摘要：The Montesinho Natural Park (MNP), with an area of about 750 km2, is one of the largest protected areas
in Portugal. Since its inauguration as a natural park in
1979, geological and geomorphological aspects have
not been taken into consideration in its nature conservation policies. Over the last few years, this deficit has
been compensated with an assessment of its geomorphological heritage. The assessment was made possible
due to a research project on the geological heritage of
the natural parks of north-eastern Portugal.The assessment method propagated herein proposes a clear definition of three types of geomorphosites: Single places,
geomorphological areas or panoramic viewpoints. Further, it proposes as two-staged approach to assessment
with inventory compilation followed by quantification
of value. Inventory compilation, for example, involves
the identification and qualitative assessment of potential geomorphosites and, therefore, the selection and
characterization of geomorphosites. The quantification stage includes the numerical assessment of sites
and their final ranking. The values are numerically
assessed using selected criteria. The implementation of
this approach in the MNP led to the identification of
154 potential geomorphosites, of which only 26 were
selected after the qualitative assessment or characterisation
process. The numerical assessment of the sites
and their ranking allowed a final selection of 13 sites
for public use.
