Abstract
Geodiversity can be defined as either number of geological heritage types or qualitative characteristics of the
unique geological environment. Geodiversity can be used for the purposes of science, education, and tourism,
and, thus, this is a precious resource requiring efficient exploitation for production of socio-economic benefits.
Geoparks are ideal instruments of the geodiversity resource exploitation. Their efficacy on the international
scale is clear, but their role in countries is yet to be discussed. The assessment of the dominant geological
heritage types in all geoparks (members of the UNESCO Global Geoparks) of seven countries with their big
number (China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom) suggest that about a half of the
known types are represented in the geoparks of each of these countries. However, the exploitation of the
geodiversity resource on the national level is not full because some types are missed and those available differ by
the relative importance. It appears that the UNESCO Global Geopark network does not match the national
interests ideally (partly because the UNESCO initiative is not aimed at the national level by definition). It is
recommended that countries should develop their own policy of efficient geodiversity resource exploitation via
geopark creation. As much geological heritage types as possible should be represented in geoparks, and the very
ideas of geodiversity and geoparks should be promoted actively among the broad public and the policy-makers.
Description
effiziente Nutzung von Geodiversität, Beitrag von Geoparks, Verbesserungsvorschläge
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