This study examines the geoheritage of the Malwa region in Punjab, India, identifying and evaluating potential sites based on their sceintific, educational, economic, cultural, and touristic significance. Through comprehensive mapping and quantitative assessment methodologies, this research categorizes these sites into high, medium, and low priority, highlighting high-priority locations are crucial for immediate conservation efforts. A zonation map was developed to spatially delineate areas with high potential for heritage development, providing a strategic framework for planning and decision-making processes. This study emphasizes the importance of community engagement and policy development in safeguarding and promoting geoheritage sites. By integrating local perspectives and scientific insights, this research advocates for sustainable management practices that ensure the preservation and appreciation of these invaluable assets. Our findings contribute to ongoing geoheritage conservation efforts, thereby offering a replicable model for other regions seeking to protect their cultural and natural legacies amidst global challenges.

The subject of weather extremes, some climate-induced, cannot be wished away. Every economic sector is vulnerable, including nature-based tourism associated with national parks. This paper seeks to establish perceptions and experiences of park managers regarding what they consider to be the most prevalent weather extremes and their impacts on South African national parks. It also aims to determine response strategies adopted to minimise damage from such weather extremes across the six biomes covered by 13 parks studied. Data were generated from 61 middle- and top-level management, with extensive training and experience, and analysed using ATLAS.ti version 23 software. It emerged that certain climate-induced weather extremes were prevalent in specific biomes and national parks. Droughts, extreme heat, floods, and wildfires emerged as the topmost recurring, with strong winds, extreme cold and frost, hailstorms, high tides, and severe storms reported. Floods caused infrastructure damage, especially to roads, bridges, water pumps, camps, and electricity supply. Some flora and fauna species were declining due to droughts and wildfires. There were reports of bad flowering seasons, reduced water for waterfalls, and declining snow, which were key tourist attractions in some parks. Extreme heat was associated with staff and tourist fatigue, reduced tourist visits, penguin chick mortality, and bird species migration. Overall, parks were losing income. Park management responded by building back better infrastructure, creating fire breaks, drilling boreholes, adopting solar and green building, instituting water conservation measures, having a rehabilitation programme for erosion, instituting early warning systems, and changing staff work schedules. The study provides a picture of park managers' perceptions of weather extremes, environmental and socio-economic problems resulting from such, and strategies adopted to combat them.

This research seeks to analyse scientific literature pertaining to Caminhos dos Cânions do Sul UNESCO Global Geopark (CCSUGGp) from 2007 to August 2024. The investigation involved searches utilizing the following keywords: “Geopark Caminhos dos Cânions do Sul,” “Geoparque Caminhos dos Cânions do Sul,” and “Southern Canyons Pathways.” The databases accessed for this purpose included Google Scholar, Scielo, Scopus, Web of Science, Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, Spell, and Oasis/IBICT. A total of 198 works were documented, and through the application of the established inclusion and exclusion criteria, 29 scientific articles were identified and examined in both national (Brazilian) and international journals that conducted direct research within the CCSUGGp. A significant portion of the articles emphasized geosciences, while geotourism and education were addressed subsequently. An increase in scholarly works was observed following the international acknowledgment of the region. The municipalities within Santa Catarina State have become pivotal centres for research endeavours. Although this newly established model of territorial management in Brazil is relatively recent, the UNESCO Global Geopark demonstrates considerable potential for scientific inquiry.

Geopark Ranah Minang Silokek holds unique and diverse geodiversity, encompassing geomorphology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, tectonic, structural geology, and complex geological history. This area promises potential to be recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark, with a geological rock spanning Pre-Tertiary and Neogene epochs. The study focused on assessing 14 prominent geosites to quantitatively evaluate their geological significance, potential educational value, touristic value, degradation risks, and intrinsic values. The study's main goal was to globally promote the area's rich geoheritage among the public and geoscientists. Results from this assessment categorized Geopark Ranah Minang Silokek within the moderate-high value range, with the Silokek Karst Complex and Granit of Sangkiamo identified as high-value geosites. Our study identified that there were 5 geological phases that could be studied and observed in the Geopark Ranah Minang Silokek. The findings underscored the geopark's potential for educational and tourism purposes, highlighting its suitability as a pioneering geo-education site and earth science field laboratory in Sumatra, Indonesia. This study also highlighted future initiatives which would include designing geotourism activities and educational programs within Geopark Ranah Minang Silokek and beyond.

