A Contribution to the Understanding of the Apennine Landscapes: the Potential Role of Molise Geosites

The paper deals with the contribution of the Molise geoheritage to make better known the central-southern Apennines landscape and to promote geotourism activities. The Molise territory is characterized by a high geodiversity and the natural coexistence and closeness of three major, highly differentiated Apennine landscape units. It offers an exemplary cross-section of the variety of landscapes/landforms that typically characterize the young, tectonically still active Apennine chain, from its core up to the Adriatic piedmont area. Based on the regional geosite inventory, we selected 31 geosites. These geosites are considered the most representative and exemplary of many of the major landforms that typically characterize the distinguished Apennine landscape sectors and are capable to illustrate several steps of their long-term evolution and/or present-day dynamics and related hazard aspects. The selected geosites are well-preserved landforms, easily and safely accessible, and observable both onsite and/or through panoramic views. They have good to excellent scenic-esthetic qualities and, thanks to the representativeness and clarity of exposed features/processes, can be easily understood by a large audience. The paper highlights the contribution that the geological heritage of a territory can provide for geotourism purposes and informal educational actions by using geosites, especially geomorphological sites, to make known the peculiarities, evolution, and present-day dynamics of its major landscape features. It wants to contribute to the dissemination and sustainable fruition of geosites that help attributing to them an effective cultural and economic value, so to encourage their conservation.