The community-inspired Vanished World Society was formed in the early 2000s to help raise public awareness about the geology of the Waitaki district. The Society is active in promoting the science, conservation and appropriate use of fossils, outcrops, and landforms, through a process of education, science-communication and “hands-on experience”.

North Otago and the larger surrounding Waitaki district have been renowned for striking and informative features for more than 150 years. These features – including fossils, limestone, volcanic sequences and landforms – have been important in the conceptual origins and ongoing development of geological science at a national level .

Geologists from the University of Otago have developed a positive and ongoing relationship with landowners in the Waitaki district, as part of a research program on local fossils.