Joggins rocks

- July 9, 2008

The Joggins Fossil Centre is situated on the reclaimed site of the Old Joggins No. 7 Coal Mine overlooking the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs—"a Coal Age Galapagos"—have just been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

On Monday, members of a committee voted unanimously in favour of the designation at a meeting in Quebec City. The fossil cliffs are regarded as the best record of life 300 million years ago.

“It’s one of the places in the world, perhaps better than anywhere else, where the whole ecosystem can be worked out,” says Martin Gibling, professor of Earth sciences at Dalhousie.

Experts hope the UNESCO designation will act as an economic engine for the area by bringing in visitors. A $9-million interpretative centre has just been opened at the site.

With the designation, will you go on a fossil expedition this summer?


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