Geotourism between opportunity and threat: a new methodology for geosites assessessment and sustainable management strategies

Geodiversity and geoheritage face increasing pressures from both natural and anthropogenic threats, including inadequate site management, the cumulative effects of infrastructure development, and natural erosion. Geotourism, if not strategically managed, may pose significant threats to geoheritage. However, when properly planned, it plays a crucial role in fostering local sustainable development, increasing the visibility of geoheritage, and promoting geoconservation awareness.

In this context, we present a methodology designed to support the development of strategies for the sustainable management of geosites as tourism resource, ensuring their protection while enhancing their scientific and cultural value. The methodology consists of three main phases and is particularly suitable for territories aiming to strengthen their geotourism strategies or valorize their geoheritage, including geoparks, aspiring geoparks, Key Geoheritage Areas (KGA), and protected areas.

The first phase includes a qualitative assessment of Touristic Potential (TP), aimed at identifying geosites with the greatest potential to be used as tourism destinations of an area. The TP assessment is based on four qualitative criteria: scenery, observation conditions, interpretative potential, and accessibility. The second phase focuses on the identification and evaluation of threats to geoheritage at the geopark scale through a risk assessment matrix, which supports the prioritization of management actions. Finally, the third phase introduces a user-friendly Degradation Risk (DR) assessment tool, developed considering existing methodologies and structured around four core components: sensitivity (SS; 3 criteria), visitor pressure (VP; 5 criteria), protection measures (PM; 3 criteria), and magnitude of loss (ML; 1 criterion). Each criterion is evaluated using a point-based system, and the total DR score is calculated using the formula:

DR = (SS + VP + PM) × ML.

This methodology was tested in the Beigua UNESCO Global Geopark (NW Italy), an area characterized by high geodiversity and contrasting patterns of tourist pressure between the coastal watershed and inland sectors. The application of this methodology first enabled the identification of geosites with high touristic potential; subsequently, a targeted assessment was carried out on the ten most frequently visited geosites to evaluate the method under conditions of higher visitor pressure. The results highlighted the main threats affecting the geopark’s geoheritage as well as the varying degrees of degradation risk among geosites. Moreover, the interpretation of results allowed the identification of the components that mostly contribute to the total DR and the most appropriate management strategies for each site, supporting the development of a sustainable geotourism model tailored to local needs. This integrative method can serve as a practical and flexible tool, ensuring that geotourism becomes a driver for territorial development and geological literacy rather than a threat to geoheritage.