The Earth's and Life History of TERRA.vita

TERRA.vita, the name of the Nature and UNESCO Geopark stands for "earth and life" - for today's soils and nature as well as for the development of our earth and life. The UNESCO Global Geopark TERRA.vita, almost completely exposes around 300 million years of Earth history over a surface of only 1,560 square kilometres (e.g. as rock cliffs, quarries, road cuttings). Therefore, communicating knowledge about past ecosystems and what conclusions can be drawn from the geological past for challenges in the present and future, for example on climate change and the biodiversity crisis, is a special concern for TERRA.vita.

Sedimentary rocks form the subsurface of the UNESCO Geopark TERRA.vita, while the landscape was shaped by mountain-building processes and the Ice Age. Fossil finds are significant, giving us an impression of what our landscape looked like in past geological eras. This unique geology can be experienced at so-called geotopes, i.e. geological highlights in the landscape, in nature tours, on thematic adventure and cycling trails or in museums.