UNESCO renews green-card status for five Indonesian geoparks
Belitong recovered from its 2024 yellow-card assessment, while Bojonegoro’s proposed designation awaits executive board approval in April 2027.
Five Indonesian geoparks passed UNESCO management reviews and received green cards at the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council’s 11th session, held in Paris from 2 to 4 November 2026. The decisions cover Belitong, Merangin Jambi, Ijen, Raja Ampat and Maros-Pangkep.
For Belitong, the decision reverses a yellow-card outcome in 2024. Over two years, its management and local government addressed recommendations concerning the commercialisation of Batu Satam and improvements to turtle conservation standards.
UNESCO commended Raja Ampat for fulfilling six earlier recommendations. Measures included identifying four new geosites on Misool Island, building a geological information centre in Waisai and involving Indigenous communities more closely in cultural conservation and sustainable tourism. The council also welcomed the government’s commitment to ban mining within the geopark.
Ijen, which spans Banyuwangi and Bondowoso, passed its first review since its designation in May 2023. In South Sulawesi, Maros-Pangkep retained recognition after improving visitor information facilities, preparing its 2025–2034 management plan and developing geopark education programmes.
Merangin Jambi also kept its green card, but UNESCO flagged illegal gold mining around the river where the Muara Karing fossils are located. Local authorities and geopark managers are seeking to shut the mining operations while taking local communities’ circumstances into account.
The council approved Bojonegoro’s bid for UNESCO Global Geopark status, pending endorsement by UNESCO’s Executive Board in April 2027. Another candidate, Ranah Minang Silokek in West Sumatra, received two years to fulfil outstanding recommendations.
UNESCO called for the five green-card holders to improve visitor facilities, information signs, governance and conservation-led tourism. Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana said preserving global geopark status depended on strong management, conservation and local participation. Separately, she said geoparks should bring economic benefits and improve nearby communities’ welfare.
