According to UNESCO, a geopark is an area with exceptional geological heritage and a strategy to promote this heritage for the benefit of the local community.
Local communities drive and create geoparks to celebrate Earth’s heritage and achieve sustainable development in their area through ‘geotourism’, says UNESCO.
“It’s a lot more than a label.  “It is a recognition of geological sites of international value,” said Kristof Vandenberghe, head of UNESCO’s Department of Geosciences and Geoparks, at a press conference. 
“You can not express everything in monetary value. Sometimes people rediscover and rediscover how connected they really are to their landscape.”
Two countries, Luxembourg and Sweden, have joined the World Wide Web for the first time, designating their first geoparks.
There are five existing parks in Canada: Stonehammer in New Brunswick, Tumbler Ridge in BC, Perce in Quebec, Discovery in Newfoundland and Cliffs of Fundy in Nova Scotia.  No new Canadian sites were added to the list this year.
The eight new UNESCO World Geoparks are:
Seridó bears witness to the last 600 million years of Earth’s history and protects one of the largest mineral deposits in South America, says UNESCO.  (Credit: Getson Luís / Seridó UNESCO World Geopark)
Seridó UNESCO World Geopark, Brazil
According to UNESCO, the UNESCO Seridó World Geopark is home to more than 120,000 people, including communities such as Quilombola “which keep alive the memory of their enslaved ancestors from Africa”.
The geopark testifies to the last 600 million years of Earth’s history and protects one of the largest mineral deposits in South America, says UNESCO.
Southern Canyons Pathways has some of the most remarkable gorges in South America. 
Southern Canyons Pathways UNESCO World Geopark, Brazil
Caminhos dos Cânions do Sul in southern Brazil is characterized by Atlantic forests, which are one of the most biodiversity-rich ecosystems in the world, says UNESCO.
The site also has some of the most remarkable canyons in South America.
Water covers about 21 percent of this geopark, while trees occupy more than half of it.  (Credit: Johannes Sipponen / Salpausselkä Geopark) 
Salpausselkä UNESCO World Geopark, Finland
The UNESCO Salpausselkä World Geopark is located in southern Finland.  According to UNESCO, water covers about 21 percent of the geopark, while trees occupy more than half of it.
The hundreds of lakes in the geopark, as well as the large, unique ridges of Salpauros, are prominent features of the land.
A meteorite fell to Earth at this location about 15 million years ago, says UNESCO.  (Credit: Dietmar Denger / Geopark Ries e. V. via UNESCO)
Ries UNESCO World Geopark, Germany
The UNESCO Ries World Geopark is located mainly in Bavaria, with a small section in Baden-Württemberg.  A meteorite fell to Earth at this location about 15 million years ago, says UNESCO.
According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, the Nördlinger Ries impact crater is the best-preserved meteorite crater in Europe.
This geopark is rich in sites such as caves, sinkholes and underground streams, which highlight a geological history dating back over 250 million years.  (Credit: Kefalonia-Ithaca through UNESCO) 
Kefalonia-Ithaca World Geopark UNESCO, Greece
Kefalonia – Ithaca is an Ionian island complex in Western Greece.
The geopark is rich in sites such as caves, sinkholes and underground streams, which highlight a geological history dating back over 250 million years.
The UNESCO Mllerdall World Geopark in Luxembourg has been a tourist destination since the late 1800s. (Credit: NGPM, Uli Fielitz via UNESCO) 
UNESCO Müllerthal World Geopark, Luxembourg
The UNESCO Mllerdall World Geopark in Luxembourg is one of the “most impressive sandstone landscapes” in Western Europe and has been a tourist destination since the late 1800s, according to UNESCO.
It contains the Luxembourg sandstone formation, which can be up to 100 meters thick and comes from the Lower Lassian period (205 to 180 million years ago).
The UNESCO Land Buzău World Geopark is home to 45,000 people in the Carpathian Bend region of Romania.  (Credit: Buzău Land NGO / Răzvan-Gabriel Popa through UNESCO) 
UNESCO Land Buzau World Geopark, Romania
The UNESCO Land Buzău World Geopark is home to 45,000 people in the Carpathian Bend region of Romania.
According to UNESCO, the geopark has 40 million years of geological history and is one of the most geodynamically active parts of Europe.
Platbergens in western Sweden is known for its backdrop of 15 flat-topped flat mountains, which were sculpted by erosion 115,000 years ago during the last ice age.  (Credit: Henrik Theodorsson through UNESCO) 
Platåbergens UNESCO World Geopark, Sweden
Platbergens in western Sweden is known for its landscape of 15 flat-topped flat mountains, which were sculpted by erosion 115,000 years ago during the last ice age, says UNESCO.
The Västgöta plain, with its shallow lakes, hills and well-preserved cultural landscapes, is also included in the area.  According to UNESCO, it is also home to the first known stone church in Sweden, built by Christian Vikings in the early 11th century.
UNESCO said in a statement that due to COVID-19, they could not evaluate new applications from Asia, Africa or the Arab region, but several geopark projects are underway in these parts of the world.
While the designation UNESCO World Heritage Site is more familiar and includes landmarks with legal protection from international conventions, the title of World Geopark is relatively new and was established in 2015.