Geodiversity and valorization of abiotic objects in the Tuchola Forest Biosphere Reserve (N Poland)

The area of the Tuchola Forest Biosphere Reserve (TFBR) is unique, both in terms of landscape and nature. It is constitutes one of the largest forest complexes in the northern part of Poland, which belongs to the plains of Central Europe. It is situated in the postglacial area within the range of the Weichselian glaciation (Last Glaciation, Vistulian).  The study aims to provide a qualitative assessment of geodiversity by evaluation of abiotic nature objects. The geotourist evaluation of the geosites in TFBR has been conducted on the basis of the criteria proposed by Dmytrowski and Kicińska with modifications by authors. The geotouristic evaluation of 32 geosites, including mining heritage, petrological, sedimentological, geomorphological  as well as hydrological and hydrogeological sites, located in the area of Tuchola Forest Biosphere Reserve (TFBR). The evaluated geosites represent both perfect examples of typical features for the physiography of the TFBR as a young glacial landscape and values proving the uniqueness of the area on both regional and international scale. The authors proposed geosites that require improving their accessibility to enhance the geotourist attractiveness, recognized the necessity of marking out geotourist trails in the most attractive and diversified areas, and noticed the influence of extreme weather phenomena (whirwinds) on changes in geotourist attractiveness of some geosites. It is believed that the results of the conducted evaluation may favorably affect the importance, position and publicity of the whole area by supplementing the well-recognized biodiversity with geodiversity presented in the study.