Abstract
In recent decades, the growing awareness and necessity of dealing with geodiversity and geoheritage has drawn the attention of the global geoscientific community to conserving and safe-guarding it. As a result, the global initiatives, reinforced by the efforts of the regional and local geological communities, have led to a paradigm shift in how geodiversity (diverse geological elements) and geoheritage (geological heritage) are perceived. The efforts and actions of some nations in conserving geodiversity and geoheritage have been exemplary, while others are still in a nascent stage and a few still need to awaken. The concepts of geodiversity, geoparks, geoheritage, and geoconservation are the fruits of the efforts of many global and regional organizations. The collective efforts of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Global Geoparks Network (GGN), and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) have brought the attention of the global geoscientific community, policymakers and governments of almost all nations to ponder the issues of geodiversity and geoheritage. These globally recognised organisations have been at the forefront and their initiatives have permitted the conservation of some significant geological heritage and have demonstrated that they can pave a new path for more sustainable development. These organisations have worked in tandem for the past few decades and have been successful in identifying and designating some of the outstanding and geologically significant sites/geosites as ‘Natural World Heritage Sites’, ‘UNESCO Global Geoparks’. The novel ideas and statutes defining global designation criteria and protocols by these organisations are there to enthuse and encourage earth scientists, policymakers, the public, and governments of all nations to frame their own national and local statutes for the identification and conservation of outstanding national geoheritage and to further integrate them with the international organisations for global designations.
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Abbreviations
- GGN :
-
Global Geoparks Network
- GHSR :
-
Global Heritage Stone Resource
- HSCS :
-
Subcommission on Geoheritage Sites and Collections
- HSS :
-
Subcommission on Heritage Stones
- ICG :
-
International Commission on Geoheritage
- IGCP :
-
International Geoscience Programme
- IGGP :
-
International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme
- IUCN :
-
International Union for Conservation of Nature
- OUV :
-
Outstanding Universal Value
- UGGp :
-
UNESCO Global Geopark
- UNESCO :
-
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- WHS :
-
World Heritage Sites
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Acknowledgments
I place on record my gratitude to Prof. Harsh Gupta, President, Geological Society of India, Bangalore, for extending this invitation to write on Geoheritage. I am thankful to Prof. Baskar (IGNOU, Delhi) for suggesting my name to the President for the same. I would like to thank Prof. Dolores Pereira (former SG-HSS) and Dr. Fareeduddin (former director, GSI) for introducing me to heritage stones, which has changed my perception of geodiversity. My special thanks to IUGS for having me on board as a member of the International Commission on Geoheritage. My sincere gratitude to the reviewers Benjamin van Wyk de Vries (Chair-Subcommisssion on Heritage Sites) and Asier Hilario (Chair-Commission on Geoheritage) for their suggestions and edits, which made this a meaningful and insightful article. Last but not the least, I thank Panjab University for allowing me to work on Heritage Stones of India.
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Kaur, G. Geodiversity, Geoheritage and Geoconservation: A Global Perspective. J Geol Soc India 98, 1221–1228 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-2156-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-2156-1