Kashmir is globally known for its scenic landscapes, rich culture, and long history of tourism. Lakes, gardens, forests, and snow-covered mountains have traditionally defined the region’s identity. However, beneath this natural beauty lies an equally important but lesser-known treasure-Kashmir’s geological heritage. This geoheritage records millions of years of Earth’s history and offers a strong foundation for developing geo-tourism as a new and sustainable component of Kashmir’s tourism economy.

Geoheritage Conservation Initiatives in Kashmir: In a significant step towards geoheritage conservation, the Government of India, through the Geological Survey of India (GSI), declared Guryul Ravine near Khunamuh as a National Geoheritage Site in October 16, 2025. The ravine is world-renowned for preserving one of the most complete and best-preserved geological records of the Permian–Triassic mass extinction event (the “Great Dying”), which occurred around 252 million years ago and wiped out most life on Earth. Ravine is internationally important because it preserves fossil records related to one of the most critical events in Earth’s evolutionary history. Building on this initiative, 03 more sites in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, including Halsidar, Saskhudan Kapran, and Maswati Narsanger, have been granted protected status and have also been notified as protected geoheritage sites.

In last five years, many important fossil sites, formed hundreds of millions of years ago, have been discovered in different parts of Kashmir. These discoveries were made not only by scientists, but also by teachers, students, and local people during trekking, field visits, and school trips. With the help of mobile phones and social media, photos and details of unusual rocks and fossils are quickly shared with geoscientists for checking and proper record. Although the Geological Survey of India (GSI)........

© Greater Kashmir