Depending on their position with respect to the Alta Murgia or the Premurge, the vocation of the communities that inhabit this territory has been profoundly influenced by geological agents. Underground water, the presence of caves, canyons, easily excavated clay and limestone soils have shaped not only the landscape, but also the cultural identity of these communities. Each area of the Geopark has unique characteristics, linked not only to history, but also to the different rock substrate and the composition of the waters that influence the flavor of foods, such as bread, oil and wine, depending on the area.

Ancient techniques for preserving water resources, such as snow harvesting, offer an opportunity to explain and understand the climate changes that are currently affecting the area. Education and affection for the territory are fundamental to create a new vocation, which takes up and modernizes the ancient agricultural and pastoral tradition of subsistence, orienting it towards sustainable cultivation and breeding.

In the twentieth century, the presence of precious rocks fueled an economic boom in Puglia, with the extraction and export of minerals and stone throughout the world. Over time, competition from foreign and often less expensive products has brought a halt in mining activity, opening up new opportunities for the Geopark, allowing, for example, the discovery of dinosaur footprints in several quarries (Cava Pontrelli stands out among them) and offering the possibility of transforming these sites into places of discovery, protection and enhancement of the territory.

The next step for Murgeopark will be to transform the quarries (as recently happened with the redevelopment of the Bauxite Mines), once subject to waste abandonment, into real open-air museums, through dissemination and awareness-raising activities in the communities.