Geopark Kaldera Toba Officially Gets A UNESCO Green Card After Being Hit By A Yellow Card

General Manager of the Toba Caldera Management Agency UNESCO Global Geopark Azizul Kholis (right) conveyed the memory of North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution to the President of The Executive Board of The Global Geoparks Network Zouros Nikolaos in Kutralkura, La Araucania, Chile. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Having received a yellow card in 2023, now Geopark Kaldera Toba has managed to rise to its status by obtaining a green card from UNESCO. This achievement indicates that the management of the area has complied with the highest standards in the UNESCO Global Geopark network.

"This status is set at the 11th executive committee session of the Global Geopark Network Conference in Kutralkura, La Araucania, Chile, Saturday (6/9)," said General Manager of the Toba Caldera Management Agency UNESCO Global Geopark Azizul Kholis in Medan, Sunday.

He added that this achievement could not be separated from the support of many parties. "His party expressed his gratitude and gratitude for this achievement because the green card for Geopark Kaldera Toba is the hard work of all parties."

Strong encouragement came from the Governor of North Sumatra Bobby Nasution, especially to involve seven districts in the Lake Toba area, namely Simalungun, Samosir, Toba, Humbang Hasundutan, North Tapanuli, Karo, and Dairi.

The Global Geopark Network (GGN) as well as the GGN International Conference took place on September 5'12 2025 in Kutralkura, one of the UNESCO Global Geoparks in Chile.

"We hope that this achievement will be a stepping stone to collaborate in the management of Kaldera Toba in a better direction, and can provide more real benefits for the local community," explained Azizul.

In addition to governors, Azizul also appreciated the involvement of the central government, regional apparatus organizations (OPD) within the North Sumatra Provincial Government, as well as seven district governments in the Lake Toba area who are committed to implementing UNESCO recommendations.

In comparison, at the UNESCO Global Geopark meeting in Morocco on September 4'5, 2023, Kaldera Toba had obtained a yellow card. At that time, UNESCO assessed that there were several criteria that had not been met, thus giving two years for repairs before revalidation.

"During the Global Geopark Network international conference, official delegates from various countries gathered," said Azizul.

Not only Kaldera Toba, Indonesia also managed to maintain two other earth parks in the global network, namely Geopark Ciletuh Pelabuhan Ratu di Jawa Barat dan Geopark Rinjani Lombok di Nusa Tenggara Barat.

The green card itself is the highest assessment in the Global Geopark Network evaluation system. This status keeps Kaldera Toba the title of UNESCO Global Geopark for the next four years, before being reviewed.

"The decision of the three geoparks in Indonesia was read by Setsuya Nakada as appointed chairman of the trial," said Azizul.