A group of teachers and students from Canada visits Changshan UNESCO Global Geopark in Changshan, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

Changshan county in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, is continuing to explore how geological heritage protection can better support scientific research, education, tourism, and community development.

On Aug 15, National Ecology Day, the county procuratorate and other departments also signed 10 measures to strengthen the protection of geological heritage.

Changshan Geopark was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark on April 15 at the 224th session of the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris. Covering about 1,043 square kilometers, it preserves more than 1 billion years of geological history. 

The park is home to China's first "Golden Spike" — the Darriwilian Stage Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point of the Ordovician system, established in Changshan's Huangnitang village in 1997.

The "Golden Spike", namely the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, also GSSP, is a reference point on a stratigraphic section that defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale.

Over the past three decades, Changshan has built several museums and science education facilities and carried out geological heritage conservation projects. The park now attracts students and researchers from China and abroad.

Geological heritage protection is also reshaping local development. In Lulikeng village, abandoned limestone pits and kilns have been converted into a camping site, restaurant, and bread oven. The village recorded more than 200,000 visits last year, with more than 30 villagers now earning regular income from tourism.