Еvaluation of fossil sites for the purposes of geotourism in Bulgaria

Fossil deposits are an essential part of the Bulgarian geological heritage. They are among the most attractive geosites in na¬ture parks and geoparks. Several remarkable paleontological sites estimated as geosites of national importance are included in the Register and cadastre of the Bulgarian geological phenomena. However, they were evaluated according to the general methodology for assessment of different classes of geosites: geomorphological, stratigraphical, mineralogical, etc., so their specific characteristics remained underes¬timated. In this article, indicative criteria are proposed for evaluating fossil sites based on their specific characteristics – fossils and their scientific and touristic value. The development of a set of criteria emphasizing specific features of geological fossil sites will contribute to their identification and entry into the Register. Thus, the geoconservation value of the fossil sites will be enhanced beyond the basic level of significance established on the basis of general criteria such as scientific/research/educational value, integrity, rarity, sensitivity, and degree of study. These common criteria are useful, but not comprehensive enough to characterize their true scientific and touristic value. Evaluation of palaeontological sites requires additional criteria closely related to fossil deposits, e.g. presence of in situ museums, presence of fossils in ex situ museums, scientific knowledge, relation to known facies, historical significance for Bulgarian geology or local cultural/historical heritage, public awareness, geo-education in local schools. By combining the general and specific criteria into a single set, a new original expert card for the assessment of fossil deposits is proposed, including fourteen criteria, whose indicators are numerically evaluated depending on their significance. There are at least two reasons to create specific requirements for evaluating fos¬sil geosites: selection of new proposals for the Register and cadastre, and identification of fossil geosites in aspiring geoparks. The new criteria proposed in this article are a necessary addition to the main criteria in the “scientific value“ category and represent a contribution to the theory of Bulgarian geoconservation.