Assessment of the geosites and geodiversity in the prospective geopark in Siwa in the Western Desert of Egypt

Abstract

Egypt is one of the oldest nations in the world and one of the “cradles of civilizations.” A variety of 30 heritages within the geodiversity show a great link between intangible and tangible heritages. The Siwa Oasis in Egypt's western desert is a good example to see this relationship which helps to promote geotourism and other initiatives to increase geo-awareness of the region's significance. The Siwa Oasis has rich geodiversity with over 150 remarkable geosites and has great potential in developing into a geopark. 15 representative geosites in this aspiring geopark have been evaluated based on the criteria put forth by Brilha in 2016 and the geosites assessment methodology (GAM) proposed by Vujicic et al. in 2011. The objective of this paper is to analyze and assess these 15 geosites in a comparative analysis for a better understanding of their potential and uniqueness. It also proposes an integrated methodology to highlight the importance of geodiversity, geoconservation, and geotourism when assessing geosites.