Sharing of the criteria and methodology for the management of the national geological heritage

Abstract

In 2018, ISPRA, Geological Survey of Italy, with the intent to coordinate all geological institutions, created the Italian Net of Geological Surveys. This is a connecting structure between the Geological Survey of Italy and all Regional technical institutions, Autonomous Provinces and ARPA. The operative structure dictates the establishing of round-table discussions, namely Tables, dealing with geological themes. The Table concerned with geological heritage compares the experiences of 18 Italian Regions and one Autonomous Province in the field of the knowledge and protection of regional geological heritage. Currently, the advancement of different regions is distinctly disparate. This is especially in the inventory of geosites, which is the basic instrument for the study of geoheritage. Hence, the Table, based on the experience of each region in safeguarding geosites, designated a small group to redact guidelines, both technical and practical. These guidelines are to be used in local inventory and to safeguard and promote regional geosites. The debate considered geosites as geological assets to be safeguarded, as they are representative of “geodiversity” rather than “cultural heritage,” as designated in the Urbani Code. Moreover, it offered the opportunity to separate the term “landscape” and the term "geosite". In the past, when there was a lack of specific laws, the term allowed to safeguard geosites using the planning and legislation that regulated cultural and environmental heritage (Urbani Code, territorial and landscape planning). Today however, this term appears limiting. In the National Inventory of Geosites (ISPRA), geosites are currently considered of international, national, regional and local interest. This classification is based on scientific criteria and it is then combined with the distinction based on the prevalent geological characteristics of each site. This distinction determines that a geosite can be categorised as geomorphological, paleontological, etc. This framework determines that the sole term “geosite” should be used, defining said geosite afterwards, using its prevalent scientific characteristic (i.e. geomorphological geosite, palaeontological geosite, etc). Other terms present in literature, such as “geomorphosites,” “archeogeosites” and “geological emergencies,” should be abandoned. In accordance with the European Tables, it is necessary to examine the identification and classification criteria of the Global Geosites Project, so as to verify its applicability to the Italian situation. The method defines the categories of geosites of international, national and regional level and dictates the identification of geological frameworks. The geosites are recognised in the light of such frameworks through the field work of specialists. Still recognising the validity of the method, in hindsight it becomes comparatively difficult to apply. An initial version of these guidelines for the identification and characterization of Italian geosites has also been drawn.