Despite the importance of geoheritage as an interdisciplinary geo-based topic, it is poorly documented as a tool of harmonious socioeconomic development and territorial strategic planning. The promotion of this natural resource in rural areas of the southern Mediterranean may strengthen social resilience and consolidate management strategies if it is conducted according to a responsible and sustainable

Considering the number of UNESCO Global Geoparks, Spain is the second country in the world and the first country in Europe. This paper describes the historical development and the current reality of Spanish Geoparks with a geographical, geological, administrative and sociological analysis and explains the main reasons that have contributed to the successful spread of Spanish UNESCO Global Geoparks

The heritage cannot be appreciated nor entirely understood without considering the genesis and evolution of natural elements. Four places located in the north of Spain are analyzed. They are featured by the importance of natural environment, as Pleistocene and Holocene tufa buildups, and the important cultural goods, vernacules, or belonging to Prehistoric, Middle Age, and Modern ages. The inventory

Outside the main mountain ranges and high North and South regions, individual isolated very small glaciers are the only glacier remnants and exceptional high-mountain active geomorphosites, which can be used to represent climate change consequences first hand to the local general public. The isolated, very small Triglav glacier in Slovenia was used to represent 3D glacier area changes for the period

Volcanic zones are important geoheritage sites. Active volcanic fields are of special interest because they allow to observe the complex and interesting stratigraphic relationships that often characterise their products and processes, as well as landscapes of unusual beauty. These geological sites enable visitors to appreciate the full complexity of volcanic activity and the importance of the geoheritage

The rock pinnacles of the Meteora UNESCO World Heritage Site, Central Greece, are global geologic icons but are inadequately studied. Herein, we summarize decades of observations leading to a geohistory and geoenvironmental model of the unique conditions that were essential for their creation. Via this synthesis, we hope thus to encourage further specialized studies of the West Thessaly-Meteora region

The Danakil Depression, located in the northern segment of the Afar rift, is a world-class example of active rifting and the birth of a new ocean. The unique, yet only partially interpreted geothermal system of Dallol in northern Danakil is currently receiving renewed attention by researchers and visitors despite its extreme climate since the recent improvements of infrastructure and the stabilisation

Geosites constitute important natural resource of Egypt. Field investigations in the Dakhla Oasis of the Western Desert have permitted to assess unique geomorphological, geological, and geoarchaeological features co-occurring in the Valley of Camels. These features are assigned to geomorphological type (animal-shaped landforms sculptured by differential erosion), palaeogeographical type (continental

The Heritage Stone Subcommission (HSS), under the aegis of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), accords “Global Heritage Stone Resource” status to stones used in architectural heritage sites that are particularly important for local cultures and traditions. The Proterozoic slates of Himachal Pradesh have been used extensively in the architectural heritage of the Himalayan region of

Over the past 14 years, several geosites have been identified as geotourism all over Iran, and it seems the time has come to define and implement systematic mechanisms in order to conserve this valuable geoheritage. Therefore, using a combined approach, this study aims to answer the question about the conceptual model of conservation management of geotourism attractions. The required data were collected

This study is going to deal with attractions proposed by the geomorphological heritage in Asir Mountains. The reason behind conducting this study is for presenting the abilities of geo-tourism development in Asir Mountains. The geomorphological heritage embraces landforms and processes playing a key role in the understanding the history of earth and having a strict relationship with both the geomorphological

Urban geoheritage sites are vulnerable to anthropogenic pressure linked to urbanisation. To understand the necessity of conservation of the geological heritage of the Chaohu Lake region of Hefei (China), the first assessment of the geological sites in the area was undertaken based on in-depth field studies and a literature review. The area possesses significant geoheritage of 16 types, the most important

The municipality of Monsagro, a mountain location in Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia Natural Park (Salamanca, Spain), has recently developed two paleontological outreach projects: a Fossil Footprints Geo-route within the urban area and a modern Centre for the Interpretation of Ancient Seas. They are based on the abundance and popular interest of Cruziana and other ichnofossils, which have been added

We provide a brief account of the building stone geology and architectural development of a stone wall that features as part of the Lighthouse Hotel in Bunbury, Western Australia (WA). Our purpose is to highlight the ‘big ideas’ of geology contained in the key building stones of the hotel’s walls, which are visible to passing tourists. We also investigate the architecture, art and cultural stories

The existence of several springs located in the Alfama district, Lisbon, Portugal, reported since the medieval Islamic period, is an important but almost unknown part of the history of the city. The word “Alfama” probably comes from the Arabic “Al-Hamma,” which means “hot spring.” This historical importance is revealed through the diversified water usage, such as ship water supply during the Portuguese

