Visitor Center Research Articles

Geodiversity of closed depressions in a high relief karst: Geoeducation asset and geotourism resource in the "Sierra de las Nieves" National Park (Málaga Province, Southern Spain)

Closed depressions are scale-invariant landforms that are the most distinctive and characteristic landform in karst terrains at the millimetre-to-kilometre scales. The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to raise awareness of the geoheritage and geoeducational asset provided by closed depressions in a high-relief karst massif with the objective of promoting geotourism in the Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Southern Spain, which was declared a national park in 2021. The second is to propose a general, sound methodological approach to achieve the first purpose that can be applied to other national parks and geoparks with karst terrains. This paper identifies the factors that generate geodiversity in closed depressions in karst and, although dissolution is the primary generator in the high relief karst massif analysed, five distinctive types of natural, closed depressions have been recognized and described together with particular cases that deserve consideration. A sixth type of closed depression comprises anthropic closed depressions. Lithology and tectonics are the two main geological factors that determine the different types of natural closed depressions. Closed depressions add value to the geomorphological and hydrogeological diversity of karst terrains, and they can be used at various levels both off-site and on-site for preparing exhibits at a visitor or interpretation centre; as a story resource for guided field tours; and for identifying geosites of special interest for geological itineraries. Generating interpretation methods is an important component of transferring scientific knowledge of, and interest in, karst landscapes to the various types of visitors to the recently declared Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Andalusia, Southern Spain. In addition, an extensive inventory of closed depressions can be used for their identification, mapping, conservation, protection, and management. Such an inventory, which can be obtained efficiently from high spatial resolution digital elevation models, also contributes to the promotion and dissemination of geomorphological science to the general public.

Application of the Real-Time Tourism Data in Nowcasting the Service Consumption in Taiwan

Abstract In this paper, we examined the relationship between tourism and service consumption in Taiwan. The service consumption in Taiwan is nowcasted with the real-time tourism data in Google Trends database. We used the high-frequency internet-searching tourism data to predict the low-frequency service consumption data, for the real-time data with rich information could enhance prediction accuracy. Applying the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), we used the internet-searching tourism keywords in Google Trends database to construct the diffusion indices. Following the classification of the tourism keywords in Matsumoto et al. (2013), we classified those keywords into five groups and twenty-nine classifications. We focused on the reciprocal reactions between those diffusion indices with service consumption to conclude which component has higher influence on service consumption in Taiwan. Our empirical results indicated that the keywords in “Recreational areas, and Travel-related” group have significant effects on service consumption in Taiwan via nowcasting. Among the components of those diffusion indices, “Farm, Travel insurance, and Visitor center” are important variables with higher weights in common. JEL classification numbers: C60, C80, E01, E2, E60. Keywords: Nowcasting, the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Service Consumption, Tourism.

The Soldier's Dilemma

Int. Fort Leavenworth Prison Cell, Nighttime.A man lays sleeping in bed, by his lonesome. The man in bed is Private Francis Orestes. He is in his early 20s, tall with a medium build, dark blond hair, and hazel eyes. His generally handsome features have been dampened by rather severe bruises and cuts. Parts of his torso are clearly bandaged. He tosses violently in his sleep, dreaming of quiet horror.The clanking of pipes audibly rustles.Int. Prison Psychiatrist's Office, Daytime, Orestes and Euterpe Sit Across from One Another.Francis Orestes sits in a room reminiscent of a high school guidance counselor's office, with the additional features of a prison.Orestes sits with both his arms and legs crossed, even though he is chained to the floor, making the position uncomfortable.Across a cluttered desk sits Doctor Valentina Euterpe. She is thin with brown hair and poses average height. She wears a pastel buttoned jacket and matching skirt, like the style of Jackie Kennedy, as well as white oval glasses. She possesses a somewhat timeless beauty and elegance, so her age could range from late 40s to early 60s.Int. Prison Meeting Room, DayOrestes sits at a metal table, handcuffed in place. He wears his usual prison garb and bears a grim look as he waits.Enter Corrections Specialist Curtin, followed shortly by an officer.The officer, Captain Jaxon Boedromi, in full uniform. He has dark black hair, cut short, and dark brown eyes. He is of average height, but of an exceedingly good build. There is a casual coolness to his stride, but he walks with a barely noticeable limp.Int. Daytime, Prison Visitors’ Center. Orestes Is Seated.Francis Orestes sits alone, nervously tapping his foot. He has a twisted look of distress on his face. He looks toward the door, waiting for someone to enter.Monique Orestes enters. She is of average height, with a small frame, blonde hair, and brown eyes. She is wearing a blue floral pattern dress cinched at the waist by a belt. She looks solemnly upon the crowd of faces, finds her son, and makes her way to him.Int. Prison Psychiatrist's Office, Bright Daytime, Orestes and Euterpe Sit Across from One Another.Orestes sits chained to the ground, glumly looking toward the floor. Doctor Euterpe sits across from him and attempts to get his attention by clearing her throat, though his stare remains blank.Int. Courtroom, Daytime, Boedromi and Orestes Sit at a Table Facing an Empty BenchOrestes and Boedromi orient themselves at their desk, both dressed in formal fatigues. Behind them sits many military onlookers. Enter Potineish and the Judge Advocates (they sit at the opposite table of Orestes).Int. Daytime, Prison Visitors Center. Francis Is Seated Across from His Two Parents.Francis sits facing his two parents. They all look nervously at one another. Orestes taps his foot absently until his mother places her hand on top of his.

