The valorisation of the (Geo)heritage between the Siret and Prut Rivers of the Moldavian Plateau (Romania)

Geotourism has been attracting more and more interest of the scientific community and the authorities in charge of tourism management and marketing. In Romania, such interest has just started to build, most of geotourism-relate research focusing on montaineous areas and not having an unitary approach. One of the least explored regions in terms of geotourism valorisation is the Moldavian Plateau, which is representative for the hilly lands of Romania. The plateau covers the entire North-East area of the country (27,158 km2) and is heavily affected by both by surface denudation and gully erosion.The aim of the current study is to build an inventory of geomorphosites and geosites, that may help setting up the profile of the plateau. The transformations suffered by this landform unit over time motivate the need for an updated profile, which can be further integrated in future research works concerning the  creation of a gully-based geopark.The first step was to corroborate the already existing data on the location and size of the gullies. Further on, a list of evaluation criteria was established and applied in the consequent fieldwork stage. The geomorphosites and geosites were identified and located using qualitative a evaluation process aiming to determine the geomorphological intrinsic value, potential use, and required protection. In addition, a GIS-based methodology was implemented in order to build the profile of the Moldavian Plateau. Finally, the identification of the geomorphosites and geosites served to the proposal of  geotrails; which represent the basis for geotourism in the study area, as an alternative for local economic development. Geoparks have proven to be excellent tools for educating the public about Earth Sciences; and are also important recreational areas and favour significant sustainable economic development.Keywords: Geoheritage, Geoscience education, Gullies potential, Geosites, Geomorphosites.