UNESCO assessors visit Cross-Channel Geopark

Assessors have visited the Kent Downs National Landscape as a bid to secure UNESCO status gathers pace.

The visit is part of efforts to attain status for the aspiring Cross-Channel Geopark, which spans the Kent Downs, the English Channel and northern France.

If successful, it would join UNESCO's global network of geoparks, which are recognised for their internationally significant geology.

Jamie Henderson, Kent County Council (KCC) cabinet member for environment, coastal regeneration and public health, said the area showcases "some of the most remarkable natural heritage found anywhere in Europe".

The bid goes across jurisdictions because the chalk beneath Kent stretches under the Channel and continues into northern France.

KCC said the shared geology had "shaped landscapes, wildlife, water resources and human history on both sides of the Channel".

Scientists believe a huge flood about 450,000 years ago broke through a chalk ridge connecting Britain to mainland Europe.

The event is thought to have helped form the English Channel and shape the landscape of what is now Kent and northern France.

Britain was reconnected to mainland Europe several times as sea levels rose and fell during later ice ages, experts believe.

Its final separation from mainland Europe is believed to have happened about 8,000 years ago.

Evidence of those geological changes can still be seen in the region's chalk cliffs, valleys and coastal landscapes.

Henderson said the status would also "create opportunities for education, conservation and sustainable tourism that will benefit local communities for generations to come".

Nick Johannsen, director of the Kent Downs National Landscape said the project had already attracted investment and helped create partnerships with organisations on both sides of the Channel.

He said supporters were hopeful of a positive outcome and looked forward to building on that work in the years ahead.

A decision on the aspiring Cross-Channel Geopark is expected in 2027.

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