HUGE initiative by UP Govt: Sonbhadra Fossil Park soon to be added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The Uttar Pradesh government is working on all possible fronts to get the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) approval to include the Sonbhadra’s Salkhan fossils park in its list of world heritage site, informed Jaiveer Singh, minister of tourism and culture in the Uttar Pradesh government. Notably a site after being recognised as a UNESCO heritage site gets international recognition, legal protection and also funds for its conservation under certain conditions.

The 1400 million-year-old Sonbhadra Fossils Park in Uttar Pradesh is considered to be among Asia’s largest and oldest fossil parks. Singh said that observation of different types of fossils shows that different categories of animals have existed on the earth in different periods of time. “Various types of shapes are formed from these which are a subject of attraction for scientists. Apart from this, there are many tourist places in Sonbhadra district. There are also beautiful and picturesque valleys and waterfalls. Due to the increase in the number of tourists, local people will also earn income,” he said.

‘Most people not aware of fossils at Sonbhadra park’: UP Tourism minister

The fossils found in this park are algae and stromatolites type fossils said Singh. “According to estimates it is 1400 million years old. It is maintained by the Forest Department. Most people are not aware of such an old fossil in Sonbhadra. Therefore the number of tourists here is less,” he said.

Located 12 kilometres from Robertsganj, near Salkhan village on state highway SH5A in Sonbhadra district, the Salkhan Fossils Park is officially known as Sonbhadra Fossils Park. Spread over an area of about 25 hectares in Kaimur Range, adjacent to Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, the park is well known for producing algae and stromatolite variants of fossils, which appear as rings on the boulders and are scattered in fossil rings on boulders in the park. The park falls under the jurisdiction of the state forest department. The fossils, which are currently found in the park, have been well known to geologists since the 1930s.

Instructions have been given to the district magistrate to prepare an action plan for the Fossil park to develop it as a tourist destination through the District Tourism and Culture Council. Necessary infrastructure will also be developed in the Sonbhadra district in order to attract tourists. Singh stated that the administration is working to put Uttar Pradesh on the tourism map of the world. "Keeping this in view, efforts are being made to present the fossil park to the world by getting it included in the UNESCO list," he said.