Differences in information dissemination and activities by managers of visitor centers in national parks

The purpose of this study was to understand the management, dissemination of the information through the Internet, and activities of the visitor centers in national parks, with the aim to identify differences between managers and issues for future management improvement. Data were mainly collected from published materials of the Ministry of the Environment and websites of the visitor centers. In total, 111 visitor centers and 12,011 activities conducted during 2019–2020 were assessed. The results of the survey revealed that visitor centers managed by the private sector and councils consisting of administration and private sectors disseminate information through a wider range of media on the Internet and have more extensive websites than those managed by public, such as the Ministry of the Environment and local authorities. In addition, differences were observed in the types of activities performed by different managers, with private sector- and council-managed visitor centers conducting activities that seemed to require more expertise than public-managed visitor centers. The participation fee for the activities was higher in private sector- and council-managed visitor centers than in public-managed visitor centers. Private sector-managed visitor centers tended to require the contribution of the beneficiary to support their activities.

Classification of visitor centers based on location environment characteristics using GIS

Classification of visitor centers based on location environment characteristics using GIS

Typology development of earthquake displays in free-choice learning environments, to inform earthquake early warning education in the United States

Free-choice learning environments, such as museums, national parks, interpretive trails, and visitor centers, are trusted sources of information in their communities and support lifelong learning. Earthquake education in these spaces creates awareness of earthquake hazards and risk in areas where people live or visit and, in turn, may increase engagement in preparedness behavior. The ShakeAlert® Earthquake Early Warning System helps publics prepare by warning in advance of shaking from significant earthquakes along the West Coast of the United States. ShakeAlert can minimize earthquake damage by prompting automated actions (e.g., slowing trains, shutting off water valves) and prompting personal protective actions like “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” to significantly reduce damage, injury, and loss of life. Individuals and communities must have a basic understanding of earthquake hazards, as well as an awareness of ShakeAlert technology, to know how to respond if they feel shaking or receive an alert. Currently, there is a lack of contemporary scholarship on how free-choice learning environments approach earthquake education through exhibits and displays. We analyzed a sample of existing earthquake exhibits and their themes in the United States and explored how different display types are uniquely engaging. We found that most displays did not include information about how to prepare for an earthquake or associated protective actions. From this and the development of the typology, our research posits a foundational framework for how best to incorporate place-based learning on earthquakes and early warning into centers of free-choice learning which may apply to a range of other natural hazards and will enhance public awareness and safety.

