Suchergebnisse

Little by little geoconservation in Portugal is gaining strength: the geological community is considering this new topic as an applied science with relevance for research and teaching; the legal tools are now more suitable for the protection of geological heritage; students in schools and universities come in contact with relevant concepts; there is specific training for geoconservation experts; park managers and local politicians are more aware of this subject; and the general public is more receptive to the geosciences. All these successful steps are due to the development of collaborative work between experts from different institutions, some of them grouped together under the ProGEO-Portugal structure. Nevertheless, there are still two major faults: there is no structured strategy integrating the inventory, conservation, valuing, interpretation and monitoring of geosites, and there is no proper national institution responsible for the implementation of such a geoconservation strategy. Despite this, the first flaw is being taken care of by an ongoing research project; the second one is more difficult to resolve because it is entirely dependent on political ...

Geodiversity – the abiotic component of nature – is subject to everyday individuals' choices. The use of some of its elements in geoparks – by fostering economic sustainable development of local communities through the promotion of geotourism and education – represents a successful path to global sustainability, as argued in detail in the present work. By connecting local actions and global challenges, and assuming the role of local culture as a crucial tool to achieve global sustainability, the UNESCO Global Geoparks can be envisaged as best practice examples of realizing the aims and goals of the International Year of Global Understanding and source of inspiration for other global challenges, such as the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals 2016−2030. ; European Union through the Euro- pean Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Pro- grama Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013 and UID/Multi00073/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690 and national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia ...

Terrestrial impact structures are geological and geomorphological features with particular importance to understand the history and evolution of the planet. Impact structures are scattered around the world but in many countries these features are under threat, essentially due to anthropic factors. Impact structures with higher scienti c value should be considered as geological heritage and, consequently, be subjected to geoconservation strategies. In order to select the most important impact structures to be properly conserved and managed, this paper proposes a quantitative assessment method of the scienti c value of these structures. The eight Brazilian impact structures were used to test this method that has the potential to be applied to any geological context in any country. The structures known as Araguainha Dome-MT and Serra da Cangalha-TO reached a higher scienti c value, which justi es the need to develop geoconservation strategies and a proper management. ; The Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CNPq / National Council for Research and Development) and the Programa Ciências sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Programme are acknowledged for the support of the postdoctoral grant No 233209/2013-1 of the 1st author. The work was co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/ GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007690 and Portuguese funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. ...

An adequate management of geological heritage by national and regional authorities presupposes the existence of a solid geosites inventory. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many countries. Most often, there is no national inventory at all or the method and criteria used to assess geosites was not adequate. This paper makes an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the most common procedures to produce a geosite inventory and proposes a methodology particularly adapted for large territories such as Brazil. Nevertheless, this methodological approach can be easily adapted to any other geographical or geological setting, promoting the characterization and conservation of the world's geological heritage. ; High Level Scholarship Programme of the European Union - Programme Alβan ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia ...

"Ponta da Ferraria e Pico das Camarinhas" is a protected geosite in São Miguel Island in the Azores archipelago, Portugal. Due to its importance for the geoconservation strategy of the Azores UNESCO Global Geopark, monitoring actions of visitor impact were implemented in order to assure that the main geological features of this geosite continue to be in a favourable status of conservation, taking into account present public use. Different types of data were collected over a one-year period aiming at the identification of factors that may affect the geosite and also the assessment of the eventual decrease of relevance that this geosite has experienced throughout that period. Among the many geological features that occur in the geosite, the littoral cone (or pseudocrater) was considered the most threatened due to its uniqueness and high vulnerability. The number of visitors was also analysed with respect to the geosite's carrying capacity. The monitoring of this geosite allowed the definition of practical actions, in par- ticular to be addressed to the governmental agency who is responsible for the management of this geosite. ; This work is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização),project ICT(UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690 and national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. We also thank the Azores Geopark management body and staff for the support to the master thesis attheaimofwhichthismonitoringwascarriedout.Authorsexpresstheir gratitude for the comments made by Dr. Juana Vegas and by an anonymous reviewer, who contributed to improve the final quality of the manuscript. ...

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aiming to achieve a better world for the entire human population. In spite of the fact that human development is dependent on nature and its resources, the non-living (abiotic) natural resources and processes are persistently neglected in international and national policies that foster sustainable development. This paper reviews the geodiversity concept and makes the links with well-established concepts and strategies, namely the ones related with natural capital and ecosystem services, to demonstrate that the UN SDG can only be achieved if the elements and processes of geodiversity are definitely considered in the global agenda. ; This work is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007690 and Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. ...

Durante la última década, los tres miembros geoconservacionistas de la UICN (SGE, ProGEO y SEDPGyM) han estado contribuyendo a la inclusión y consideración apropiada del patrimonio geológico y la geodiversidad en las políticas de la UICN. Resumimos aquí el reciente proceso de elaborar, modificar, defen- der y votar en el Congreso Mundial de la Naturaleza de la UICN de 2016 las resoluciones relacionadas con la conservación del patrimonio geológico y la geodiversidad, es decir, relacionadas con la geoconservación. Estas tres organizaciones consiguieron que, en varias resoluciones, se nombrara explícitamente la geodiver- sidad y/o el patrimonio geológico; y que en otras se utilizaran términos inclusivos como patrimonio natural o diversidad natural, en cumplimiento de la resolución WCC-2012-Res-048 de la propia UICN. Además, redac- taron y propusieron una moción para la conservación del patrimonio geológico mueble que fue finalmente aprobada como resolución WCC-2016-Res-083. Intentamos aquí resumir el significado y analizar las posibles implicaciones de estas resoluciones, proponiendo líneas de acción para el futuro. ; During the last decade, the three geoconservationist members of IUCN (SGE, ProGEO and SEDPGyM) have been contributing towards the inclusion and appropriate consideration of geoheritage and geodiversity in IUCN policies. We herein synthesize the recent process of elaborating, modifying, defending and voting at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress the resolutions related with the conservation of geoheritage and geodiversity, that is, related with geoconservation. These three organizations succeeded in explicitly referring to geodiversity and geoheritage in the resolutions, and to use inclusive terms such as natural heritage or natural diversity in others, in compliance with IUCN resolution WCC-2012-Res-048. In addition, they drafted and proposed a motion for the conservation of the moveable geoheritage that was finally approved as Resolution WCC-2016-Res-083. We herein attempt to summarize their ...