4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
[O06-05] Guided tourism to inform people about global climate change in San'in Kaigan Geopark
★Invited Papers
Keywords:Geopark, San'in Kaigan, Tottori Sand Dunes, climate change, guide
The San'in Kaigan Geopark is working to make visitors more aware of issues related to global climate change in Tottori Sand Dunes. The trigger was a comment made by a judge during the 2018 Global Geoparks Network re-evaluation to the following effect. "If we can provide more academic information, such as the changes in vegetation caused by past climate changes in the Tottori Sand Dunes, we believe this will deepen the interest of tourists and benefit the local economy." In response, we launched the following two initiatives.
1) Establishment of a system for Geopark Guides to guide visitors through the Arid Land Research Center's exhibition facilities
The Tottori University Arid Land Research Center is a research institute that has long engaged in the study of the world's arid lands and climate change. It used to be a research institution for the agricultural use of sand dune lands from as far back as around 1923. On the Center's premises, there are exhibition facilities for the Center's research, climate change, plants, agriculture, and lifestyles in the world's arid lands, which are open for public. However, their use for education and tourism have been limited because they are open to the public only on weekends, and short of interpretation staff. Therefore, since fiscal 2018, the San'in Kaigan Geopark Guides trained by the Center have been able to guide visitors to the exhibition facilities on weekdays as well. As a result, the number of school and tourists from within and outside the prefecture increased dramatically.
2) Creation of a panel exhibit on the relationship between Quaternary climate change and environmental changes in the Tottori Sand Dunes
The growth of the Tottori Sand Dunes is closely related to the sea-level changes associated with the Quaternary glacial and interglacial cycles. In addition, archaeological sites have revealed that vegetation and people's lifestyles changed as the dunes moved inland and along the coast due to sea-level changes. However, there were no exhibits regarding the relationship between Quaternary climate change and the Tottori Sand Dunes at the Tottori Sand Dunes Visitor Center or the Arid Land Research Center. Therefore, a panel exhibit was created under the supervision of experts and installed at both exhibition facilities to help visitors deepen their understanding of past global-scale environmental changes and encourage them to think about the future global environment. Furthermore, the exhibit was incorporated into the training content for the guides at the Arid Land Research Center to explain the relationship between the Tottori Sand Dunes and climate change.
1) Establishment of a system for Geopark Guides to guide visitors through the Arid Land Research Center's exhibition facilities
The Tottori University Arid Land Research Center is a research institute that has long engaged in the study of the world's arid lands and climate change. It used to be a research institution for the agricultural use of sand dune lands from as far back as around 1923. On the Center's premises, there are exhibition facilities for the Center's research, climate change, plants, agriculture, and lifestyles in the world's arid lands, which are open for public. However, their use for education and tourism have been limited because they are open to the public only on weekends, and short of interpretation staff. Therefore, since fiscal 2018, the San'in Kaigan Geopark Guides trained by the Center have been able to guide visitors to the exhibition facilities on weekdays as well. As a result, the number of school and tourists from within and outside the prefecture increased dramatically.
2) Creation of a panel exhibit on the relationship between Quaternary climate change and environmental changes in the Tottori Sand Dunes
The growth of the Tottori Sand Dunes is closely related to the sea-level changes associated with the Quaternary glacial and interglacial cycles. In addition, archaeological sites have revealed that vegetation and people's lifestyles changed as the dunes moved inland and along the coast due to sea-level changes. However, there were no exhibits regarding the relationship between Quaternary climate change and the Tottori Sand Dunes at the Tottori Sand Dunes Visitor Center or the Arid Land Research Center. Therefore, a panel exhibit was created under the supervision of experts and installed at both exhibition facilities to help visitors deepen their understanding of past global-scale environmental changes and encourage them to think about the future global environment. Furthermore, the exhibit was incorporated into the training content for the guides at the Arid Land Research Center to explain the relationship between the Tottori Sand Dunes and climate change.