Return to the City of Joseph: Modern Mormonism's Contest for the Soul of Nauvoo

Return to the City of Joseph: Modern Mormonism's Contest for the Soul of Nauvoo

Forgiving the Unforgivable

Forgiving the Unforgivable Anna Badkhen (bio) oklahoma to texas On a Monday in early August I find myself spooning soil from Geronimo's grave at a prisoner-of-war cemetery in Oklahoma into a double Ziplock bag I bought at Target. I will carry this soil, by car and bus, to Guachochi, a town in the Sierra Madre Occidental. There, three Mexican sisters who have recently traced their ancestry to the famous Apache medicine man are about to hold a Ceremonia del Perdón—Ceremony of Forgiveness. The soil is my gift to them. Geronimo's grave is inside Fort Sill, a US Army base, so I must first stop at the visitor center to obtain a pass. The United States staked out Fort Sill in 1869, as a staging ground for punitive raids against the Native Americans who had survived deportation to Indian Territory, and even though the base dates back more than a hundred years, its visitor center bears the ubiquitous hallmarks of military efficiency that scream temporariness: insulated white metal wall panels mounted on a concrete foundation and facing a parking lot paved with ankle breaker gravel. I have seen structures and parking lots exactly like this on US military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, which also were staging grounds for raids into quasi-occupied lands; most of those are now gone. Inside the visitor center, a jovial military policeman hands me Form 118a, Request for Unescorted Installation Access to Fort Sill. This is to ensure somehow that I am not a terrorist. I enter my full name, date of birth, driver's license number, social security number, gender, race. Under "purpose of visit" I check "other." Beef Creek Apache Cemetery was established in 1894, the year Geronimo and 341 other surrendered Chiricahua Apaches—adults and children—were transferred from a prisoner-of-war camp in Florida to Fort Sill under military escort. Here, in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains, Geronimo's insurgency against white colonists came to an end. It had begun in 1851, when Mexican soldiers massacred more than a hundred women and children in Geronimo's encampment, among them his mother, his first wife, and all three of his young children. At Beef Creek, rows of identical upright headstones of white marble poke out of a manicured sloping field of green; think Arlington Cemetery minus the color guard. Among this impersonal personal misery, Geronimo's tomb stands [End Page 1] out, a pyramid of granite boulders perhaps five feet tall, topped with a stone eagle. A small grove of white hibiscus and fragrant abelia screens it slightly from the rest of the burial ground. Geronimo died technically of pneumonia but ultimately of the humiliation that accompanied his imprisonment. To be a POW of the United States back then was different than at Guantánamo: Apache prisoners could set up villages within the perimeter of the army base. They could marry and raise children and bury them. I check the stones. One couple lost three children in five years. Many grave markers have only one date. Some Apache prisoners got to travel outside the wire. With Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show, which advertised his cameo as "The Worst Indian That Ever Lived," Geronimo hawked his legend at county fairs. And he was one of six Native men to ride horseback in Teddy Roosevelt's inaugural parade through the streets of Washington, DC, in 1901. When someone asked Roosevelt why he chose this "greatest single-handed murderer in American history" to join his parade, the president replied, "I wanted to give the people a good show." To the left of Geronimo's is the grave of the sixth of his nine wives, Zi-Yeh, who died in 1904 at the age of thirty-five, of tuberculosis. To the right, the grave of their daughter Eva Geronimo Godeley, who was forced to attend one of the Indian boarding schools the US government had created to strip Native children of their roots; her school was almost two hundred miles away. She was twenty-one when she died, in 1911. Eva's daughter, Evaline, died at birth the year previous; she is buried here, too. Geronimo was...

Architectural Projects Prepared Through National or International Design Project Competitions on Archaeological Sites as Contemporary Additions

Cultural heritage is the most important factor in the formation of urban identities. The construction of new buildings in archaeological heritage areas as well as in the historical environment maintains its currency as a subject that continues to be discussed within the context of conservation. Regarding the protection and presentation of archaeological heritage sites, the need for articulation of service structures such as visitor centers, museums, sales units, WC volumes, experience/activity areas and excavation houses within the protected areas arises over time and defined by the regulations and declarations accordingly regarding the construction of new buildings in the historical environment and archaeological heritage areas. The aim of the study is to examine the building principles, design criteria and conservation approaches of the contemporary constructions/annexes designed through national or international design competitions in archaeological sites regarding the national and international conservation policy.

