Marine areas of national and international importance

Such a comprehensive exercise as the GCR has not been undertaken for the marine geodiversity of Great Britain. However, the value of marine geodiversity is recognised in the

24 http://www.ukgap.org.uk/draft2/home.asp

25 http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/C271039.pdf

BOX 6.2 Geoconservation

Identification and protection of key localities for research and education has been a core activity of geoconservation. This approach is based on selection of special or representative sites using scientific or other criteria and has been implemented in different ways in different countries through a variety of measures and instruments, including national parks, natural monuments, and other categories of protected site (e.g. Gray, 2004; Brocx, 2008). It is particularly well developed in the case of Great Britain through the system of national assessment, documentation and protection of geological and geomorphological sites. Historically, this type of approach dates back to the mid-19th century, early examples being the enclosure of the stumps of a former forest of Carboniferous lycopods at Fossil Grove in Glasgow in 1887 and the listing of erratic boulders in Scotland in the 1870s (Milne Home, 1884).

Formal identification of key sites in Britain began in the 1940s supported by nature conservation legislation first passed in 1949 and subsequently updated (Prosser, 2008). This work produced a series of site lists that were then added to in an ad hoc way (Gordon, 1992). This process was superseded by the Geological Conservation Review (GCR), a major programme of systematic assessment of the conservation value of geological and geomorphological sites throughout Great Britain (Ellis, 2008); a parallel system has been implemented in Northern Ireland (Enlander, 2001).

Site assessment was undertaken between 1977 and 1990 and is the most comprehensive review of sites in any country. It was designed to reflect the full diversity of earth heritage in Great Britain, spanning all the major time periods from the Precambrian to the Quaternary. Publication of the results in a series of 42 scientific volumes is now nearing completion. These describe the interests of individual sites and provide the scientific justification for their selection. Over 3000 individual localities were identified and form the basis for a network of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). These are accorded a measure of legal protection, including a requirement for consultation with the statutory conservation agencies over developments requiring planning consent and other activities requiring consent.

The aim of the GCR was to identify the sites of national and international importance for geoscience in Great Britain, based on a set of site selection criteria and guidelines and extensive consultations within the geoscience community (Ellis et al., 1996). Site selection is based on a concept of networks of sites representing the main features and spatial variations of geological events and processes during the main time periods. Three categories of site have been identified: those of international importance, exceptional features and representative features.

Many sites are of fundamental importance as international reference sites (e.g. stratotypes, type localities for biozones and chronozones, and type localities for rock types, minerals or fossils), providing the building blocks for stratigraphy and the essential reference standards for global correlation of rocks (e.g. Dob’s Lin in the Scottish Borders, the boundary stratotype between the Ordovician and Silurian). From a historical perspective, many sites are also internationally important classic localities in the development of geoscience, where features were first recognised or key concepts developed; for example, sites in the Northwest Highlands, Glen Coe, the island of Rum and Siccar Point (Figure 2.3) have all provided crucial evidence for interpreting geological processes of global significance – respectively, the Moine Thrust, cauldron subsidence, magmatic processes and the origins of layering in igneous rocks, and a classic unconformity that provided crucial evidence on which James Hutton developed the foundations of modern geology (See Table 2.1).

Some sites demonstrate unique or exceptional features; for example the Rhynie chert in Aberdeenshire contains some of the oldest known fossils of plants and insects, while other sites demonstrate classic landforms or textbook examples of particular features, such as the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. Many more sites have nationally important representative examples of particular geological processes, environments or events that are essential for teaching and demonstration purposes and fundamental for understanding the geological history of Great Britain. Sedimentary rocks provide a valuable record of past environmental changes and many contain valuable fossil remains that have helped elucidate patterns of evolution of life on Earth. Other sites are important for demonstrating and understanding dynamic geomorphological processes at the coast and in river catchments (Figure 6.1).

Figure 6.1 The bar at Culbin, Moray has been extending westwards at c. 15 metres per year through the accretion of shingle ridges. (Photo: P&A Macdonald/SNH).

At a local level, geoconservation is pursued through the voluntary sector and the Local Geodiversity Sites (formerly Regionally Important Geological/Geomorphological Sites) movement. Sites of local importance are selected on the basis of their scientific and educational importance, historic interest and aesthetic and cultural values, reflecting local rather than national values. Although these sites do not have statutory protection, many local authorities now have conservation policies for LGS as well as other local biodiversity (wildlife) sites. An important recent initiative has been the preparation of Local Geodiversity Action Plans in some areas. These should help ensure greater protection for geodiversity as well as encouraging local awareness and involvement.

At an international level, many individual countries have compiled lists of geosites, particularly in Europe where there is a strong lead from ProGEO, the European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage. Work is also in progress to develop international lists of sites under the auspices of the International Union of Geological Sciences, including a European initiative by ProGEO. In North America and Australasia, many geological and geomorphological features are protected by a variety of existing designations, including national and state parks, National Natural Landmarks and provincial parks and nature reserves, although with few exceptions (e.g. Ontario, Tasmania, New Zealand), geological features have not been systematically assessed. A number of World Heritage Sites are designated for geological features or have significant geodiversity interests, but the list is not comprehensive or representative. Moreover, there are no international conventions or regional instruments for geodiversity comparable to those for biodiversity (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity or the EU Habitats Directive).

Marine (Scotland) Act 2010²⁶. Paragraph 68 allows for conserving of features of geological or geomorphological interest inside 12 nautical miles through designation as Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The UK Marine and Coastal Act 2009²⁷ includes equivalent provisions for Scottish Ministers to designate MPAs for biodiversity and geodiversity features in offshore waters adjacent to Scotland. The draft Scottish guidelines

26 Scottish Government (2010). Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/5/pdfs/asp_20100005_en.pdf

27 UK Government (2009). http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/23/pdfs/ukpga_20090023_en.pdf

for the selection of search locations containing priority marine natural features include geodiversity interests alongside the conservation of marine flora and fauna (Scottish Government, 2010a). These guidelines include analogous ‘criteria’ to those of the GCR but are integrated with the biodiversity guidelines. Scotland’s marine geodiversity is important for a number of reasons (Chapter 2). A pioneering desk-based survey using existing published and unpublished information has identified 32 key interest feature areas within Scottish territorial waters and within offshore waters adjacent to Scotland related to 8 principal themes or interest ‘blocks’ (Brooks et al., 2011) (Appendix 6). The recognition of geodiversity in the draft Scottish guidelines for identifying search areas for Marine Protected Areas and the completion of an initial assessment of key features is probably a global ‘first’.