United Nations Day Celebrations

Sunday, October 24th was United Nations Day. We had a good turnout from the community who came have a bite to eat and listen to presentations from our own Jenna Boon, Director of the Joggins Fossil Institute, Dr. Larry Ostola from Parks Canada, and Tim Badman from the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).

Jenna began the presentations with an overview of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many topics were touched on including the outstanding universal value that the Joggins Fossil Cliffs presents to humanity, the grand exposure of the cliffs, and the research that has taken place in Joggins since the 1800’s.

Tim Badman presented on what’s happening with other World Heritage sites from a global perspective. He also discussed the criteria involved for becoming a World Heritage site and that the application process for the prestigious status takes a lot of time and dedication. He also mentioned that the Joggins Fossil Cliffs nomination document for inscription on World Heritage List was one of the most complete and thorough nomination documents received by the UN and serves as a model for

future nominations.

Dr. Larry Ostola concluded the presentations by providing an overview of the other 14 Canadian World Heritage sites. He also gave us an inside look at Canadian sites that Parks Canada is working with for preparing an application for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We also had Westcumb Amateur Radio Club (W.A.R.C.) onsite broadcasting to other UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the globe as part of our UN Day celebrations.

The Joggins Fossil Institute would like to thank all who attended this event. We would also like to thank Mr. Tim Badman and Dr. Larry Ostola for their interesting and informative presentations and to Westcumb Amateur Radio Club for connecting Joggins to other UNESCO World Heritage sites around the world on this special day. We hope to see you all next year for our 2011 United Nations Day Celebrations.