Geoparks: Celebrating Earth heritage, sustaining local communities

For too long Earth Science has been the poor relative to Natural Sciences when it comes to conservation, preservation and public promotion. Today, however, in 25 territories across Europe, a combination of Earth Scientists, economists, professional marketers and local people are working together to promote the geological heritage of their areas. These European Geoparks not only advance the protection of their geological heritage but they also use it, in a truly sustainable way, to promote the economic well-being of the people who live there. With the full endorsement of UNESCO, this concept of geoparks is spreading to other parts of the world and is rapidly developing into a global concept. This article looks in detail at the geopark idea - exactly what geoparks are, how they function, and what benefits they can bring both to geology and to the public.