From Sep. 16 to Sep. 20, the 4^th APGN symposium was held in San’in Kaigan Global Geopark, Japan. More than 600 representatives including experts from the executive board of GGN and global geoparks in Asian area attended the meeting.

The theme of this symposium was “Geoparks: Networking and Society”. During the symposium, representatives made exchanges and communications on the geo-heritage protection, the science popularization and community development, and made in-depth discussion on strengthening networking among network members.

During the symposium, the representative from Tianzhushan geopark made an oral presentation, and comprehensively introduced the progress Tianzhushan had made in the past four years on the science popularization, the community development and the geo-tourism management, receiving wide attention.

APGN is a regional network organization with 42 members, among which 31 are from China, and other 11 members are from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. APGN symposium is held once every two years, and the previous three symposiums were respectively held in Malaysia, Vietnam and Korea. The symposium is not only an important platform for the participants to make discussions, but also provides opportunities for administers to jointly search for the management mechanism of geoparks. Currently, the symposium has become one of important activities of GGN, and UNESCO and the executive board of GGN vigorously encourage and support network members and other managerial and technical personnel to attend the conference, share the construction and management experience of geoparks, recommend new activities and common programs, and make common strategies for the geo-heritage protection, the value upgrading of natural and cultural heritage, the environmental education, the geo-tourism and the local development. (Tianzhushan Global Geopark)