Natural and anthropogenic processes may deteriorate the integrity of geotourism resources. Thus, one of the top concerns in developing geoconservation measures is determining how risky geosites are for degradation. Although studies have made significant contributions to the literature, they also introduce a fundamental problem of objectivity. In particular, evaluators continue to discuss the objectivity problem caused by hesitant, uncertain, and ambiguous information while evaluating geosites. This study quantifies the risk of degradation of geosites using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques integrated into fuzzy environments. For this purpose, we used multi attributive ideal-real comparative analysis (MAIRCA) methods based on spherical fuzzy environments in addition to the level based weight assessment (LBWA) technique. We tested this proposed methodology as a case study on twenty geosites selected from the Kula-Salihli UNESCO Global Geopark (KSUGGp) in Türkiye. According to the analysis, we observed significant differences between traditional geosite evaluation approaches and the proposed approach in weighting the criteria and ranking the risk levels of geosites. We expect the proposed approach to make a methodological contribution that can form the basis for the geosite evaluation literature.

The influence of mining activity in the northwestern Andes of Colombia is evident in the creation and development of various settlements, such as La Ferrería village in the municipality of Amagá, in the formation of the working-class culture, and in the shaping of the region's natural and social structures. This study explored the potential for mining tourism in La Ferrería, as a strategy to diversify the local economy and preserve mining heritage. Through surveys of local communities, interviews, and the analysis of historical documents, information was gathered regarding community perceptions, the condition of mining heritage, and opportunities for mining tourism development as a specialized form of geotourism for the region. The results indicated significant potential for mining tourism development, but challenges related to heritage conservation, infrastructure, and training were also identified. It is concluded that mining tourism can be an effective tool for the economic and social revitalization of the southwestern Antioquia region, specifically La Ferrería village, provided that an integrated management plan is implemented, which involves the local community and addresses environmental and social challenges.

Smart tourism planning and management emerges as a fundamental pillar for the sustainable development of tourist destinations. In this context, the aim of this research is to deepen the knowledge of tourism in the Cabo Ortegal UNESCO Global Geopark, specifically in relation to the profile of visitors, tourism demand and the potential for implementing a tourism intelligence network in the territory. The methodology used for its achievement is mixed, as it employs quantitative and qualitative techniques, using surveys, in-depth interviews, applications of digital tools, and a content study. The results are a novel and original contribution to the territory with the identification of the visitors' profiles of San Andrés de Teixido and their behaviour within the geopark. In turn, the creation of a data collection model for the tourist office of Cedeira allows to iniciate a network of intelligence and knowledge between the municipalities of the geopark.

Accessibility is an important property of geosites that is essential to their conservation and exploitation. Although many previous researchers took it into account, its full complexity is yet to be realized. Three large geosites in the valley of the Belaya River in the western Greater Caucasus were visited regularly for about a quarter of a century. In this study, the outer and inner accessibility of each considered geosite was assessed semi-quantitatively for five time slices of the 2001-2024 time span. The outer accessibility was examined for each entrance to the geosites, and the inner accessibility was examined for each principal functional zone of the geosites. The results revealed differences of the outer accessibility between the entrances of the same geosites and the inner accessibility between the functional zones of the same geosites. Moreover, it was found that the outer and inner accessibility could increase and decrease through time, and the above-mentioned spatial differences within geosites could also change. A proximity to settlements and tourism growth were among the main factors of the reported spatiotemporal dynamics. The outcomes of this study stressed the need for a much deeper understanding of such geosite properties as accessibility.

The impact of poorly managed tourism activities could undermine the global geodiversity of an area. To avoid this, the formulation of geoconservation strategies by identifying geosensitivity is necessary. The Darjeeling Hill region is characterized by a rich geodiversity and is facing severe threats with increasing tourism and depleting physical as well as cultural landscape. The main aim of this paper is to identify the geodiversity threats in this hill region by applying an integrated method of geosensitivity index (SI) based on geodiversity index (GI) and threat index (TI) which would be useful for the formulation of regional geoconservation strategies. The GI has been calculated using the sum of four sub-indices: geological diversity, geomorphological diversity, pedological diversity, and hydrological diversity, whereas the TI is based upon the summation of three sub-indices: land protection index, degradation index, and land use index. In the study area, five zones of geosensitivity have been demarcated: very high (8%), high (11%), moderate (20%), low (28%), and very low (33%). The finding identifies the geoconservation necessities using the calculated and mapped association between landslide intensity and geosensitive zones. It indicates that geosites like Giddhapahar, Paglajhora waterfall, Bokshi waterfall, Kaljhani cave, etc. within the very high and high geosensitive zones need the geodiversity protection through appropriate territorial geoconservation planning.