Europe is the cradle of the geoparks movement. The European Geoparks Network is a founding member of the Global Geoparks Network and it functions as a regional geopark network of it. As of November 2022, there are 94 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 28 European countries and there are several territories in an aspiring or planned phase, or in a national geopark status. Further elements of the geodiversity of the continent is represented on the World Heritage list, under criterion VIII or VII.

UNESCO Global Geoparks UNESCO Global GeoparkcountryImageLocationArea(km2)YearReferencesHaute-Provence Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur23002000Vulkaneifel Rhineland-Palatinate12202000Lesvos Island North Aegean16362000Psiloritis Crete11592001TERRA.vita Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphaila15602001Copper Coast Munster502001Cuilcagh Lakelands , Ulster1802001Madonie Sicily4002004Rocca di Cerere Sicily12982008Steirische Eisenwurzen Styria5862004Bergstrasse-Odenwald Hesse, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg35002004North Pennines North East England19382004Luberon Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur19532004North-West Highlands Scottish Highlands21002004Swabian Albs Baden-Württemberg66882004Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen Lower Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt115002004Hateg Country Dinosaurs Hunedoara10242005Beigua Liguria3922005Fforest Fawr Wales7632005Bohemian Paradise Central Bohemia, Hrádec Králove7422005Cabo de Gata – Níjar Andalusia5002006Naturtejo de Meseta Meridional Centro4624.42006Sierras Subbéticas Andalusia3202006Sobrarbe-Pirineos Aragon22022006Gea Norvegica Telemark, Vestfold30002006Papuk Požega-Slavonia5242007English Riviera Devon1042007Adamello-Brenta Trentino11882008GeoMôn Wales18002009Arouca Norte3272009Shetland Scotland14682009Chelmos – Vouraikos Achaea6472009Novohrad – Nograd , Nógrád, Banská Bystrica15872010Magma Vestlandet, Sørlandet30002006Basque Coast Basque Country892010Cilento e Vallo di Diano Campania18412010Rokua Oulu13262010Tuscan Mining Park Tuscany10872010Vikos – Aoos Western Macedonia, Epirus12002010Muskau Arch , Brandenburg, Saxony, Lubusz578.82011Sierra Norte de Sevilla Andalusia1774.842011Burren and Cliffs of Moher Clare5302011Katla South Constituency95422011Massif des Bauges Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes8562011Apuan Alps Tuscany4942011Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Extremadura2544.42011Chablais Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes8722012Central Catalunya Catalonia13002012Bakony-Balaton Veszprém32442012Azores Azores128842013Karavanke/Karawanken , Styria, Upper Carniola10672013Idrija Gorizia2942013Hondsrug Drenthe10002013Sesia - Val Grande Piedmont20232013Kula Volcanic Aegean Region3002013Molina and Alto Tajo Castile-La Mancha45202014El Hierro Canary Islands5952014Monts d’Ardèche Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes22802014Erz der Alpen Salzburg2112014Odsherred Sjælland 3552014Terras de Cavaleiros Norte7002014Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands Canary Islands25002015Reykjanes Southern Peninsula8252015Pollino Basilicata, Calabria19252015Sitia Crete5172015Troodos Limassol11472015Causses du Quercy Occitanie18552017Las Loras Castile and León950.762017Beaujolais Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes15502018Famenne-Ardenne Wallonia9152018Conca de Tremp–Montsec Catalonia20502018Courel Mountain Galicia577.852019Vis Archipelago Split-Dalmatia66612019Trollfjell Trøndelag100822019Lauhanvuori-Haemeenkangas 2020Estrela 2020Salavatsky District17742020Djerdap 13302020Granada 2020Maestrazgo 2020The Black Country 2020Vestjylland West Jutland 4,7592021Saimaa 2021Salpausselkä 2022Thuringia Inselsberg – Drei Gleichen Thuringia7252021 Buzău County1035.92022Ries Southern Germany1749 2022Sydfynske Øhav South Funen Archipelago 2,7332024Impact Crater Lake – Lappajärvi 2024ToratauIshimbaysky District33052025

Note *Kula Volcanic Geopark was enlarged and renamed as Kula Salihli Geopark in 2020. Though it is in the Asian part of Turkey, it is included here as the European Geopark Network extends across all of Turkey.

Recognition of Europe's geodiversity under different international frameworks

World Heritage sites Twenty-eight sites are represented currently on the World Heritage list under criterion VIII, as an outstanding representative of Earth's history:

Pirin National Park (Bulgaria) Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia) Ilulissat Icefjord (Greenland, Denmark) Wadden Sea (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands) Stevns Klint (Denmark) High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago (Finland, Sweden) Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve (France) Pyrénées - Mont Perdu (France, Spain) Chaîne des Puys - Limagne fault tectonic arena (France) Messel Pit Fossil Site (Germany) Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (Hungary, Slovakia) Vatnajökull National Park - Dynamic Nature of Fire and Ice (Iceland) Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) (Italy) Monte San Giorgio (Italy, Switzerland) The Dolomites (Italy) Mount Etna (Italy) Durmitor National Park (Montenegro) West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord (Norway) Lake Baikal (Russia) Volcanoes of Kamchatka (Russia) Lena Pillars Nature Park (Russia) Škocjan Caves (Slovenia) Teide National Park (Spain) Laponian Area (Sweden) Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch (Switzerland) Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland) Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast (United Kingdom) Dorset and East Devon Coast (United Kingdom)

Further sites are inscribed under criterion VII of superlative natural phenomena and aesthetic importance. Some of them, which have a special geoheritage importance are:

Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region (Albania, North Macedonia) Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France) Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island (France) French Austral Lands and Seas (France) Meteora (Greece) Mount Athos (Greece) Danube Delta (Romania) Putorana Plateau (Russia) Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (Turkey) Hierapolis-Pamukkale (Turkey) St Kilda (United Kingdom) Gough and Inaccessible Islands (United Kingdom)

Notes

References

External links European Geoparks Network (accessed 29 January 2020)