According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, at 11:00 PM local time on April 10 (5:00 AM Beijing Time on April 11), at the 221st session of the UNESCO Executive Board held in Paris, France, China’s two nominated sites, Kanbula in Qinghai and Yunyang in Chongqing, were officially designated as UNESCO Global Geoparks. With this designation, China’s total number of UNESCO Global Geoparks has risen to 49, solidifying its position as the country with the highest number of such parks in the world.

The Kanbula Global Geopark, located in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, covering a total area of 3,149.34 square kilometers. It is located on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, within the transitional belt between China’s first and second topographic terraces. The geopark preserves intact stratigraphic formations from three major geological periods, along with traces of magmatism during the Indosinian and Yanshanian orogenic phases. The Triassic deep-marine sedimentary stratigraphic section along the Longwu River, renowned for its well-defined evolutionary sequence, is internationally recognized as a “geological textbook” for investigating the Paleo-Tethys Ocean's ocean-continent transition processes. The geopark uniquely combines the Longwu Gorge ultramafic rock mass, Danxia landforms, and the Yellow River landscape. It serves as both an exceptional site for investigating tectonic evolution and ocean-continent transition processes, and a testament to the region’s transformation from marine to terrestrial environments. Additionally, it serves as a natural museum for investigating massive landslides and climate change within the upper reaches of the Yellow River basin. Furthermore, the geopark deeply integrates the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Regong Art with Qiang-Tibetan ethnic culture, forming a geology-ecology-culture collaborative conservation pattern. The Kanbula Global Geopark is a globally rare comprehensive geopark that integrates high-precision geological research, multicultural experiences, and plateau ecosystem conservation.

This marks the transition of Kanbula Geopark from a regional to a global stage. It solidifies Huangnan Prefecture’s role as the “southeastern gateway” for international eco-tourism. Leaders of the Huangnan Prefecture Party Committee and Government emphasized that Huangnan Prefecture must leverage this momentum to maintain the prestige of the Kanbula UNESCO Global Geopark, advance the cultural tourism industry through comprehensive and high-quality development, establish a new landmark for Qinghai’s cultural tourism sector, and vigorously propel the construction of an international eco-tourism destination.