Large-Scale Accessibility as a New Perspective for Geoheritage Assessment

Abstract

The exploitation of geoheritage resources depends on their accessibility. The latter is usually established for geosites, whereas reaching the areas where geosites concentrate also deserves attention. Here, a novel, multi-criteria, score-based approach for assessing the large-scale accessibility of geoheritage-rich areas is proposed. The study takes into account various information about external and internal public transportation, road infrastructure, local services (including accommodation opportunities), and general settings. This approach is applied to the Russian South, where there are three geoheritage-rich areas, namely Lower Don, Abrau, and Mountainous Adygeya. Using new criteria, these areas differ by their large-scale accessibility, which is excellent in Lower Don and moderate in Abrau and Mountainous Adygeya. It is established that the co-occurrence of geoheritage-rich areas and popular tourist destinations does not guarantee excellent accessibility. The findings of the present study seem to be important for the development of optimal geoheritage resources policy, as well as for planning research and educational activities, such as the currently realized geochemical investigations and the regular field educational campaigns in the Russian South.