ABSTRACT
The main focus in the protection of natural areas around the Earth has been in the context of preserving landscape beauty, natural heritage, unique biological habitat or recreation. More recently, geology and volcanology has emerged at the forefront of interest for many protected areas (Eder and Patzak, 2004). This approach of crediting a park’s existence to its geologic-volcanologic landscape seems intuitive, since many of the volcanic parks in the world exist because of their particular geological features. In this sense, their main purpose is to preserve geological heritage for future generations, educate and teach the public about issues in the geological sciences and environmental approach, and ensure sustainable tourism for many countries in the world. These parks are also a pedagogical tool for environmental education, training and interdisciplinary research related to geoscientific disciplines, the understanding of broader environmental issues, and for sustainable development.
