Around 350 delegates will attend the second international conference on geological parks in the Asia-Pacific region to be held in Hanoi from July 16-24.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) Nguyen Linh Ngoc said that the ministry’s decision to organise the event shows Vietnam’s support for the UNESCO initiative to develop and preserve geological parks around the world. It will also help raise Vietnam’s international status in the field.

Tran Tan Van, Deputy Head of the Institute for Geological and Mineral Sciences, said that the conference will comprise of two plenary sessions as well as other sessions focusing on special subjects.

Vietnam currently has only one geological park in the northern province of Ha Giang. This conference will provide a good chance for the country to learn valuable information on managing and developing a national system of geological parks.

It will also help coordinate different types of preservation between Vietnamese and international heritage, biosphere reserves and geological parks.