An introduction to geodiversity as a basis for development of geotourism

Geodiversity is one of the newly introduced terms in geoscience which by now has drawn considerable attention. In this paper, new aspects of geodiversity or in the other words diversity of geology will be addressed. Among the important cases of this issue, the start point of geological diversity development on earth and the existence of important points could be mentioned. Also, in many countries, geodiversity is considered as a basis for selection of the places requiring more care and protection. It can be said that by investigation of the world from different geodiversities, we can reach to better understanding of the earth natural sources. This concept and expression has found such an importance that is applied in choosing the places considered as a candidate for being in the list of global inheritance of Geo-parks. In this article, along with comparing the growth of biodiversity with geological diversity, this important issue would be covered and different situations in geological diversity would be investigated and discussed. In spite of geodiversity importance, this phenomenon is under threat of human activities. Therefore, it is needed to protect it, and this is also essential for geotourism development. The protection aims and methods must consider different elements of geodiversity and perform proper programs in relation to geosite type. In this content, the values such as: inherent, cultural, aesthetic, economic and functional values; and also the threats of this field including urban residence adjacent of geo-sites, visitors crowd, lack of awareness and so on should be considered. Moreover, management of geotourism, geoparks and related recreational activities must be designed and performed according to type of geodiversity.