Abstract Geoheritage is recognized globally as a critical concept that celebrates unique geological sites, their history and scientific value, educational potential and geotourism opportunities. Importantly, geoheritage encompasses a wide range of geodiversity, which exists in a variety of scales – from local outcrops to internationally recognized UNESCO sites – and within a continuum of scientific value, historical merit, indigenous meaning, educational potential and geotourism possibilities. We celebrate a selected example of geoheritage sites across the world that have been noticed, recognized and utilized. The breadth and geodiversity of some of these sites indicate we should broaden our geoheritage definition and include historical collections and largely inaccessible sites. Notably, all geoscientists and educators must remain diligent to ensure the sustainability of these sites so that future generations can enjoy our geological and cultural heritage.

Abstract Sites of geological relevance in East Portland are representative of the geological history of Jamaica and are important to elucidate Caribbean geotectonic evolution. Geological significance overlaps with natural and cultural heritage of international relevance, especially related to Maroon communities. In this region, the Jamaican highest peak rises steeply from sea level; the ocean is the focus of important conservation efforts. This study employs an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore place attachment as experienced by East Portland residents. We engaged in conversations with 16 diverse community members through interviews and a focus group. Two dimensions of place attachment emerged: place identity and place dependence, showing that East Portland is home to people who depend on, identify with and are committed to protecting nature. We present an approach to mapping place attachment, which resulted in an important tool of analysis when overlapping with layers of information like geoheritage. The geological significance, natural and cultural richness and the connections the locals have with nature make East Portland an ideal prototype for geoconservation. This study also reveals that attachment to a place does not necessarily correspond to attachment to geoscientific significance; for common meanings to emerge, geoscientists and locals must collaborate.

Abstract Geoparks and the valorization of sites with a strong geoheritage component is a new frontier for sustainable tourism. A UNESCO special recognition was established in 2015, and much work has been undertaken in establishing sites in Europe and Asia, yet only five localities have been recognized by UNESCO in North America. This paper discusses three sites relevant to geoheritage – Pulpit Rock in Massachusetts, Montmorency Falls in Quebec and Niagara Falls in New York and Ontario – which were visited in 1863 by the newly appointed professor of geology at Bologna University, Giovanni Capellini. During his four-month journey across northeastern North America, he made sketches, took notes and collected more than 2000 specimens that together provide a depth of perspective on the importance of the geoheritage of the sites he visited. We chose these sites, among the many visited by Capellini, because Niagara Falls is now seeking UNESCO recognition, and the other two, though no longer fully accessible, remain important tourist sites and areas of geological interest.

Abstract The cliffs and foreshore at Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast expose a sequence of Early Jurassic marine limestones and mudstones of the Blue Lias Formation and the overlying Charmouth Mudstone Formation, the lowest units of the Hettangian–Aalenian Lias Group. Known for its fossils since at least the mid-seventeenth century, this coastal section became famous in the early nineteenth century for the bones of ‘fossil crocodiles’. Many of the most significant discoveries were made by a family of fossil dealers whose best-known member was Mary Anning (1799–1847). Anning and her family recovered the first scientifically described ichthyosaurs, the first complete plesiosaur and the first British pterosaur to be identified. Anning's finds from Lyme Regis formed the basis of the pioneering palaeoenvironmental reconstruction Duria antiquior . Her geologist friends, some with close personal associations to the town, did much to publicize her discoveries and contribute to both her fame and that of the locality. This famous coastal section, with its important historical associations with a key period in the development of geology and the source of so many significant discoveries in the early nineteenth century, now lies within the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Abstract Wadi Al-Hitan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Western Desert of Egypt famous for the fossils it has produced, including some of the most complete skulls and skeletons of Eocene whales known anywhere in the world. Most are from the early part of the late Eocene epoch of Earth history and lived in the Tethys Sea some 38 to 36 million years before present. Basilosaurus isis and Dorudon atrox are the most abundant and best known of the archaic whales. Sea cow skeletons are present as well, as are bones or teeth of a bird, crocodiles, turtles, bony fishes, and a diversity of sharks and rays. The fossils are preserved in sedimentary strata that accumulated as sea level rose and fell, producing a succession of nearshore marine environments. Rocks exposed at the surface, now dissected by erosion, enable study of stratigraphic sequences and their architecture. Taken together, the fossil-and-strata geoheritage of Wadi Al-Hitan has exceptional value for science and for public education.

