Geosensitivity assessment for the formulation of geoconservation strategies in the Darjeeling Hill region, India

The impact of poorly managed tourism activities could undermine the global geodiversity of an area. To avoid this, the formulation of geoconservation strategies by identifying geosensitivity is necessary. The Darjeeling Hill region is characterized by a rich geodiversity and is facing severe threats with increasing tourism and depleting physical as well as cultural landscape. The main aim of this paper is to identify the geodiversity threats in this hill region by applying an integrated method of geosensitivity index (SI) based on geodiversity index (GI) and threat index (TI) which would be useful for the formulation of regional geoconservation strategies. The GI has been calculated using the sum of four sub-indices: geological diversity, geomorphological diversity, pedological diversity, and hydrological diversity, whereas the TI is based upon the summation of three sub-indices: land protection index, degradation index, and land use index. In the study area, five zones of geosensitivity have been demarcated: very high (8%), high (11%), moderate (20%), low (28%), and very low (33%). The finding identifies the geoconservation necessities using the calculated and mapped association between landslide intensity and geosensitive zones. It indicates that geosites like Giddhapahar, Paglajhora waterfall, Bokshi waterfall, Kaljhani cave, etc. within the very high and high geosensitive zones need the geodiversity protection through appropriate territorial geoconservation planning.