'Involving people in geodiversity'

Conservation

Involving people in geoconservation is essential in order to secure the long-term sustainability of the geodiversity resource. From legislation and planning, to the practicalities of conserving and managing a geodiversity resource, it is essential to engage a range of policy makers, practitioners and the local community in geoconservation to make it sustainable.

Case studies discussed included the value of the Cheshire Region Local Geodiversity Action Plan (LGAP) (north-west England), the influence of Supplementary Planning Guidance in planning in the UK, access issues at the Giant's Causeway (Northern Ireland), and the geosite initiative currently underway in Latvia. Of particular importance to this topic were management issues associated with the need to balance conservation objectives with visitor access, as is being experienced in the drafting of the Giant's Causeway management plan. Accessibility is important in terms of both a site's sustainability and visitors' health and safety.

The issue of accessibility is also highly relevant to the Latvian geosite initiative, which has over 200 geological and geomorphological natural monuments. Some of the sites are experiencing accessibility difficulties because they have become overgrown, or are poorly managed, and there is also very little accessible and understandable information for visitors, leading to a lack of public awareness. To resolve these issues, a representative selection of sites are to be made available to the public, and for these sites, the management and access issues are to be addressed. Collaboration with tourism agencies and qualified environmental interpreters is to be sought to raise awareness and ensure understandable, accessible information is available.

These examples demonstrate that geoconservation involves everybody, but particularly those with an interest in conservation including locals, visitors, and volunteers and local groups, and those who might have a say in the future development of sites, such as owners, planners, local councils and politicians.

Details of the presentations given are provided below. Where a summary is provided click on the link to view.

Cynthia Burek. Local Geodiversity Action Plans and the community – a case study of the Cheshire LGAP – click here to view summary

Bernard Smith. Managing access in a dynamic environment, Northern Ireland

Dace Ozola. Geosites in Latvia