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Central Adriatic (northern Mediterranean) Vis island archipelago (Croatia) encompasses the islands of Vis, Biševo, Brusnik, St. Andrija, Jabuka and Palagruža, along with many other islets and scars. New geological map (Korbar et. al., 2012) revealed that the archipelago is characterized by the most diversified natural geoheritage in the region, relative to its size. Geological features are very well exposed mostly along the coasts of the islands that are built of a variety of rocks formed during last 220 million years. Those fabulous features include: - the oldest rocks on the Adriatic coast ; - type localities of interesting sedimentary and magmatic rocks ; - a variety of geomorphological features related to salt tectonics ; - unique beaches on volcanic rocks ; - geological formations testifying past global oceanographic perturbations ; - abundance of bizarre micro- and macro-fossils ; - distinct geological and tectonic contacts (faults) ; - active erosion of still growing islands – wild landscapes and attractive cliffs ; - sand plains formed during the last Ice Age ; - pebbly and sandy beaches – the youngest geological formations. These beautiful natural phenomena and landscapes owe the existence to geological structures and processes. Furthermore, the biggest and fairly inhabited island of Vis has its own but limited fresh-water supply that is completely predisposed by the specific geology. That is why the archipelago deserves the highest level of protection and promotion as an extraordinary geoheritage that could be used for world-class sustainable tourism. A geopark status allows both: a conservation of geological heritage and promotion of geotourism that attracts mostly environment-friendly tourists. A geopark status for such a distant archipelago could be an excellent opportunity for inhabitants to organize sustainable development, since geotourism has tendencies to extend out of crowded main season. Thus, this presentation is a call to local and regional authorities for cooperation on an expert-based application for Vis archipelago as a geopark to the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP), according to the Operational Guidelines for UNESCO Global Geoparks. |
