Special Edition · September 2017
IIPT Global Peace Parks Project Launched with Dedication of Pu’er National Peace Park
From the IIPT archive. This special edition was first published as an IIPT e-Newsletter on iipt.org in September 2017. It is reproduced here with its original photographs; event details are as they stood at the time.
The IIPT Global Peace Parks Project was launched this past week with the dedication of Pu’er Sun River National Park as an IIPT International Peace Park, in collaboration with the China Chamber of Tourism. Dignitaries participating in the ceremony included Madame Wang Ping, Founding Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism; Mr. Peter Wong Man Kong, Executive Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism; Mr. Yu Jinfang, Co-founder and Developer of Pu’er Sun River National Park; Mrs. May Jinfang, Co-founder and Developer; Mr. Carlos Vogeler, Executive Director, UN World Tourism Organization; Mr. Xu Jing, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, UN World Tourism Organization; Hon. Gede Ardika, former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Indonesia; Helen Marano, Government and Industry Affairs Director, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC); Louis D’Amore, IIPT Founder and President; and various city officials of Pu’er City.
Pu’er Sun River National Park is the perfect site for the first IIPT International Peace Park in China as it is a national model of the “wild beauty of nature”, covering an area of 216 square kilometers with a wide variety of plants and 812 species of wildlife. It is also a model of people in harmony with nature, showcasing the local culture of the diverse ethnic people of the region.
— Peter Wong, Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism
In his Peace Park dedication address, IIPT Founder and President Louis D’Amore said: “It is truly an honor to be here with you today as we dedicate this IIPT International Peace Park, the first in China, just a few days before the UN International Day of Peace, September 21, and in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, which calls for peaceful, inclusive and just societies. As we dedicate this park, we also begin what I am sure will be an important and fruitful relationship between the China Chamber of Tourism and the International Institute for Peace through Tourism; a relationship that will bring more peace parks in China and contribute towards the vision of tourism becoming the world’s first global peace industry, and the belief that every traveler is potentially an ambassador for peace.”
The Pu’er Sun River National Park focuses on the theme “wild beauty of nature” in combination with the local culture and the harmony of humans with nature. By operating profit-making projects within the Park, it is able to effectively provide sustainable protection for precious and unique natural and cultural resources. The Pu’er Sun River National Park also serves as a Forest Ecological System Science Education Base, a Flora and Fauna Rescue Base, and a Global Tourist Attraction for visitors to experience nature and the Pu’er culture.
Peace Parks
2,000 Peace Parks Circling the Earth
The IIPT Global Peace Parks project has a goal of 2,000 Peace Parks circling the earth by 11 November 2018, the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The four-year commemoration of the World War I Centenary, with its theme of “No More War”, has been supported by IIPT since its launch in 2014.
IIPT is proud to have United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) as a partner in its global campaign. UCLG is the united voice and world advocate of democratic local self-government, with a global network of cities, local and regional governments representing 70% of the world population. UCLG goals include contributing to the achievement of the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the New Urban Agenda for Sustainable Urban Development.
The Global Peace Parks Project builds on the success of IIPT’s 1992 “Peace Parks across Canada” project, commemorating Canada’s 125th birthday as a nation. IIPT conceived and implemented “Peace Parks across Canada”, which resulted in 350 Peace Parks being dedicated by cities and towns from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on the shores of the Atlantic, across five time zones to Victoria, British Columbia, on the shores of the Pacific.
The Peace Parks were all dedicated on 8 October 1992 as a National Peacekeeping Monument was being unveiled in Ottawa, with 5,000 Peacekeepers passing in review. Each park was dedicated with a ‘bosco sacro’, a peace grove of 12 trees symbolic of Canada’s 10 provinces and 2 territories, as a link to one another and a symbol of hope for the future. Of the more than 25,000 Canada 125 projects, Peace Parks across Canada was said to be the most significant.
IIPT International Peace Parks have since been dedicated as a legacy of each IIPT International Conference and Global Summit. Notable IIPT International Peace Parks include Bethany Beyond the Jordan, site of Christ’s baptism, as a legacy of the Amman Summit, 2000; Victoria Falls, as a legacy of the IIPT 3rd African Conference, 2005, subsequently re-dedicated as the featured event on Opening Day of the UNWTO 20th General Assembly in 2013, co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe; and Medellín, Colombia, dedicated on Opening Day of the UNWTO 21st General Assembly.
IIPT Peace Parks todayAbout the China Chamber of Tourism
The China Chamber of Tourism was formed in 2002 to include all sectors of the travel and tourism industry and related industries throughout China. It is based on a concept of “Pan Tourism”, with the belief that tourism as a bond could connect and lead industries to develop co-operatively. Its core beliefs are that “tourism is peace” and that world tourism calls for world peace; tourism is culture and the improvement of life quality. The China Chamber of Tourism has achieved fruitful co-operation with UNWTO, WTTC, PATA and now IIPT, enhancing the co-operation and exchange of Chinese and tourism enterprises of other nations.