Black Country geopark bid to be decided this year

All four councils in the region, led by Dudley, applied back in 2016 to have the Black Country designated as part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) global geopark network.

An update on the bid is now expected in May, with a decision due later in the year.

A geopark is described as ‘an area of international significance that protects and promotes the geological and related industrial and cultural heritage for everyone to enjoy now and in the future’.

Existing geoparks include Ironbridge in Shropshire.

It is hoped the designation would provide a significant boost to the region, not least through the additional tourism.

Dudley councillor Kurshid Ahmed revealed a decision would be made on the region's bid this year. He said: "The Black Country is a special place in the heart of England, where the minerals on our doorstep and the geology beneath our feet helped shape the industrial revolution and the world.

“We remain committed to our vision of creating a Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark, and our application is now in the final stages of the assessment process.

“A progress report must go to UNESCO by early May 2019 and a decision will be taken by Global Geoparks Network later in the year.

“We will be formally notified about the result of our application in early 2020, when we hope the Black Country will become the next UK UNESCO Global Geopark.”

Two sites highlighted in the bid include Dudley’s Wren’s Nest National Nature Reserve, where the cliffs are covered in vertical ripple beds which once lay under the sea, and is home to 700 different fossils ­— 86 of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Another example is Barr Beacon Local Nature Reserve, one of the original beacon sites that warned off the approaching Spanish fleet the Armada, when England was threatened with invasion by Catholic Spain in the Elizabethan era.

Barr Beacon has a quarry that provided much of the sand and gravel that built Birmingham and is scarred by a deep valley created at the end of the last Ice Age, 20,000 years ago.

There are 109 Global Geoparks in the world, ranging from Torbay and the Scottish Highlands in the UK, to volcanic sites in Iceland and Japan.

For more information on the Black Country's bid, visit blackcountrygeopark.dudley.gov.uk.