only
support local sustainable development but also could
help local people to acquire earth knowledge as well
as to improve their lives.
REFERENCES
The Administration for Zigong Geopark of China The
application dossior for the membership of Global
Geoparks Network—Summary report of Zigong
Geopark, China, 2007
The Administration for Zigong Geopark of China The
application dossior of Zigong Global Geopark for
membership of Global Geoparks Network, 2015
UNESCO The designation letter of Global Geoparks
Network (GGN) membership in 2012 (Ref:
SC/EES/GEO/12/8653), 2012
UNESCO The Statutes of the International Geoscience
and Geopark Programme (IGGP) and the Operational
Guidelines for UNESCO Global Geoparks, 2016
Wang Lulin 2015 Geodiversity, geoconservation and
geotourism in Hong Kong Global Geopark of China
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