Motion 125

IUCN’s WCC 2020 adopted Resolution 074 which, amongst its operational paragraphs, requested the Director General of IUCN and WCPA to: “...support the development of a detailed study envisaging the establishment of a future IUCN initiative on Key Geoheritage Areas, as a complement to the existing Key Biodiversity Areas programme, in order to protect geoheritage sites of global conservation significance and move towards more integrated nature conservation”.

The IUCN members that proposed the Resolution, the WCPA Geoheritage Specialist Group –with input from the IUCN Secretariat focal point for this Resolution– established a working group to develop this study. The requested study was drafted by the working group and submitted for consultation, with the intention of obtaining feedback from across IUCN, in particular from IUCN members and Commissions, as well as from other geoheritage experts and organisations. The document that is being published by IUCN incorporates the valuable comments and suggestions received during the consultation and also the amendments provided by two external reviewers.

The initiative considers IUCN’s approach to Geodiversity, Geoheritage, and Geoconservation which are understood as follows:

Geodiversity is the variety of rocks, minerals, fossils, landforms, sediments and soils, together with the natural processes that form and modify them. It includes past and present geological and geomorphological features and processes that record the history of the Earth and the evolution of life forms as represented in the geological record, including fossils of organisms and their habitats. Geodiversity elements are part of natural capital and contribute to all types of ecosystem services. In 2021 UNESCO accepted the request of the geoscientific community to establish the International Geodiversity Day, on the 6th October each year, a request that was co-sponsored by IUCN.

Geoheritage corresponds to those elements, features and processes of geodiversity, either singly or in combination, that are considered to have significant value for scientific, educational, cultural, spiritual, aesthetic, ecological or ecosystem reasons and therefore deserve conservation. Internationally, geoheritage is recognised within two UNESCO's initiatives: The World Heritage Convention and the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme. At the national, regional and local levels many protected areas conserve geoheritage, often in combination with aspects of biodiversity.

Geoconservation is the practice of conserving, enhancing and promoting awareness of geoheritage.

A KGA is defined as an "area with well-defined boundaries where significant geological features (including rocks, minerals, fossils, sediments, soils, landforms and landscapes) represent past or on-going Earth processes contributing substantially to the global understanding of the planet's history and its life-support systems and provide opportunities for increasing public awareness, knowledge and understanding of geoheritage conservation. In addition to their scientific value as geoheritage, KGA may also have supporting cultural, ecological, aesthetic, and/or educational values".

The primary aim of this initiative is to recognise and conserve geoheritage of international significance. It seeks to communicate and promote this information to raise public awareness about the value of these sites, foster their conservation and advance geoconservation practices worldwide.