Ngorongoro recognized as geological heritage site
BUSAN: THE Ngorongoro Crater has been designated and included in the prestigious list of the Second 100 International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Geological Heritage Sites.
Cultural Heritage Officer Lightness Kyambile and Senior Geologist Ramadhani Khatibu played a pivotal role in this recognition by preparing a comprehensive publication on the Crater’s unique geology.
Their work highlights Ngorongoro as the world’s largest unflooded and unbroken caldera, contrasting with other larger calderas, which are either fractured or flooded, forming lakes.
The announcement was made by IUGS President John Ludden, Secretary-General Stanley Finney and Asier Hilario, Chair of the International Commission on Geoheritage, during a special event at the 37th International Geological Congress in Busan, South Korea.
In their publication, Kyambile and Khatibu emphasised the Crater’s significance not only for its geological features but also as a key site for scientific research in volcanology, seismic activity and its relationship with nearby paleoanthropological sites at Laetoli-Olduvai Gorge, crucial for the study of human evolution.
They describe Ngorongoro as a “true Garden of Eden,” home to diverse wildlife and plant species within its self-contained sanctuary.
Ngorongoro is one of nine complex basaltic shield volcanoes forming the Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands (NVH), located in northern Tanzania’s Gregory Rift Valley.
The Second 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites, as with the First 100, receive IUGS recognition because they are of the highest scientific value.
The IUGS initiative, involving more than 700 experts from 80 nations and 16 international organisations, recognises the world’s most scientifically valuable geologic features and processes.
Sites like Ngorongoro serve as essential educational resources and contribute significantly to the development of geological sciences.
The inclusion of the Crater in the Second 100 list follows the announcement of the First 100 during the IUGS 60th anniversary in 2022. The initiative’s goal is to highlight and preserve key sites that are essential for advancing geological sciences globally.
The selection of the Second 100 was finalised by the IUGS Executive Committee earlier this year, covering 53 countries and nine scientific disciplines.
This is not the first time the Ngorongoro Crater has gained international recognition. In 1979, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which includes the Crater, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, acknowledging its outstanding natural beauty, ecological diversity and cultural significance.
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The Crater is also part of the larger Serengeti ecosystem, renowned for the annual wildebeest migration and its proximity to Olduvai Gorge, a site crucial to understanding early human history, further enhances its global importance.
An IUGS Geological Heritage Collection is a geocollection or part of a geocollection of global importance because of its particularly high scientific, historical and/or educational relevance, it is composed of rocks, minerals, meteorites and/or fossils.
It may also include other types of samples like drill cores, oil, loose sediments, volcanic ash, or processed geomaterial such as thin sections, polished sections, grain mounts, mineral separates and powders. All kinds of collections related to Earth Sciences can be considered, but should preferably stand out by one specific sample type.
