A UNESCO field evaluation mission will arrive in southern Arequipa city next week to assess "Colca Canyon and the Valley of Volcanoes" as part of the site's bid to become Peru's very first geopark.
Two
UNESCO-assigned evaluators are arriving on July 10 for technical and political meetings with local authorities in order to gather further details on the aspiring geopark's application.
The said application was submitted last year by
Arequipa's Regional Government, Caylloma Province Municipality, Colca Autonomous Authority (Autocolca), National Institute of Geology, Mining and Metallurgy (Ingemmet), among other institutions.
Ever
since, the Andean nation has been carrying out a series of academic activities in order to achieve
UNESCO geopark status.
During their stay in the "
White City," the UNESCO evaluators will conduct a site visit at
Colca Canyon and the Valley of Volcanoes to corroborate the contents of the proposal.
Geopark project
Aspiring
geoparks must have geological and geomorphological international value, a requirement the
Colca Canyon certainly meets with its 4,160-meter depth and over 400 million years of geological history.
The same can be said of the Valley of Volcanoes, which saw the last eruption of the Quaternary period that left 25 monogenetic volcanic cones.
The Colca Canyon and Valley of Volcanoes also boast rich flora and fauna, as well as Andean terraces, woods, snow-capped peaks, archaeological sites and other tourist hooks.
UNESCO defines geoparks as single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.
