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

North Otago and the 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.