Establishing sustainable and responsible speleotourism development is a major challenge and involves complex activities. Adequate theoretical starting point is the application of geoethical values related to the conservation and protection of the caves to be used for touristic purposes. Positive and negative cases of human behaviors towards speleological geoheritage are discussed, in order to highlight

The increase in research within the scope of science collections has enabled a greater visibility of the problems and solutions applied to their preservation. Geological collections, as any scientific heritage, are a powerful resource for education. There are many adversities in preserving this type of heritage. Any geological collection has inherent in its practices the most diverse challenges, from

The aim of this study is to assess pore size distribution changes of the İscehisar (Turkey) andesite in relation to the six artificial accelerated ageing factors such as salt crystallization, freezing–thawing, thermal shock, SO2 action in the presence of humidity, water vapour transmission, and capillary water absorption. The andesite has a bimodal pore size distribution mainly between 0.1 and 2–3 μm

The geoheritage value of sedimentary building stones has mainly focused on physical sedimentary structures and body fossils. By contrast, little attention has been placed on the geoheritage significance of ichnofabrics, which are the sedimentary fabrics that have been reworked by organisms. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing the ichnofabric found on the buildings of Piazza della Vittoria

Zengibar Castle was built by the Isaurian during antique ages on the summit of Mount Asar, approximately 20 km west of the town of Bozkır, Konya, Turkey. The aims of this study are to determine the lithological, petrographic, and mechanical characteristics of the building stones that were used to construct the walls and buildings in Zengibar Castle in order to determine the quarrying techniques of

In spite of the correction made by the authors, this paper was published online in its non-corrected proof version.

In the last decade, knowledge of Cuban geological heritage has undergone a significant advance, highlighting the active and joint participation of academic, scientific and administrative institutions. The national inventory of geosites, their cartography and dissemination is being carried out throughout the country. At the same time, they are starting to be integrated into the management of protected

Many of the national parks in East Africa are equally as famous for their iconic landforms as they are for their diversity and concentrations of fauna and flora. The newly formed Ngorongoro-Lengai Geopark in northern Tanzania is the first geopark to be established in the region, but there is remarkable potential for geotourism in the majority of the national parks. The most spectacular landforms have

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review (SLR) of geotourism and territorial development. Current and future trends in the field are identified. The paper offers an SLR on the geotourism and territorial development and advances through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis comprising the period 2007–2018. The articles gathered in the search on the Scopus database until

Geoconservation and geotourism potentially represent two ends on the spectrum of appreciation of abiotic elements. Though it would appear to make sense that practitioners and researchers in both ‘fields’ work together providing a linkage between theory and practice, the barriers encountered, and potential opportunities represented by collaboration or cooperation, have not yet been thoroughly explored

Natural stones, their origin and usage represent a segment of geoheritage. They not only represent natural value and beauty in their in situ areas but also bring their qualities closer to all of us in the ex situ places, where these stones are used. Knowledge about certain rock types, their age and origin, as well as exploitation methods, can give additional information on their importance and preservation

Geotourism is an emerging sub-sector of nature-based tourism that attracts a growing number of tourists to geoparks worldwide. Among these, Asian geoparks have become an attractive destination for visitors to experience geological landscapes. To date, there are limited studies available on the environmental impacts of geotourism in Asian geoparks. Here, we present a quantitative review of 26 peer-reviewed

A free mobile application was realized to offer to a wide audience an alternative key to unravel the collection displayed at the Egyptian Museum of Torino, strengthening the link between classical and scientific knowledge. Many of the exhibits are carved in various types of stones, exploited at different locations. Indeed, Egypt is an extremely rich country in terms of ornamental stones, which are

The Apuan Alps are studied by several authors since the nineteenth century for the presence of important geoheritage mainly represented by metamorphic polydeformed rocks, polymetallic mineralizations and large outcrops of precious natural stones. The Apuan Alps marble is a typology of ornamental stone that is worldwide known for decoration and building purposes as well as for the excellent physical-mechanical

Limited research interest has been focused on the understanding of culturally framed geology knowledge in comparison with more mature ethnosciences such as ethnobotany or ethnogeography. Ethnogeology is the scientific study of human relationships with and knowledge of the Earth system, generally investigated within the context of a specific culture, through the implementation of field geologic and

Globally, most active tropical glacial landscapes are found at elevations above 4000 m. Nonetheless, the presence of paleoglacial landforms in low latitudes, especially those formed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), persists in different tropical regions. Chirripó National Park, in central-south Costa Rica, is one of these particular examples. The glacial and periglacial landscape in the park

