IUGS / GTG Report 2012 p. 1

GeoHeritage Task Group

http://geoheritage-iugs.mnhn.fr

Annual Report 2012 Plan of action for 2013

TITLE OF CONSTITUENT BODY IUGS Geoheritage task group. This GTG was created at the initiative of IUGS’ board OVERALL OBJECTIVES

Through the leadership of individuals and organizations with background in this particular issue, the IUGS Task Group on GeoHeritage works to facilitate the development of national and international awareness and understanding of the underlying concepts. The Task Group also helps to understand and recognize the various types of geosites (educational, recreational, protective …) around the world and to promote within less developed countries the will to develop their own geoheritage.

The Task Group works mainly through modern means of communication including

discussions, meetings and information exchange via email and teleconferences, although some physical meetings may be required in the future to anchor certain decisions. Consequently, this group will function at little cost to IUGS and member organizations.

Three main objectives address: 1- To develop an inventory of geoheritage sites. The large majority of such sites are

isolated (a quarry, a single outcrop) and will likely never be part of a geopark, but they are valuable for education and for testimony of the history of the Earth. Several organizations (national, disciplinary i.e. palaeontologists) are either now working or will work on helping compile the list. Their list and content should be made readily accessible.

2- To compile the regulations on trade of ex-situ objects (fossils, mineral, meteorites) existing in different countries, which are usually difficult to obtain. The availability of this

IUGS / GTG Report 2012 p. 2

type information on a website would be of a great help to geologists and others who have to deal with such matter (e.g. customs, border authorities, lawyers,…).

3- To provide a single point of reference and coordination for the current diverse and disparate activities in geoheritage being undertaken by the Union and its subsidiaries.

This GTG is now just over two years old (November 2010) - Members 2010-2012

Prof. Patrick DE WEVER (France) Chairman Prof. Carmen HIDALGO (Spain) Prof. Jacques CHARVET, VP IUGS, deleg. European Geoparks Network (France) Mr. Colin SIMPSON, Councilor IUGS, delegate to UNESCO GGN Board (Australia) Prof. Ezzoura ERRAMI, IUGS councillor, contact with the African geoheritage Wesley HILL, IUGS councillor, contact with IUCN for the UNESCO world heritage Prof. Jose BRILHA, (Portugal, Editor in Chief GeoHeritage, President og ProGeo) Dr. Enrique DIAZ-MARTINEZ (Spain national ProGEO representative) Dr. Luca DEMICHELI (Belgium, EuroGeoSurveys) Pr. Zhao Xun (China, IUGS Beijing Office for GeoHeritage) (now deceased)

The members of this committee will have to change according the change of IUGS officers and evolution of interests (foresee changes in italic letters). Beside these changes new members could join this group including:

- Dr. Marten Geertsema, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations 1044 Fifth Avenue – 5th Floor, Prince George BC, Canada V2L 3H9 - Dr. Patrick McKeever, UNESCO, Chief of Section, Global Earth Observation, SC/EES/GEO, B5.08 / 84117 - Dr. Peter Bobrowsky, President, Geological Association of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, ONT, Canada K1A 0E8 - Prof. Peng Hua, School of Geography and Planning, Guangzhou, China

- Prof. Roland Dreesen, Univ. Gent & Geological Survey of Belgium - Prof. Marcos Nascimento, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil, E-mail: marcos@geologia.ufrn.br In italic : waiting positive answer

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- Activities

Besides some action on Geoheritage properly, we joined other organisations dealing with Geoheritage at local, national and international levels. This is the main reason we participated in several meetings in Europe and Africa.

IGC Brisbane august (August) The Theme 1 of the scientific programme was called “Geoscience for Society”. This

theme encompassed the roles of the geosciences in decisions and approaches that are of wide public interest, including geological heritage and geotourism; geoscience underpinning conservation; geoscience education; communicating geoscience to the public; museum collections; forensic geoscience; and gemstones. And particularly Symposia 11 called “Geoheritage, geoparks and geotourism”. This Symposium examined the importance and diversity of geoheritage. Key topics included the identification and quantification of geoheritage, geodiversity and geosites, the significance of geoconservation, UNESCO’s geoparks, as well as the growth of géotourisme. Several members of the GTG were present, but not the chairman (for health reasons).

Lagerstätte de Montceau-les-Mines & site stratotypique de Muse Autun, 20-21 septembre 2012, Muséum d’Histoire naturelle d’Autun

This meeting gathered more than 50 persons, mainly from western Europe, and dealt with extraordinary sites (Lagerstatten) and with the protection of Stratotypes.

- IUGS ProGEO- Geoheritage: Protecting and Sharing (September) 7th International Symposium ProGEO on the Conservation of the Geological Heritage: “Geoheritage: protecting and Sharing” 3rd Regional Meeting of the ProGEO SW Europe Working Group Bari, Italy 24-28 September 2012

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During this International Symposium on the Conservation of the Geological Heritage people (professionals, academics, students) dealing with nature conservation, geotourism, geoparks, education, management, sustainable development, planning and decision-making, and other topics related to the theme of "geoheritage" were invited to participate. Copy of the WEB frontpage (IUGS is clearly identified) As shown on the WEB front page, the meeting was under the auspices of the IUGS/GTG Circa 150 participants from different countries.

Forum “Geoheritage, Geoconservation & Geotourism” (15/11/2012)

This Contact Forum “Geoheritage, Geoconservation & Geotourism” was (15/11/2012) supported by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts Nationaal Comité van Geologische Wetenschappen.

