Current Research on Geomorphosites

Geomorphosites are landforms of special interest for society. Their recognition as such by increasingly larger sectors—including political, educational, tourism and nature conservation— is the result of a process of ‘heritage making’ in which different groups (Earth scientists, conservationists, tourism providers, etc.) are involved. The recognition of geological structures and geomorphological landforms as heritage, however, is relatively ancient (Reynard et al. 2011a), but over the last 20 years, or so, this view has been influenced by a renewed interest in Earth sciences sites led mainly by geoscientists. This new development necessitates conceptual and methodological improvements in various domains of the Earth sciences. In the field of geomorphology, it is the Working Group on Geomorphosites created by the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) at the 5th International Conference on Geomorphology held in Tokyo in 2001 that has acted as the principal arena for the development of a specific field of research on geomorphological heritage within the community of geomorphologists (for a review of the scientific production of the Working Group’s members, see Reynard and Coratza 2013).