Spatial aspects of the interpretation of cultural heritage

Creating an exhibition is a multidisciplinary task which, besides the work of the authors of the scenario, copywriters and experts in the given topic, involves also the work of architects and landscape architects. Although the paper reflects on various completed exhibitions, the scenario and form of an exhibition cannot be separated. The paper focuses on spatial aspects of outdoor exhibitions from the perspective of an architect and landscape architect and documents them via various completed exhibitions. In terms of architecture they can be classified upon the aspects of form and content, wherein form covers the spatial, i.e. architectural, design of the exhibition and means, and content covers the quantity, complexity, style and chronology of the information communicated. The motivation for the paper is the need to identify the factors influencing the educational quality of exhibitions that the professionals designing the space and form of exhibitions may use in their practice. This covers predominantly those factors that relate to the designing of spaces where exhibitions take place based on the given scenarios, to which the viewers react rather subconsciously.The method used for the research is a spatial and content analysis of three exhibitions presenting cultural and natural heritage, specifically Hardangervidda National Park in Norway, Kongernes Jelling visitor centre in Denmark, and the National Museum of Rural Life at Wester Kittochside – Scottish National Museum in Great Britain. Factors considered include: the connection to the site – landscape context; authenticity; spatial scenario; and so-called warm-up and cool-down spaces that create atmosphere. A scenario, as in a film, connects the environment and content in a defined chronology. By this research we want to follow up on the trend in museums and exhibitions to present information through powerful narrative storytelling.

A Tour of the Mississippi River Visitor Center

A Tour of the Mississippi River Visitor Center

Applying The DQI-based Kano model and QFD to develop design strategies for visitor centers in national parks

ABSTRACT China in recent years has been actively promoting the policy of establishing national parks to preserve nature systems. Visitor center (VC) is one of the most important infrastructures for protection, education, and recreation purposes in national parks. However, the current design of VCs in China is mostly based on the subjective considerations of designers and lacks in-depth discussion on the requirements of visitors. This study employed the Kano Two-Dimensional Quality method to investigate the design requirements of visitors and experts and then applied the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method to transform the requirements into design strategies. Based on these design strategies, the design of VC in a national park in southeast China was taken as an example, and two design teams were used to verify the architectural scheme design and obtain feedback from visitors through a questionnaire survey. The research results show that the design strategies proposed by this study can better meet the expectations and satisfaction of the public. In the future, it is suggested that more parties, such as national park managers and community residents, should be involved in the study to obtain better planning and design strategies.

서울시 유아숲체험장의 공간 개선 방안

The Forest Visitor Centers for Little Children who means preschoolers is an educational facility that achieves holistic growth by experiencing forests, and it should not be completed by installing specific facilities in the forest environment, but should be a space where preschoolers can play freely in the forest environment themselves. This study comprehensively evaluated the current status of Seoul Forest Visitor Centers for Little Children and suggested space improvement measures to enhance the effectiveness of forest experience. Through the theoretical review, seven spatial elements that enhance the effect of forest experience and six areas composing outdoor play areas were derived to prepare an analysis table for current status evaluation, and field survey studies were conducted on 24 centers in Seoul. Through expert interviews, the physical status was examined from the perspective of childhood education and the experiences of the users were summarized. As a result of the study, the Seoul Forest Visitor Center for Little Children is classified into six types according to the location characteristics and spatial structure, and has the characteristics of each type. The effectiveness of forest experience can be enhanced by identifying and revealing the environmental strengths of individual centers. In the case of outdoor experience learning zones, the proportion of exercise play areas was very large. By evenly organizing the forest experience space for each area, it will be possible to provide more diverse experiences to preschoolers. However, the status of uniform facility-oriented cannot be viewed as a fragmentary factor that lowers the effect of forest experience. The key to increasing the effect of forest experience by inducing creative activities is the spatial composition that considers the surrounding natural environment. Facilities should be a medium to help preschoolers

Uncovering Trends and Spatial Biases of Research in a U.S. National Park

National parks are vital public resources for the preservation of species and landscapes, and for decades have provided natural laboratories for studying environmental and cultural resources. Though significant scholarship has taken place in national parks, syntheses of research trends and biases are rarely available for needs assessments and decision making. In this paper, we demonstrate procedures to close this information gap using Congaree National Park (CNP) as an example of a protected area characterized by disparate research. We conducted a systematic review of research topics and funding sources of all peer-reviewed, published research conducted since its inception as a National Monument in 1976. We next paired our evaluation of research trends with a spatial analysis of study locations to uncover patterns and biases in research. A total of 49 peer-reviewed publications describing research conducted at CNP have been published between 1976–2018, with over 75% published since 2003. Quantitative studies accounted for nearly 90% of all studies, and vegetation was the most commonly studied discipline. Most studies were funded by federal agencies, with the National Park Service providing the most funding instances. Spatial analyses revealed statistically significant (p < 0.05) hotspots of studies near the park entrance, visitor center, roads, and hiking trails. In providing a comprehensive evaluation of research patterns and trends within a single park, we developed an approach that can be applied by managers in other parks or public lands to maximize the utility of past research, identify potentially valuable but understudied park resources, and prioritize research needs.

МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ ГЛАВНОЙ ТЕМЫ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОГО ВИЗИТ-ЦЕНТРА ТЕРРИТОРИЙ ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ТУРИЗМА (ГРАДОСТРОИТЕЛЬНАЯ АПРОБАЦИЯ КОНЦЕПЦИИ СОЦИАЛЬНОГО ПОЛЯ П. БУРДЬЕ)

The urban planning system of the ecotourism territory is studied as a system of interacting objects – a network of ecological and educational information visitor centers. The formation of ecological consciousness is the main path leading to the balanced development of human and nature. Visitor centers are created to indirectly manage the recreational impact on the ecosystems of specially protected natural areas (SPNA) by forming an ecological consciousness among visitors, based on the transmitted information. The content of the information (the main subject) of the interacting visitor centers forms the information space of the ecotourism territory, its morphology organizes the planning structure of the territory. The main theme shows the uniqueness of the territory, highlighting the most striking natural and cultural-historical features, translates the model of harmonious relations between human and nature that has developed on this basis. The information should be properly structured and well-organized system to strengthen the informational influence on visitors. The conceptual basis for modeling the content (main subject) of the visit center is the model of the social field of P. Bourdieu. According to P. Bourdieu’s social field, the social space is considered as a topology divided into a number of elements-fields that owe their structure to the uneven distribution of individual types of capital. The capital of the ecological social field is the cultural models of the harmonious coexistence of human and nature. The impact of eco-educational institutions in the ecological social field depends on the size of the cultural capital belonging to them and the internal scheme of perception of the cultural model (habitus). The social resource and the internal attitudes of visitors structure the social space. As a result of the research, the author proposes a conceptual model of the environmental education system to strengthen the influence of the ecological field. Its essence is that the content of the information of the visitor center (the main subject) should correspond to the place of its localization-the field of influence of the visitor center on visitors.

Microclimatic Effects on the Preservation of Finds in the Visitor Centre of the Archaeological Site 1a Imperial Palace Sirmium

When an archaeological site is roofed over for the better display of the finds and more comfortable experience of the audience, the intervention undoubtedly changes the microclimatic conditions in the site. Although sudden changes in microclimatic factors are known to damage and/or destroy archaeological finds, their impact and its analysis are neglected in Serbia. There is no continuous monitoring and control of microclimatic conditions or their impact on architectural remains in archaeological sites. Accordingly, the values of microclimatic parameters of temperature and relative humidity and their daily oscillations are examined in this paper through microclimatic monitoring in the Visitor Center of the Archaeological Site 1a Imperial Palace Sirmium, which is a cultural asset of exceptional importance. Moreover, microbiological analyses determine the degree of contamination of architectural findings. The aim of this paper is to determine whether the microclimatic regime in the Visitor Center of the Archaeological Site 1a Imperial Palace Sirmium is in accordance with European standards and recommendations on optimal microclimatic conditions for the presentation and preservation of cultural heritage collections. The findings showed that during the phase of microclimatic monitoring (February–April 2021), air humidity was almost constantly above the levels set by standards and recommendations for museum collections (>60%). The highest levels of air humidity, amounting to 93%, were recorded in February, with daily oscillations of up to 30%; the lowest recorded temperature was 0.3 °C, with the maximum daily oscillations of 6 °C. Microbiological analysis revealed great diversity in the deterioration level of the finds, which can be attributed to the time lapse between the last conservation and the present. The comparative analysis of the results of microclimatic monitoring and microbiological analysis identified high levels of relative air humidity as the dominant factor in the increased microbiological contamination of the finds. It is also concluded that the continuous monitoring of the microclimatic parameters of temperature and relative humidity during the usage of the facility is necessary so as to enable sustainable presentation and preservation of findings.

