Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark Designated as Ireland’s Fifth UNESCO Global Geopark, First in Connacht
- An area across north Galway and south Mayo has been formally designated as a UNESCO recognised Global Geopark, marking the first such designation in the Connacht region.
- The Joyce Country and Western Lakes (JCWL) Geopark covers a total of 1,500 square kilometres, taking in Killary Fjord, the Túar Mhic Éadaigh Gaeltacht, Cong, the Maumturk Mountains,...
- The accolade from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation recognises areas of outstanding natural beauty, along with an acknowledgement of a community commitment to safeguard them.
An area across north Galway and south Mayo has been formally designated as a UNESCO recognised Global Geopark, marking the first such designation in the Connacht region.
The Joyce Country and Western Lakes (JCWL) Geopark covers a total of 1,500 square kilometres, taking in Killary Fjord, the Túar Mhic Éadaigh Gaeltacht, Cong, the Maumturk Mountains, Lough Mask and Lough Corrib.
The accolade from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation recognises areas of outstanding natural beauty, along with an acknowledgement of a community commitment to safeguard them.
UNESCO describes Global Geoparks as “single, unified geographical areas”, where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed “with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development”.
The awarding of the title is in recognition of the area’s natural, geological and cultural heritage and is dependent on a “firm commitment by local communities” to showcase and protect this for future generations.
The decision to endorse the application followed an almost two-decade long effort by community groups, assisted by local and State agencies, to secure the status.
It began during the economic downturn, when a group of locals got together to examine ways of how they could combine forces in order to support each other and the landscape around them.
Using the geology of the region as their starting point, they worked to develop a range of interlinked initiatives, aimed at celebrating the natural habitat and ensuring that its place in the everyday lives of the population was safeguarded.
This entails a range of actions, covering all aspects of the lived experience around the area.
The Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark will be the first geopark in Connacht and the fifth in Ireland to receive the status, with the area including 20 communities across north County Galway and south-west County Mayo.