Methodology for a Moroccan inventory and assessment of geological sites: a proposal to be applied in other African regions

Abstract

Officially, there is no exhaustive inventory of Sites of Geological Interest (SGI) in Morocco. Nonetheless, the Geological Service of Morocco started identification of these sites a few years ago, and published 9 volumes on the subject as geological and mining guides of Morocco. This was only limited to identification of SGI without their characterization and assessment, or identification of the threats that could affect them. In the last few years several PhD Thesis and research papers have dealed with this subject. Unfortunately, these initiatives are sporadic and far from establishing a global strategy for geoconservation and valorization of the Moroccan geological heritage. This paper proposes a global methodology for the inventory of geoheritage in Morocco by: i) providing a detailed synthesis of the research work on geoheritage in the world; ii) proposing the ways for assessing the Moroccan geoheritage at different scales (scientific education, geotourism, sustainable development, etc.); and iii) applying them to a wide variety of landscapes in Morocco. The obtained results and conclusions can be further extended to other African regions.