Abstract
The increasing interest in geotourism has prompted the need for quantitative assessments of geosites as a fundamental step in the application of geoconservation strategies, in order to assure sustainable planning, management and use of natural resources. The improvement of methodologies used to evaluate geosites dictates the revision of previous assessments on a regular basis. Santa Maria Island in the Azores Archipelago is renowned for its palaeontological heritage. Herein, we present the results of a re-evaluation of 17 fossiliferous geosites, based on an updated methodology in which four main independent criteria are considered: (1) scientific value; (2) educational value; (3) touristic value; and (4) degradation risk. These new results were compared with a previous evaluation of the same geosites, based on the Q-value. Our results show that an evaluation of the fossiliferous geosites based on independent criteria is more suitable, especially for political and economic stakeholders. The study of these geosites also permitted the development of high-quality promotional products for the Regional Government of the Azores, as in the case of the “House of the Fossils” museum, the “Fossils Route” and the newly formed “Santa Maria PalaeoPark,” making this island a good example of a successful joint venture between science, political decision-makers, geoconservation management strategies, sustainable tourism and education.
Highlights
The term “geodiversity” was first used by geologists during the 1993 Malvern Conference on Geological and Landscape Conservation in the context of “variety within abiotic nature” [1]
The similarities observed in the four top-ranked geosites as a result of the two methods of quantitative evaluation [2,19] are mainly related to the high scientific value attributed to those geosites
The fossiliferous deposits of Santa Maria are fundamental sources of information regarding the geological history of the island and its associated biological evolution, which makes them important for a wide spectrum of researchers
Summary
The term “geodiversity” was first used by geologists during the 1993 Malvern Conference on Geological and Landscape Conservation in the context of “variety within abiotic nature” [1]. Geosites (i.e., in situ geodiversity elements with high scientific value [2]) hold scientific, educational, historical, cultural and recreational interests, and contain information about the state and the dynamics of the Earth, whereas palaeogeographical geosites (i.e., geosites representing palaeoenvironments, many of them containing fossils and/or ichnofossils), hold interest for science, tourism and educational purposes [3,4]. These sites are exposed to natural and anthropogenic influences and must be protected for their value. In situ conservation of the most important geosites and palaeogeographical geosites (sensu [2,3]) is an important task as it provides present and future generations of researchers the opportunity of understanding the Earth’s history, past environmental changes, geological phenomena and the evolution of (palaeo)organisms [7,8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call