Creating an Effective Geopark Territory According to the ABC Concept

The effective selection of a geopark territory is a key aspect of its future development. This issue is increasingly coming to the forefront, with the selection process focusing not only on geological aspects, but also taking into account the park’s associated values. This paper points out the effective demarcation of a geopark’s boundaries using several holistic ABC concepts that take into account the abiotic, biotic and cultural aspects of the environment. It deals with the design of the potential Dolný Spiš Geopark territory and the new geopark methodology for determining the park boundaries. The paper points out that it is necessary to deviate from traditional approaches, which focus exclusively on the geological aspects of the landscape, to demarcate the geopark territory. However, this approach does not take into account the complexity of the environment, i.e., its full potential for sustainable development. The definition of the logistically sustainable boundaries of the geopark represents a key step for the management and development of geotourism. Spatial points were analysed for the territories of the prospective Dolný Spiš Geopark, and the spatial distribution was verified using nearest neighbour analysis (ANN) in the GIS environment. By combining further analyses and the spatial selection of cadastral territories, optimized territory models were generated. Based on these analyses, the results confirmed that incorporating biotic and cultural–historical attributes of the landscape creates a more complex territory with a higher density of attractions.