On 19 and 21 March, a education course on the identification and popularisation of the fossil fauna of the Karst region was held, focusing on foraminifera and other components of the marine microworld. It was intended for Slovenian and Italian local cave and tourist guides of the KRAS-CARSO cross-border geopark.
The event, organised by the geologist Dr. Lorenzo Consorti from CNR-ISMAR in Trst, in collaboration with the Geological Survey of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia (Servizio geologico RAFVG), took place in two phases. On 19 March, a lecture on Karst geology and fossil microfauna was held at the CNR-ISMAR headquarters in Trst, in the Area Science Park Bazovica, followed by a practical demonstration on observing rocks and fossils under the microscope. Around twenty guides from the Italian and Slovenian part of the Geopark participated, the project partner ORA Krasa in Brkinov ensured that the content was interpreted into the Slovene language. On Friday, 21 March, a guided excursion gave participants the opportunity to deepen their theoretical knowledge with examples in the field. They visited rocks with Palaeocene and Eocene foraminifera in the Globojner Park (near Padriče) and in the Glinščice Valley near San Lorenzo and Zabrežec. The Italian and Slovenian guides learnt to identify microfossils with magnifying glasses directly on the rocks along the chosen route. Our guided tours were thus able to enrich our scientific work with a very special and unknown scientific work, with the world of foraminifera, which provide important information on the environments in which the rocks were formed and on the age of their formation. The participants showed great enthusiasm for the topic, which confirmed the organisers' intention that there is still a lot to learn about the geological features of the area in a polite and interesting way.
