Bohol is on track to keep its UNESCO Global Geopark designation for another four years after the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council issued a favorable “Green Card” recommendation.
The council reached its decision during its 11th session at UNESCO headquarters in Paris from Nov. 2 to 4, 2026.
The recommendation follows the geopark’s first revalidation mission to the province, held Aug. 3 to 7, 2026.
The council’s report goes next to the UNESCO Executive Board, which is expected to give formal approval in the first half of 2027.
Council chair Sophie Justice presided over the session.
Geopark Manager Joanne Pinat led the Bohol Island Geopark team, which joined by videoconference along with provincial government officials.
Bohol became the Philippines’ first UNESCO Global Geopark in 2023. It covers about 8,808 square kilometers of land and surrounding waters and holds a geological record spanning more than 150 million years, including the island’s rise from the sea through tectonic movement.
Its best-known landmark is the Chocolate Hills, a field of nearly symmetrical, cone-shaped limestone mounds in central Bohol.
UNESCO says they formed over thousands of years as limestone from coral reef deposits of the Pliocene period, about 2 million to 5 million years old, eroded.
The geopark also includes limestone caves and sinkholes, as well as the Danajon Double Barrier Reef off the northern coast, which UNESCO describes as the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia and one of six documented worldwide.
Other sites include the uplifted marine terraces in Loon and Maribojoc, made more visible by the 2013 Bohol earthquake, and the earthquake rupture site in Inabanga.
UNESCO requires more than scenery.
A geopark must show that its geological resources are of international scientific significance. It must also have an effective management system, a long-term conservation strategy, educational programs and a commitment to sustainable development that involves local communities.
Keeping the designation maintains Bohol’s place in the Global Geoparks Network, which officials say raises the province’s international profile and supports geotourism, in which visitors learn about the formation and history of the sites they tour.
Tour guides, transport operators, lodging owners, restaurants, artisans and farmers stand to benefit, as do communities that sell crafts and food products tied to the province’s identity.
The network also lets Bohol exchange practices with other geoparks and partner with universities and researchers on geological and biodiversity studies.
The geopark supports environmental education in schools and training for residents, including community guides and environmental educators.
The designation does not make Bohol a legally protected area or prohibit economic activity. It does require that development planning take geological heritage, biodiversity, cultural traditions and livelihoods into account.
That balance is being tested by several issues now before the province.
In Loboc, the Department of Public Works and Highways is building a P3.5 billion river protection and flood control project along the Loboc River, one of Bohol’s most visited tourist attractions.
The Provincial Board opened an inquiry in June after the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office, the Loboc Association of Hospitality and Accommodation and the Loboc People’s Council raised concerns about the project’s possible effects on the river, tourism and livelihoods.
Board members inspected the site June 20 and called for public disclosure of the project’s environmental compliance certificate, permits and technical studies.
The project has drawn scrutiny before. Work was suspended in 2025 for lack of the certificate, and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission called for a technical and environmental audit and a probe by the National Bureau of Investigation. The controversy unfolds amid a nationwide reckoning over flood control spending.
Quarrying is another concern in a province with abundant limestone and a long history of complaints about illegal extraction.
A provincial disaster risk reduction council called in November 2025 for authorities to investigate a possible link between quarries and landslides and ground cracks in upland communities.
Gov. Aris Aumentado has said quarrying in Bohol is small-scale and tightly regulated, and the province reported P141 million in income from quarrying and sand operations from 2022 to October 2025.
Whale shark tourism has also come under tighter rules.
Aumentado suspended whale shark interaction activities in the towns of Lila, Alburquerque and Dauis in February 2025 after finding that operators were feeding the animals, in violation of regulations.
The province has since adopted an ordinance and implementing rules that allow regulated whale shark watching to resume under a “no approach, no interaction” policy.
Geoparks are reassessed every four years.
A Green Card recommends renewal. A Yellow Card gives a geopark a set period to correct deficiencies, and a Red Card can lead to withdrawal of the designation.
Local governments, communities and development partners have been credited with helping establish and manage the geopark.