- The stay of the Tanzanian representative in the territory included the visit of different facilities, sites and trails.
- One of the pillars of the UNESCO Global Geoparks is networking and the exchange of experiences and good practices between territories.
A member of Ngorongoro Lengai UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) of Tanzania (Africa) visited Conca de Tremp-Montsec UGGp from 26th to 31st July.
Mr. Samwel Nsyuka, expert in marketing and touristic promotion, visited the Catalan territory to see different examples Conca de Tremp-Montsec UGGP implements to transmit the scientific knowledge to the general public. He was especially interested in promotional videos, new technologies used for interpretation and promotional and advertising material.
The visit aimed to promote the exchange of good practices offered by the two UNESCO Global Geoparks. Both are territories where the geological, palaeontological and mining heritage takes special relevance as a tool for local sustainable development, based mainly on the promotion of geotourism.
During his stay he visited museums and facilities to know the Spanish Geopark and its strategies and actions in terms of interpretation and promotion.
His agenda was full of activities. Firstly, he visited the three Geopark headquarters located in the city of Tremp: the administrative headquarters in the City Council of Tremp; the scientific headquarters, the CST Pirineus of the ICGC (Catalan geological survey), and the Epicentre, the visitors centre, which he valued very positively, because of the permanent exhibition on the cultural and landscape richness of the area and also for the promotion actions that are being carried out through this centre.
Later, he visited the Conca Dellà Museum to discover the paleontological wealth of the territory, specially the leitmotiv of Conca de Tremp-Montsec UGGp, which is “The last dinosaurs in Europe”, and its promotion through the work of the network “Dinosaurs of the Pyrenees” in terms of local conservation, research and innovation. This has been of special interest to the Tanzanian visitor who has taken ideas to replicate it to its most important cultural heritage, the remains of the first hominids that are known on Earth.
Due to the archaeological wealth of the African Geopark, he could not miss Espai Orígens. It is a facility located in the town of Camarasa related to archaeology, and which is associated with other facilities such as the Sant Llorenç de Montgai Didactic Archaeological Park and the visitable site of La Roca dels Bous. In this space, he was particularly interested in the interpretation, the didactic area, the adaptation of the site for its touristic visit and the adaptation of the divulgative materials for the blind.
Other visited places were the Pyrenees and Nature Sports Station in the town of La Pobla de Segur where he valued the exhibition for the sensory and audiovisual experiences that it offers. He also visited a part of the geotrail of Collegats gorge that was useful to give examples of exterior interpretative signposting.
The visit can be the beginning of a closer collaboration between these two UNESCO Global Geoparks and a formal agreement can be signed to continue working in coordination between the two territories.
Ngorongoro Lengai UGGp is the second Geopark of Africa and became part of the Global Geoparks Network in 2018, the same date as the Conca de Tremp-Montsec UGGp, the second in Catalonia.