Abstract The main Karoo Basin of South Africa and Lesotho preserves c. 120 myr of Earth's history. The sedimentary rocks of its Karoo Supergroup record massive environmental changes from the glacial Carboniferous to desert dunes and fiery flood basalts in the Early Jurassic. From the early Permian, the Karoo Basin was gradually filled with fluvial and lacustrine deposits, and the alluvial plains were successively colonized by a diverse suite of plants and animals. The fossils of these ancient inhabitants and their behavioural traces form an astounding Gondwanan geoheritage legacy in southern Africa, providing fossil evidence for the moving lithospheric plates and the effects of four mass extinctions and their subsequent biotic recovery. Here, we present six Karoo sites of global geoscientific importance that best display that heritage, with the caveat that these sites only touch upon the Karoo riches that are available for academic research and the emerging palaeotourism industry. It is our hope that these sites will become anchor points for a sustainable geoheritage future in southern Africa.

Abstract While Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, is most famous for its impressive and formative record of early human technology, Pleistocene fauna and hominin fossils, its geological record is equally important. At Olduvai, palaeoanthropologically significant sites are often preserved in primary context (not redeposited), and they can be contextualized within the palaeoenvironments in which the hominins lived. This has provided an exceptional opportunity to assess not only hominin evolutionary changes over time, but also to understand their adaptive behaviour including toolmaking, foraging and sociality. Abundant volcanic material from the nearby Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands, interspersed within and between archaeology-bearing deposits, made Olduvai a target for some of the earliest applications of radiometric dating using the K/Ar system. Ultimately, the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating system has produced ages with exceptional precision. Early radiometric dating at Olduvai helped establish the antiquity of the hominin lineage, and early palaeomagnetic studies (and the ‘Olduvai event,’ the longest normal subchron within the reversed Matuyama Chron) were critical in establishing the importance of Olduvai in the field of geochronology. More recently, high-resolution palaeoclimate studies of the palaeolake that once occupied the Olduvai Basin have helped to reconstruct the palaeoenvironments encountered by hominin species. Over a century of geological research has secured Olduvai's status as an important site for geoheritage.

Abstract Geodiversity and geosite assessments precede geoheritage and geotourism utilization. The process first determines the geodiversity value of an area (based on geoscientific attributions) and then the geotourism potential of the available sites. As a result, significant geosites can be identified, which are the bases for protection and tourism. During geosite assessment, scientific and infrastructural aspects are essential because spectacular sites and landscapes carrying intrinsic or visible values generate interest among tourists and professionals. In this study, a quantitative workflow to determine the geodiversity index over an area, evaluate geosites and monitor significant ones is presented. The study area is the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, where no quantitative assessment was conducted previously. A GIS-based geodiversity analysis identified the most diverse areas which gave the basis for the geosite assessment done in a ‘geodiverse’ subregion of the geopark. The most important nine of the 75 identified potential geosites were chosen to examine the spatial variance of the assessment. By continuous monitoring, we got an image of what the visitors liked or did not like there. In this way, we were able to monitor the various opinions of geotourists to present unique development strategies for each of them. A connection between the location of geosites and the spatial distribution of geodiversity values was also determined by analysing and visualizing the connection between geodiversity and geosite assessment results.

Abstract The paper documents the process of proclaiming International Geodiversity Day as a grassroots initiative of the Earth science community for the benefit of our present civilization and for future generations. The huge support that this initiative has gained among scientists around the world has contributed to the rapid circulation of documents necessary to establish an international day at the UNESCO Forum. The paper presents the timeline of this process of proclaiming International Geodiversity Day, its implications and the course of the first celebrations in 2022.