The British government is drawing up plans for a national Geodiversity Action Plan (GAP) to help safeguard and manage areas of high geological value. The GAPs will work on similar principles to the Biodiversity Action Plan system of conservation management, providing legal safeguards and duties on protection. They will also set measurable targets for the health of such sites, such as ensuring that 95 per cent of geological sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) are in a favourable condition by 2010. The project is being led by Natural England, the government’s statutory adviser on the environment.

The UK has many areas of geological importance, ranging from Dorset’s Jurassic Coast to the limestone pavements found near Ingleton in North Yorkshire. Many counties have operated local GAPs for up to five years, but the intention now is to provide an overarching framework of environmental protection for geological sites.

The UK GAP aims to aid the conservation and management of geodiversity and influence national, regional and local planning policy. It will cover land management, erosion and coastal realignment. Other anticipated benefits include the encouragement of local geoconservation groups in new areas and a greater take-up of geology-related degrees.

‘It will put geology on a firmer footing and give it a higher profile,’ said Lucy Cordrey, nature conservation technician at the National Trust, which owns more than 200 geological sites that have either SSSI or World Heritage status. ‘Geology is not just about hard rocks and fossils; it’s about the dynamic, moving stuff too. Geodiversity has been overlooked but it’s pretty fundamental to everything we do.’    

December 2008