Radiy Khabirov was awarded certificate conferring UNESCO Global Geopark status to Yangan-Tau

The Head of Bashkiria, Radiy Khabirov, announced this on social media.

"At the anniversary General Meeting of the Commission of Russia for UNESCO, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country Sergey Lavrov handed us a certificate conferring a UNESCO Global Geopark status to our Yangan-Tau Geopark. This is the result of the great work of enthusiastic scientists of the republic headed by Professor Larisa Nikolaevna Belan and the director of "Yangan-Tau" sanatorium Alfred Rashitovich Akbashev. We received the status in 2020; the certificates were not presented earlier due to the COVID.

We have already established the second, this time the regional Geopark "Toratau". This year it was included in the list of 16 territories-candidates for inclusion in the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network. We expect a visit by a delegation of experts from this organization next year.

In the next two years, new tourist objects will appear on this territory - an ethnic complex and an ecological trail, which will allow climbing to the top of the picturesque Shikhan Toratau comfortably. Let's start with the construction of a major visitor center.

We are also actively preparing an application for a natural-geological monument "Bashkir Shikhans: Toratau, Yuraktau and Kushtau" for inclusion in the preliminary UNESCO World Heritage List in the category "Natural Site".

The calling card of Bashkortostan is widely known - the famous Kapova Cave or Shulgan-Tash. We have completed the application preparation for the "Rock Painting of the Shulgan-Tash Cave" object to the UNESCO World Heritage List in the "Culture" nomination. It relates to colorful prehistoric rock carvings made 14-19 thousand years ago in the Paleolithic era.

Next spring, we plan to open the historical and cultural museum complex "Shulgan-Tash" with conference rooms, a children's scientific center, modern laboratories, spacious storage facilities.

Our absolute priorities are preserving national identity, rich natural, historical, and cultural heritage. I hope that our colleagues will support our ideas from the Commission for UNESCO, " Radiy Khabirov posted.