Geopark project founder boosts Niagara’s effort
The push to have Niagara declared a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Geopark received a boost from the man who was there when the first geoparks were created.
Patrick McKeever, a geologist and professor by trade who eventually helped create the UNESCO Global Geoparks label, made a compelling case that the designation would promote tourism and bring international recognition to Niagara’s cultural and geological assets.
“They are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development,” McKeever told regional council last week.
“It’s not like the geopark is going to take over anything. It is an umbrella group that brings the stakeholders together for the common good.”
A geopark, as defined by UNESCO, is an area containing one or more sites of geological importance, intended to conserve the geological heritage and promote public awareness — typically through tourism. Niagara has 78 sites of possible geological, environmental and cultural interest across all 12 lower-tier municipalities.
McKeever said geoparks differ from UNESCO World Heritage sites in that they do not involve an international convention or agreement. The designation does not impose any legislative restrictions on governments or local communities.
“The numbers tell you the geopark is a big contributor to the economy,” said McKeever, who was attending a conference in Quebec City but made a quick stop in Niagara to address the council and visit the falls.
In his own geopark in Ireland, Marble Arch Caves, McKeever said visitors jumped from about to 50,000 a year 4,000 a year, and the economic impact was estimated at more than C$22 million.
There are three geoparks in Canada already. One, Tumbler Ridge in the northern Rocky Mountains is very isolated, but McKeever said the numbers of annual visitors have jumped to 8,000 from 2,000.
The others are Stonehammer on New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy and Perce, on the eastern edge of the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec. Perce was added in 2018 and went from 10,000 visitors a year to 44,000, McKeever said.
A Niagara steering committee is calling the local project Ohnia: Kara Aspiring Geopark. The name comes from the Mohawk language and translates as “the neck between two bodies of water.”
“Geoparks become a destination,” West Lincoln Mayor Dave Bylsma said. “There is a mentality from the people who visit the parks that they want to visit many of them … We will get visitors here simply because they want to do the circuit.
“Often we think of grandiose features as tourist attractions. We have our escarpment, but these tourists also seek some of the subtler features.
“The Carolinian forest that we enjoy here in Niagara is one, as are the orchards from Niagaraon-the-Lake to Grimsby and beyond. We take them for granted when we drive by them every day.”
A report from staff recommended council endorse the concept.