Australia’s first geopark is making major moves to become inter- nationally recognised. The Nannup Geopark has hosted two interns from the University of Western Australia’s McCusker Centre for Citizenship who have worked with the leadership team to prepare for future success.

The park was officially opened last November and aspires to be Australia’s first ever UNESCO certified geopark. Under the supervision of Nannup WA Geopark board member Wendy Duncan, UWA’s Jo Yin Loo and Tajinderpal Singh Aulakh, worked on preparing a vision document for the organisation as well as a marketing plan.

Nannup WA Geopark chair Mark White said the group knows which direction the project was going, but they wanted to formalise plans. Working with Ms Duncan, the pair helped formalise the group’s marketing and business management, helping establish future plans for the geopark.

“Both Jo Yin and Tajinder are studying commerce degrees so their skills were invaluable in guiding our organisation,” Ms Duncan said. The pair said they thoroughly enjoyed their time in the region, and were blown away by the proactive nature of the Nannup volunteer community.
“Before I came to the regions, I did not understand that people work for the community for nothing.” Mr Singh Aulakh said. “It is unbelievable that 55 per cent of the population of Nannup volunteer in some way or other.

“I loved the experience of working in the regions. Nannup is such a beautiful place,” Ms Loo said. “Everyone is so friendly and encouraging (and) I would love to continue to volunteer for the Nannup Geopark.”

Mr White said it was a core part of the UNESCO model for a geopark to be “community driven” so starting with a strong community base has allowed the geopark to get well established. The geopark movement is starting to pick up steam across Australia with Peel officially launching a geotrail drive last year, an early step in establishing its own geopark in the future.

“The recognition is not there yet publicly, the awareness of it is not there, but it’s building,” Mr White said. “We just want to keep building on that awareness.”

Originally posted in the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times by Craig Duncan.