Abstract

Keyword

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Geotourism development and Geoheritage assessment in context of India

۳٫ Description of the Geoheritage sites of Puruliya district, West Bengal (India)

۴٫ Method of Assessment

۵٫ Result and discussion

۶٫ Conclusion

Funding agency

Acknowledgement

References

Abstract

Exploration of geoheritage sites is a new venture in tourism studies. The objective of the study is centred around the Geoheritage site conservation for geological and geomorphological interpretation and introduction of Geotourism involving the local people in Puruliya district. The main litho-unit of Puruliya district belongs to Chhotanagpur Granite Gneissic Complex of Archean era. Nine geological/geomorphological important sites are chosen for assessing their geoheritage values and analysing the Geotourism potential. A modified model of Kubalikova (2013) is adopted for the evaluation of the selected nine important sites, where five important criteria i.e. scientific (intrinsic) values, educational values, economical values, conservation values and added (cultural, ecological and aesthetic) values are considered. The result reveals that sites like Durgabera dam, Bhanratongri hill, Garpanchakot and Jaychandi hill can be assumed as top potential Geotourism site occupying highest geoheritage values, whereas Jabar hill, Poradih hill and Tamakhun old mine are quite low in the context of Geoheritage values. Based on the result, few strategies are suggested which can help to develop Geotourism in the study area and raise awareness about the geoheritage values among the students, general visitors and the local residents of the area.

۱٫ Introduction

Geoheritage and geoconservation are two conceptions deal with the protection and conservation of earth science features. It concerns with rock monuments, fossil parks, geological marvels/features, geomorphological landforms. In a broader sense, geoheritage also includes cultural sites (such as mining sites)/archaeological sites (made of stones) that have an integrated value in response to a particular region. Preservation of natural heritage and associated cultural values to education, interpretation and entertainment is the main aim of Geotourism (Gordon, 2018). Therefore, a link can be established between the two notions Geotourism and Geoheritage. According to Hose and Vasiljević (۲۰۱۲) Geotourism can be defined as “the provision of interpretative and service facilities for geoheritage sites and geomorphosites and their encompassing topography, together with their associated in situ and ex situ artefacts, to constituency-build for their conservation by generating appreciation, learning and research by and for current and future generations” (Antić & Tomić, ۲۰۱۷; Hose, 2012; Kubalíková, ۲۰۱۳). Though it is a widely accepted definition of Geotourism concept, the scope of the concept in this definition has remained narrow in sense. Dowling (2013) truly remarked that “Geotourism is a form of sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing the earth’s geological features in a way that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation, and is locally beneficial”. According to Panizza (2009), all the physical attributes over the earth surface, for example, a gorge, a mountain peak, a sea cliff have some kind of cultural values as it belongs to the certain cultural territory. Sometimes the natural heritage sites also become the sacred place for human being and is regarded an important element for geo-cultural understanding. Landscape often considers as a component of expressing architectural design, literature, poems, paintings and so on (Lindberg et al., 1997). So in this context, landscapes (including both geological and geomophological landforms/features) can be considered as a cultural component which not only posses scientific and aesthetic value but also bears an immense cultural value. All these aspects incorporate within the concept of ‘Geoheritage’ for sake of geoconservation of the territorial resources. Geotourism helps to identify the geoheritage resources and try to use for sustainable economic development with active participation of the local community.