Recent State Policy and Its Impact on Geopark Establishment and Operation in Slovakia

Abstract

The geological evolution and structure of the territory of Slovakia plays a key role in the current geodiversity of the country. The importance of this key element of the environment is widely and most effectively represented in geoparks. This paper is devoted to the state policy of geopark establishment and operation in Slovakia. Despite the relatively well-established concept of geoparks in the world, its position is not entirely clear in Slovak legislation. So, both bottom-up initiatives and top-down strategies are not quite successful in geopark operations, especially when considering the sustainability of Slovak geoparks. The possible future position of geoparks in Slovakia, in terms of state policies, may be found (as discussed in this paper) in adopting specific legislation which will effectively support the development of these potential (geo)tourist areas, contributing to both sustainable tourism development and nature protection.

Geoheritage Resources in Polish Landscape Parks as a Basis for Developing a Network of Geoparks

“…It should be stressed once again that the term 'geopark' does not exist in the Polish legal system. A similar situation occurs, for example, in Slovakia [52]. Hence relying on the existing landscape park infrastructure and brand could be helpful in the first stage of efforts on the successive establishment of geoparks in Poland.…”

Geoheritage of the Precious Opal Bearing Zone in Libanka Mining District (Slovakia) and Its Geotourism and Geoeducation Potential

“…The mining district of Libanka, as a part of the Dubnik Opal Mines and its wider area, together with Saltworks in Prešov, is part of the area with the potential to become a geopark (Figure 10), as mentioned in the Update of the Concept of geoparks in the Slovak Republic, an official document adopted by the Slovak government [20,42].…”

“…The mining district of Libanka, as a part of the Dubnik Opal Mines and its wider area, together with Saltworks in Prešov, is part of the area with the potential to become a geopark (Figure 10), as mentioned in the Update of the Concept of geoparks in the Slovak Republic, an official document adopted by the Slovak government [20,42]. The need for information on geological heritage and its interpretation is, therefore, even higher, as it could play an important role in geoeducating the general public as well as students in geosciences with the proper interpretation tools selected.…”

Prospect and Challenges With Penta Helix Model for Unesco Global Geopark and Local Economic Development: A Lesson From Indonesia

“…A bottom-up procedure involving all necessary local and regional partners creates geoparks, including local authorities such as community groups, tourism service providers, indigenous peoples, local organizations (Lukáč et al, 2021). Furthermore, Geoparks also need to empower local communities through cohesive partnership activities to promote important geological processes in the area such as features, periods, history related to geology, or extraordinary geological beauty (Dowling and Newsome, 2018).…”