Moving Target: Mythopoeia and Meaning in a British Music Emblem

ABSTRACT This article considers the symbol of the Royal Air Force (RAF) roundel as the current emblem of British pop music, as adopted by the British Music Experience, a branded heritage visitor center. The article works backwards through denotations and connotations of the roundel, identifying where meanings and associations have been picked up (or abandoned) through time. The roundel and its resilient meaningfulness are tracked through various regimes of mod culture around the complex and extended career of the band the Who, high-street fashion of the Swinging Sixties, Peter Blake’s pop art and the wider postwar art scenes, and British fairground art. In doing this I put forward the idea of the roundel as the first iconographic intervention in popular music. The article illustrates how events in popular-music history can elude specific detail in a battle of competing mythologies, with music consumers adopting and assigning their own meanings and histories.

112 A Geographical Analysis of Access to Trauma Care From US National Parks in 2018

Each year there are millions of visits to US national parks, which result in the need for emergency medical services. Our objective was to determine the transit time from each US national park to the nearest emergency department (ED), adult advanced trauma center (ATC), and ED that receives telehealth services (TH), and the percentage of national parks by US region that had timely access (<60 minutes) to each type of ED. The address of the main visitor center at 61 US national parks open in 2018 was identified using information publicly available on nps.gov. ED-specific information was obtained using the 2018 National ED Inventory-USA database. Driving distance and time (on a typical Saturday at noon), and approximate air transport time from each national park to the nearest ED, ATC, and ED that receives TH was determined using ArcMap 10.3 and Google Maps. In the West, 5 national parks not accessible by road were excluded from drive time calculations. We determined the median and interquartile range (IQR) of travel time and percentage of national parks in each US region that had a transit time of <60 minutes by ground or air to each type of ED. Overall, 79% of US national parks had timely access (<60 minutes) by ground transit to an ED, 24% had access to an ATC, and 59% had access to an ED that receives TH. By air, 97% of national parks had timely access to an ED, 85% had access to an ATC, and 52% had access to an ED that receives TH. National parks are unequally distributed in the US, with only 1 in the East, versus 42 in the West. The median transit time to each type of ED varied regionally, with the longest ground and air transit times in the West for all types of EDs. Of the 61 US national parks analyzed, most had access to an ED in <60 min by ground or air. Regional differences were observed, with greater access in the Northeast, Midwest, and South regions compared to the West region for all types of EDs. To address regional disparities in timely access to trauma care, we encourage increased adoption of ED telehealth with an emphasis on advanced trauma care.

Does Music Affect Visitors’ Choices for the Management and Conservation of Ecosystem Services?

Psychological research has long demonstrated that preferences can be influenced by stimuli coming from the environment. Music, as an external stimulus influencing people behaviours, purchasing processes and spending, has been widely analysed in consumer behaviour and marketing literature. Here, we focus on the effect of music genres on preferences and willingness to pay for selected ecosystem services of a Nature Park when they are elicited with a Discrete Choice Experiment. This aspect is important in non-market valuation because music can represent an element of context-dependence for the assessment of individual choices, so that the assumption of preference stability does not hold, and welfare estimates may be biased. The results of a generalized mixed logit model evidenced a significant effect of music on preferences. If elicited preferences depend on the context on which the survey is implemented, wrong information to decision makers is provided when the choice context is altered by an uncontrolled external stimulus. This result is particularly important for applied researchers and policy makers. First, the use of protocols and guidelines that instruct respondents about the ambient background when answering a questionnaire is highly recommended, particularly for online surveys. Second, specific genres of music should be used in educational and ecosystem services conservation campaigns and also piped in visitor centres and virtual tours to encourage nature conservation and improve visitors’ sensitiveness for the environment.

The Ammonite Tirolites idrianus – A Paleontological Icon of the Idrija UNESCO Global Geopark (Slovenia)

Idrija UNECO Global Geopark embraces the area of Idrija Municipality in the western part of Slovenia, with an area of 294 km2. Its main town Idrija, with a famous mercury ore deposit beneath, has always been a home to several European naturalists, who explored natural features, plants, animals and fossils of the area since the beginning of mining in 1490. The ammonite Tirolites idrianus is one of the most important fossils finds in the area of the Idrija Geopark. It is named after Idrija and is an index fossil. This review focuses on the ammonite Tirolites idrianus, its type locality and stratigraphic distribution in the area of the Idrija Geopark. We also discuss means of interpreting the value and importance of this fossil to various groups of visitors, such as school groups, and groups of visitors in the Visitor Centre.