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This one day meeting gathered ca. 70 persons from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxemburg and Germany. It represents a geoscientific state of the art, 20 years after a first initiative organised by the Belgian – Luxembourg Union of Geoscientists (BLUG/UBLG) as an initial step to launch protection and promotion of geoheritage alongside its archaeological, biological and cultural focus.

- Inventory and geoheritage in France (Digne-les-Bains, 10-12 October) IUGS-GTG is a member of the official organisation.

This meeting was devoted to offer a general overview of the state of the art for inventories

in Europe. It provided an opportunity to present the renewing of the IUGS Geosites database. It appears necessary, before publishing geosites, to check if the inventories are accurate and if they were conducted on comparable bases. The meeting gathered ca. 120 people from academic world and from private companies as well as from administration (mainly from Europe, few from Africa and America).

Arouca 11TH EUROPEAN GEOPARKS CONFERENCE 19 - 21 September 2012 Arouca Geopark, Portugal IUGS-GTG is a member of the official organisation. The aims were to reflect about the Geoparks Network progress; to contribute for the

smart, sustainable and inclusive growth of the Geoparks; to share good experiences on Education Programs and Projects; to consolidate the Geoparks as territories of excellence for Geotourism; to exchange new trends on geoconservation strategies; to present new public and private investments in Geoparks.

- Data base for regulations on geoheritage: As proposed in the Term of Reference, we began to establish a database dealing with

the regulations occurring in different countries. At the moment we succeeded to get regulations, besides those of UNESCO, for a dozen countries. They are listed on the website:

http://geoheritage-iugs.mnhn.fr/index.php?catid=2&blogid=1 Countries with information on regulations are colored on the illustration. A click on

the country then opens a page with the laws and regulations

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General web page for regulation These WEB pages are still not in their definitive format, but they are on their way to

finalization. Geosite databse The GEOSITES programme was originally started by IUGS in 1994 and truly

launched one or two years later (according to what is considered as the real beginning). This project involved the geological community in geoheritage: its aim was to provide a factual basis (inventory and data set) to support any national or international initiative to promote outreach and/or protect geological resources, our resource for research and education. Its aims

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were not executive, but were designed to mesh with national and geo-community initiatives and addressed the issue of how best to represent the diversity and richness of our key geoscience sites.

In 1995, IUGS and subsequently with the support of UNESCO, promoted the project

to compile a global inventory, and related database. The president of IUGS wrote in 1996 to all national committees and affiliated bodies to enlist their support for the project.

IUGS’s Global Geosites Working Group (GGWG) had the following published terms of reference:

1) To compile the Global Geosites list, 2) To construct the Geosites database of key sites and terrains, 3) To use the Geosites inventory to further the cause of geoconservation and thus

support geological science in all its forms, 4) To support regional and or national initiatives aiming to compile comparative

inventories, 5) To participate in and support meetings and workshops that examine site selection

criteria, selection methods or conservation of key sites, 6) To assess the scientific merits of sites in collaboration with specialists, research

groups, associations, commissions, subcommissions etc. 7) To advise IUGS and UNESCO on the priorities for conservation in the global

context, including World Heritage. This task was undergone in connexion with ProGEO, but for unclear reasons it was terminated in ca 1998-1999. This is one of several reasons why the present GTG was established.

Geoheritage is an international responsibility. All geologists and related professionals, and all organisations, have a part to play in protecting this heritage. Geosites and geology are not confined by national borders; geology crosses all borders. Also, the best sites have regional and often even global significance, and sites in such areas have importance and relevance for all.

The objective of GEOSITES is to display an international list of the most important sites for geological science.

A list of 310 sites were more or less originally documented (but only 120 with

geographic coordinates). We succeeded to obtain a copy of the list one year ago. Since then we have put our

effort on the public accessibility of this information. The documented sites (with geographic coordinates) were reported on a Google map - see figures). We searched the coordinates for other sites that lacked this information. They are now almost all available as well.

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http://geoheritage-iugs.mnhn.fr/index.php?catid=11&blogid=1

http://geoheritage-iugs.mnhn.fr/geosites_iugs.php

IUGS / GTG Report 2012 p. 9

http://geoheritage-iugs.mnhn.fr/geosites_iugs2.php?recherche=Bandiagara%20Natural%20Escarpment

BUDGET

6000 US$ were devoted to GTG by IUGS for 2011. This amount correspond to 4516,54 Euros (received April 2012) Expenses 2012

Bari meeting Travel G. Egorof 354

Digne meeting Travel Ezzoura Errami 573 Overhead 153 Salaries (for WEB site) 3436,54

------------ 4516,54 Euros

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Action Plan for 2013 Regulation DB: To compile the regulations on trade of ex-situ objects (fossils, mineral, meteorites)

existing in different countries, which are usually difficult to obtain. The availability of this information on a website would be of a great help to geologist and other kind of people who have to deal with that matter (customs, …)

Acting as focal point we will try to extend our contacts for regulation, i.e.more complete information for each country and more countries involved (specifically trying to get answers from English-speaking countries) and set up a more appropriate presentation of the database (continued)

Geosites database The large majority of these sites are isolated (a quarry, a single outcrop) and probably

will never belong to any kind of geopark but they are valuable for education and for testimony of the history of the earth. (continued)

Future meetings:

IUGS Meeting (Paris February)

We will take the opportunity that people come to the general IUGS meeting to gather the members in a specific meeting to know each other and decide the future actions plans.

Budget 2012 : Budget 1- Meeting IUIGS Paris 500 € (for those not belonging to IUGS board) 3- Running costs, overhead, housing, management of database 1600 € 4- Temporary Job internship 4600 € Total 6700 € Patrick De Wever Chair