Water in Descriptions of Global Geoparks: Not Less Important than Geology?

Abstract

Water is an important landscape element of protected areas, but its significance to geoparks (parks representing geological heritage) is still unclear. The content of the official, standardized descriptions of the UNESCO global geoparks (144 in total) was analyzed in order to understand the consideration of water by geopark creators/managers. It was found that water objects (seas/oceans, rivers, and lakes are most common) are mentioned in 55% of these descriptions, and 47% of the latter bear photos of water objects. Moreover, water is generally strongly related to geological heritage (in 80% of cases). These findings imply a significant attention to hydrodiversity in geoparks (apparently, official descriptions reflect global geopark practice and intentions). This attention does not differ between Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. It has increased in the 2010s relatively to the 2000s. The registered consideration of water in geoparks can be explained differently, and one plausible hypothesis links it to an increasing willingness of geopark creators/managers to demonstrate the natural integrity of geological heritage landscapes. Such attention to water is suitable to deliver the knowledge of this integrity to tourists, but it increases the risks of visitor distraction from geological heritage, shifting to easy-to-understand and beautiful water objects.

Classification of the Effort Index and Biomechanical Overload in Natural Trails of UNESCO Global Geoparks—A Network Perspective of Trails of the Araripe UGG (NE Brazil)

“…In order to consider aquatic diversity, we follow the classification as indicators considering the potential salutogenic effects of water access in different representations in Table 1 [ 12 , 13 , 19 , 115 , 116 , 117 ].…”

Global geodiversity components are not equally represented in UNESCO Global Geoparks

“…The hydrological diversity is slightly lower in UGGs compared to areas outside. Ruban [ 78 ] analysed the official descriptions of 144 UGGs in order to understand the involvement of water by geopark creators/managers, and found that only 55% mention water, with 47% of those showing photographs of water objects, mainly to stress the aesthetic value. Our analyses suggests that the low hydrological diversity in UGGs can be explained by the overrepresentation of UGGs in mountains, as the hydrology in mountainous areas often consists of small and fragmented streams.…”

“…based on high-resolution LiDAR campaigns such as those from the GEDI mission [ 89 ], can also advance the quantification of geodiversity metrics at fine resolutions over a large spatial extent, for example by allowing better detection of first-order streams in mountains which are underrepresented in the currently available HydroSheds dataset [ 90 ]. Additional information on artificial dams, drainage and irrigation channels [ 77 , 91 , 92 ] or groundwater, springs, wetlands and other ‘water-related’ geofeatures could be relevant to include for capturing hydrological diversity globally and within UGGs [ 78 ].…”

Além do Turismo de Sol e Praia: Uma Proposta de Roteiro Geoturístico para o Município de São João da Barra, RJ

“…A cidade também conta com o desfile de Natal e com a tradicional Folia de Reis. Ruban (2019), a água é um elemento importante para a paisagem numa área de geoparque, este ressalta que as atividades turísticas nessas áreas podem levar à sua poluição. O município também explota o aquífero Emborê, principal aquífero do estado do Rio de Janeiro em termos de vazão e qualidade da água (Correia et al, 2016).…”