Natal is a city located in northeastern Brazil that has a geodiversity composed of different landscapes, flanked by beaches, dunes, cliffs, rivers, mangroves, and lagoons. Throughout the city’s history, which spans more than 400 years, geodiversity has always been present since the early days of local cartography, dating back to the Dutch occupation period, on the seventeenth century, in which the

The candidate sites to be included in a sustainable development proposal, called “The Gold Route” to be developed in the municipality of El Tambo, Nariño Colombia, were evaluated. This route combines the geological heritage and mining heritage along with the richness in biodiversity, history, and existing culture in the territory, with the use of the technique of participatory action research (PAR)

In recent years, various studies have been conducted on inventory and assessment methodologies for geosites leading to the implementation of geoconservation actions worldwide. The main contribution of this methodological proposal is an objective quantification of the criteria used for the assessment of geosites according to values defined during its design. It is based on four main stages, namely the

The uniqueness of the spits comes from their special coastal geomorphology. Spit’s evolution is controlled by the fragile environmental conditions, the sediment input, long shore currents, wave, wind and river processes. The Kızkumu Spit, one of the attractive examples (400 m long; 18–48 m wide) is located in an environmentally protected area in southwestern Turkey (Datça-Marmaris). Extending 50 cm

The yellow-colored limestone of Jaisalmer, famous as golden stone, has been extensively used in the architectonic heritage of western India. The architectural heritage, built of this limestone, imparts an exquisite character to Jaisalmer city, which is popularly known as “The Golden City.” The Jaisalmer Fort built using Jaisalmer Limestone, locally referred to as “Sonar Qila” meaning “Golden Fort,”

Research into and conservation of geological heritage and the use of the knowledge gained for the education of the general public lay the groundwork for the creation and consolidation of specialised museums and the dissemination of knowledge among a more diverse audience. In this way, resources linked to Geology will become a territorial development factor and move societies to consider them as indispensable

This paper subscribes to the concept of Key Geoheritage Area (KGA) which is currently being developed. Three localities in northeast Brazil are described as possible candidates for KGA. They represent the diversity of erosional granite landscapes found in cratonic areas. Pedra da Boca is an impressive cluster of tall domes rising from the marginal escarpment of Borborema Plateau, with gigantic tafoni

The city of Araraquara in southeastern Brazil is unique regarding its paleontological record. Flagstones have been quarried from eolianites (Botucatu Formation, Lower Cretaceous) since the beginning of the twentieth century and used to pave and cover public and private spaces of the city. As a consequence, fossil tracks and traces (ichnofossils) of invertebrates, early mammals, and dinosaurs are widely

Mbepit Massif, located in the central part of the continental Cameroon Volcanic Line, is characterised by several geomorphosites of volcanic origin. Eight geomorphosites, namely South Rhyolitic Protrusion, South Volcano, North Rhyolitic Needle, NW cone, North Volcano, Dome-casting, Tam-chi Depression and Maar Nfou, have been selected in this structure based to their scientific and additional values

This article presents a detailed description of stromatolites formed simultaneously with caves’ bedrock, within karstic areas in Southeastern Brazil. We discuss the importance of such fossils for geoconservation and their legal preservation under the Brazilian law. Six caves are described with occurrences of Conophyton-type stromatolites. All those caves are located in the State of Minas Gerais, one

Urban geotourism itineraries have increased in recent years, since a large number of people are living in major cities and the building stones of the historical and architectural monuments can be used for scientific dissemination. These routes also include information such as geology, palaeontology, architecture, history, tourism and environment. This work presents geoscientific information through

Geological aspects of certain sites can help understand the history of a region and reveal discoveries in regard to the planet. Geodiversity in situ is expressed in geosites, with occurrences of geological features of scientific value, and geodiversity sites, places where other values prevail, such as education, culture, and tourism. In addition, such locations can generate socioeconomic benefits for

Mama Bhagne Pahar is an important geomorphosite in West Bengal because of its high scientific, aesthetic, cultural, and economic values in respect to human perception. But at present the site is highly deteriorated by several anthropogenic stressors like human habitation, advertisement on the rocks, and garbage disposal by the tourists. Moreover, most of the local people of the concerned site are also

The Petrified Forest Protectorate near Maadi, Cairo, Egypt, holds considerable geological heritage value. Over the past 10 years, substantial geo-loss has been reported in this area. Like other sites of urban geological heritage, the protectorate faces environmental and anthropogenic pressures linked to urbanization. Such pressures have led to an increased depletion of geological resources, seriously

Geological heritage sites are of great importance both for better understanding of the formation of the earth and for transferring its memory to future generations. People’s curiosity to access this information leads to tourism activity, in which caves constitute a significant place as sources of geotouristic attractions. In the case of Turkey, caves can also be considered as the major source of tourist

