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Geosites Project

About the Geosites Project

Scotland has over 1000 sites that are designated as important for geology and geomorphology at a national or local level. The Scottish Geology Trust's Geosites project aims to build a map and database for all these sites, to encourage greater awareness and conservation. Geosites project volunteers are adding information and photographs. Find out more

Select by GCR category:

1. Geomorphology
2. Quaternary Geology
3. Stratigraphy and Sedimentary Rocks
4. Palaeontology
5. Igneous Rocks
6. Structural and Metamorphic Geology
7. Mineralogy

Local Geodiversity Sites
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Select a GCR category of interest to view site locations and zoom in to see site boundaries. Click on a site for more information.

Access and Geoconservation

Everyone has a right to access most land in Scotland. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 means that you can walk almost anywhere without the need to ask permission or keep to paths. Alongside this right comes the responsibility to care for your own safety, to respect people's privacy and peace of mind and to cause no damage. This means, for instance, that you do not walk through someone's garden or across a field of growing crops. You can find out more at www.outdooraccess-scotland.scot. The right of access does not extend to collecting geological samples.

Scotland's Geosites have a range of international, national and local designations that help to safeguard Scotland's geodiversity. This means that they are important and should be treated with respect. Geoconservation aims to maintain valuable site features, and ensure these remain visible.

You can avoid causing damage to a Geosite by:

not reducing the geosite's physical attributes (e.g. don't remove rock)
not reducing its visibility (e.g. don't dump rubbish or paint graffiti etc), and
not disrupting the operation of natural processes in active geosites.

You can contribute positively to geoconservation by reporting issues such as overgrown vegetation, and working with land managers to to help solve problems.

More information about Geoconservation in Scotland | Guidance on collecting geological samples

Image licensing

Copyright of all photographs added to the Geosites website remains with the photographer, but they are available under the Creative Commons non-commercial reuse license (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. Attribution should include the name of the photographer and 'Geosites project, Scottish Geology Trust' or a link to the project website. For any other use, please contact us.

Funding

We are grateful for funding and support for the pilot phase of this project from the following organisations: