Linking geoheritage sites: Geotourism and a prospective Geotrail in the Flinders Ranges World Heritage Nomination area, South Australia

Abstract

The Flinders Ranges in the north and Mount Lofty Ranges in the south form a continuous highland chain extending ∼1000 km in eastern South Australia. This region corresponds to outcropping rocks of the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Adelaide Rift Complex. The semi-arid ranges of the north with their historic mining heritage and the agriculture and vineyards of the south are heavily promoted as iconic natural and cultural tourism attractions, increasingly combining with indigenous landscape stories. With the exception of Arkaroola and Kangaroo Island, these regions are linked by the 600 km Heysen Walking Trail and adjacent Mawson Cycle Trail. Research on the Ediacara fossil biota in the Flinders Ranges has raised public awareness of geological history and the early evolution of life on Earth and developed into a multi-site Flinders Ranges World Heritage Nomination project. This is supported by the South Australian Government as part of its Nature Tourism programme to provide opportunities for conservation, education, tourism initiatives and local employment, all of which are aspirations of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). South Australia has a World Heritage Fossil site at the Naracoorte Caves complex, which is a compact National Park with many staff and security for laboratories and underground fossil deposits. The multi-site World Heritage proposal for the semi-remote Flinders Ranges presents a very different approach for protection and public visitation. Following an emerging global trend for geotourism and developing geotrails, this paper proposes a 400-km loop geotrail across the region linking the nominated Flinders World Heritage elements with other ‘Geological Monuments’, listed State Heritage and historical sites. This strategy has the potential to involve wider community interest, engagement, support and involvement in its management. The concept would be a natural link to the Heysen and Mawson trails, both named after prominent South Australians with strong links to the Flinders Ranges landscape. It could be named the Ediacara Geotrail, Sprigg Geotrail or Arkaroo Geotrail after the indigenous dreamtime creator of the northeastern Flinders Ranges.