Iniciativas de geoconservação brasileiras: uma análise das fragilidades metodológicas

Abstract

In recent centuries, society has lost its very connection with nature. It is a hard task to establish whether it is a cause or a consequence of technological revolutions, which increasingly demand the consumption of nature (biodiversity and geodiversity). In the wake of global concern about the rational use of nature, the concept of geodiversity has emerged in the Geosciences, bringing also the recognition of a heritage value. Society certainly knows and perceives rocks, minerals, landforms and their associated resources as essential for its development. However, only a minor proportion of people see the aforementioned natural elements, together with beaches, caves, lakes, waterfalls, rivers and mountains as elements of nature that have other types of values, in addition as resources and leisure places to enjoy, making geodiversity worthy of conservation and management. In this research, it is believed that the geosite is the better tool to communicate and raise awareness among people about the values of geodiversity. In addition to telling the fascinating geological history of the Earth, which clearly has scientific value, geosites with educational, touristic, cultural and geosystemic values can and should tell the stories and interactions of geodiversity with biodiversity, but also with society, which have shaped the world as it is today, and even project how humanity can move forward, with pressing sustainability actions. This is a complex and very difficult mission, as it involves different segments of society, at all levels of decision-making forces, from the individual level to the most diverse social groups. However, difficult does not mean impossible, especially because, since the mid-2000s, geoconservation methods have existed that can be implemented on a local to national scale. In Brazil, despite the lack of legislation and public and corporate policies aimed at the conservation and management of geodiversity, geoconservation

initiatives began in the late 1990s and have evolved significantly, albeit in a non- systematic manner, in inventories of geological heritage. Based on a survey of 157

Brazilian geosites, it was possible to identify methodological weaknesses, essentially due to the lack of a complete execution of systematically organized procedures (a method). As a result, the Brazilian geoconservation initiatives consists mainly of actions to enhance and disseminate information, essentially for scientific, touristic and educational purposes. However, few geosites include conservation actions for remarkable elements of geodiversity, as well as the application of monitoring of use and potential threats to geological heritage. It was also evident a virtual absence of integrative document of actions implemented in a geoconservation strategy, i.e., a management plan. This document is essential, given the multidisciplinary nature of geoconservation, which cannot be understood as the unique responsibility of geoscientists. Furthermore, a management plan and programs (operational, conservation, use and communication) can enable the measurement of the many benefits that the implementation of geosites can promote. Among the most essential, the interconnection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies, widely encouraged in corporations.