Geodiversity, geosites and the assessment of abiotic ecosystem services: preliminary results from Magma and Sesia Val Grande UNESCO Global Geoparks

During last 20 years there has been an increasing interest on environmental issues related to sustainable use of natural resources, and solutions adopted are often linked to performing ecosystem services analysis and finding indicators for biodiversity assessment. However, while the biotic aspect of nature has been deeply explored and discussed among the scientific community, the abiotic side didn’t get the same attention.

Only recently, Geodiversity assessments have acquired scientific attention and specific ecosystem services have been discussed in connection with abiotic nature. Anyhow, at present, the general knowledge about abiotic indicators and their role for the society hasn’t been assessed, especially in the contest of UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Through their management strategies UNESCO Global Geoparks are playing an important role in understanding and valorizing the geological heritage; however the tools presently available for the managers are insufficient both for an appropriate geosite´s selection and a standardized description taking into consideration the whole aspects involved in the diversity of nature.

A PhD research at the H2020 Marie Curie Tech4Culture doctoral school focused on detection of common systematization of data and on developing provisional indicators for analyses of geodiversity and geosites in two UNESCO Global Geoparks, Magma Geopark in Norway and Sesia Val Grande in Italy. A database for geosite registration was created as a tool for geopark´s manager, supporting them in choosing, monitoring, and developing the geosite, before and after obtaining the designation within the UNESCO Global Geoparks initiative.

The central part of the research analysed the scientific baseline regarding biotic and abiotic ecosystem services and their assessmemt. The methodology for the development of abiotic ecosystem indicators followed and adapted the Biodiversity Indicators Development Framework. Four geosites have been selected for this research phase. The analysis of the geological processes influencing different abiotic ecosystem services (during the Anthropocene time interval) and their connection within the spatial dimension of the geosite and its buffer zone, supported the development of variables and provisional indicators for abiotic nature. Through the attribution of specific values and a common scale the four geosite have been assessed for all the 25 abiotic ecosystem services proposed by Gray (2013).

Outcomes of this PhD research thesis offers contributions to the effective recognition of the value of geodiversity within nature protection and sustainability issues and shows the need for abiotic ecosystem service assessment methodology for developing accurate management strategies in UNESCO Global Geoparks.