Named UNESCO As World Heritage, Jambi's Merangin Geopark Contains 300 Million Years Old Fossil Breaks

Stereochia Semireticalatus, fossil traces of shells (brachiopodes) located in Geopark Merangin Jambi. (Between-Muhamad Hanapi)

JAMBI - Merangin Geopark in Jambi has been officially designated as a world heritage or UNESCO Global Geopark (UGG). The determination was made at the UNESCO annual hearing in Paris, France on Wednesday, May 24.

Jambi Governor Al Haris said Geopark Merangin had gone through improving both structuring in the field and improving the document side so that it became one of the world's heritages on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

"It is an honor for Jambi Province and it is considered by UNESCO as an area that has specialities, where the geopark is a earth park in which there are fossil fractures of 300 million years old," he said in a written statement, Thursday, May 25, which was confiscated by Antara.

Al Haris revealed that there are 18 new geoparks designated as world heritage.

Four geoparks are located in Indonesia, namely the Ijen geopark, Maros Pangkep, Raja Ampat and Geopark Merangin.

Al Haris admitted that he had held a Coordination Meeting on Superior Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Arts throughout Jambi Province at the Jambi Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Pavilion. The meeting was held after receiving a statement that Geopark Merangin was included in one of the world's heritages.

"Therefore, we from the Jambi Provincial Government will try to build and package well so that later it will not only become UNESCO history but also become the history of the Indonesian nation that one of the world's geoparks is in Jambi Province, namely Merangin Geopark," he said.