Grutas del Palacio, a cave system in the Department of Flores, Uruguay, was designated by UNESCO as part of the Global Geoparks Network.
According to a press release from the Paris-based organization, ‘the crystalline basement rocks of the Rio de la Plata Craton, which underlie most of Uruguay, are only exposed in the south and east of the country where they make up a characteristic hilly landscape’.
UNESCO also noted that ‘the rocks exposed in the Geopark are geologically very old (Precambrian) but every other geological age is represented in the Geopark by different kinds of rocks and sediments’.
Together with the caves in Uruguay,10 other new sites in Austria, China, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Turkey have become part of the Geoparks Network, bringing the total number of sites to 100, located in 29 countries.
Armando Castaingdebat, mayor of Flores, said to El Observador newspaper that this designation was very important for the Department, ‘but it is more important for the country as a whole’. He stressed that the caves will be an example of local development, as well as a means of positioning Uruguay as a country with a new niche in the tourism industry.
As UNESCO explains, the Global Geoparks Network ‘links geological heritage sites of international importance, rarity or beauty that serve to promote sustainable development for local communities’.
Source: AFP and El Observador