Five areas in Central Europe, each hosting abundant geological evidence of Carboniferous to Permian volcanic activity, are analysed in terms of their volcanism-related geoheritage and opportunities to develop geotourist product. One area is located in the eastern part of Germany (Geopark Porphyrland), two in northern Czechia (Bohemian Paradise, Broumovsko) and two in south-west Poland (Wałbrzych region

Brand serves as a useful tool in the management of protected areas, and widely applied in World Natural Heritage (WNH) protection around the world. Usually assigned with multiple brands, it is dim that whether or not the branding strategy is effective in the protection and management of a WNH site. Therefore, Wulingyuan as a representative WNH site with multiple brands was selected to explore the effectiveness

Inventory and assessment of urban geomorphological heritage as a fundamental necessity and prerequisite for urban geotourism development are the main purposes of this research. Accordingly, the present study has been carried out in Khorramabad City, Iran. This research has been conducted using inventory and quantitative assessment of urban geomorphological heritage through fieldwork and (Brilha Geoheritage

Geoheritage sites can provide an excellent resource for sustainable development that represents a growing movement in Africa. Kobokwe Cave is formed within the Middle Proterozoic–aged sandstone of Kobokwe Gorge and is nationally important; the cave is the site where British missionary David Livingstone spent a night in 1847 and subsequently converted Kgosi (Chief) Kgari Sechele I, the first and only

Quantitative assessment methods are attaining special attention in geodiversity research. Procedures to map geodiversity indices have been proposed by several authors though there is no consensus on how to best apply and replicate them in diverse areas. A contribution to the quantitative mapping of geodiversity using GIS tools of quantification and classification is presented. These procedures were

There are many areas of high geological relevance in South America receiving visitors every year. However, most of these sites have not exploited their geotourism potential yet. This paper shows a comparison of the tourism management models of two geosites: Marcahuasi Stone Forest (MSF), in Peru, and Vila Velha State Park (VVSP), in Brazil. The aim of this work is to find out if the models applied

It is important to assess whether UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) fulfill their commitment to support the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) established by Agenda 2030. This work proposes a method of assessing the UGGps’ contribution to SDGs. A questionnaire was distributed among inhabitants of the four Latin American UGGps (Araripe UGGp in Brazil, Grutas del Palacio UGGp in Uruguay, and Comarca

The Rabat-Tiflet area (north-western Morocco) has a complex geological setting and a high geodiversity, two reasons that justify the geoheritage inventory done in this work. The inventoried 13 geosites were quantitatively assessed and clearly show that the Tortonian/Messinian Akrech River GSSP Stratotype is the most important geosite in the area due to its high international scientific value. In addition

Some natural scenes of films shooting contain landscapes and other elements that are part of the geological heritage, representing an added value for the growing cultural tourism that visits them. In the SE of Burgos province (Spain), near some filming locations of the classic western movie directed by Sergio Leone (1966), “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, we have assessed the Geological Heritage of

The “Stella Polare Expedition” collection represents the rocks collected during the attempt to reach the North Pole in the winter of 1899–1900 by the Italian explorer Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, better known as “Duca degli Abruzzi”. The collection is currently kept on loan at the Regional Museum of Natural Sciences in Turin and belongs to the series of mineralogical-lithological collections owned by the

Natural World Heritage is defined as natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty. Mt. Kumgang in the DPR Korea is a scenic natural area that has been nominated for Natural World Heritage status. In this paper, we present a systematic, comprehensive and comparative analysis of the geoheritage values

Ethiopia is the only place on earth where every stage in the break-up of a continent, from initial uplift to incipient sea-floor spreading, can be observed. These processes are reflected in the country’s dramatic scenery and a plethora of spectacular geosites. Ethiopia’s geoheritage is well known to, and has been extensively studied by, earth scientists but is given little recognition by authorities

The interest in geoparks in Brazil began after the inclusion of the Araripe Geopark into the Global Geopark Network (GGN) in 2006. After that, several areas within Brazil were proposed as potential geoparks, two of which were then formalized—the Quadrilatero Ferrífero (Minas Gerais) and Bodoquena-Pantanal (Mato Grosso do Sul), and formal applications were submitted to GGN in 2010 but not accepted.

The Mefite site in Ansanto Valley is located in the Rocca San Felice municipality (Province of Avellino, Campania Region, Italy), namely in Irpinia: this region was in ancient times inhabited by Hirpini (the where part of the local tribal system). The site is in the same time inserted in a wide rural landscape preservin0067 still today a high grade of naturality. As regards the geological structures