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The term geodiversity incorporates all the variety of rocks, minerals and landforms and the processes which have formed the features of Earth through geological time. Most famous, are those rare and exceptional occurrences such as dinosaur footprints or mammoth tusks, but there are many more less-exceptional, but equally important pieces of the geological jig-saw puzzle. When pieced together, these give insight to past climates, earlier environments and life on earth.
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Geodiversity contributes to our quality of life in many ways. Its benefits include: |
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In contrast, geological and geomorphological conservation – increasingly referred to as ‘geoconservation’ - is the discipline concerned with the protection, active management or interpretation of geodiversity.
Schemes such as the Geodiversity Action Plan (GAP) have been put in place to provide guidance about the proper management of County Geological Sites. In Devon this takes the form of the Devon Biodiversity and Geodiversity Action Plan, which has deliberately been combined as an integrated initiative, highlighting the wildlife and geology relationship. For further information please see the links below:
http://www.devon.gov.uk/devon_biodiversity_action_plan.htm
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/geodiversity/protectandmanage/lgaps.aspx
For further information of the Country-wide schemes, please go to the GeoConservationUK website, accessible from the ‘Links and Resources’ page on this site.
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