An Essential Tool for Natural Heritage Management: The Geomorphological Map of Valderejo Natural Park

Abstract

This study supports the usefulness of geomorphological mapping as a tool for gaining an understanding of the landscape and assessing natural heritage. Mapping provides an essentially scientific document with great potential for the diffusion of geomorphological knowledge in that it provides a guide to the user of natural protected areas as well as serving as a tool for its management regarding geotourist itineraries, geodiversity, and geomorphosites. The example of the Valderejo Natural Park is presented, which is located in Álava (Spain) and whose geomorphology has been mapped following a methodology based on fieldwork, desktop work, and the use of Geographic Information Systems. The map's applications are presented in the areas of tourism, geotourist maps, and for the assessment of natural heritage, geodiversity, and geomorphosites.

Geodiversity Assessment as a First Step in Designating Areas of Geotourism Potential. Case Study: Western Carpathians

“…The authors share the opinion of many scientists (including Zwoliński et al, 2018) that geodiversity analysis using GIS analyses may play a significant role in forecasting a holistic and integrated ecosystem and geosystem services approach to support the sustainable management of natural systems, creating tourist (geotourist) products (e.g., Burlando et al, 2011;Velázquez et al, 2014;Vasiljević et al, 2018;Albani et al, 2020;Herrera-Franco et al, 2020) or conscious management of protected areas and geoheritage (e.g., Kirchner and Kubalíková, 2014;González-Amuchastegui and Serrano, 2018;Rypl et al, 2019;Carruana Herrera and Martínez Murillo, 2020;Štrba et al, 2020).…”

Editorial for Glacial and Geomorphological Cartography Special Issue

“…Besides having proved its usefulness in blue sky science, geomorphological mapping can provide applications for land management. One such application is highlighted by González-Amuchastegui and Serrano (2018) [8], who show how a basic geomorphological map can be used to define geo-heritage hotspots, propose geo-tourism routes and create visually pleasing dissemination materials, in order to manage and improve visitors' experiences in natural protected areas.…”