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Planning for climate change impacts on geoheritage interests in protected and conserved areas

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Date
19/11/2022
Author
Gordon, John E.
Wignall, Rachel M. L.
Kirkbride, Vanessa
Crofts, Roger
Tormey, Dan
Keywords
Geoheritage
Geoconservation
Climate change impacts
Risk of degradation
Adaptation planning
Nature-based solutions
GE Environmental Sciences
3rd-DAS
NIS
MCC
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Abstract
Climate change presents challenges for the management of geoheritage at all scales from individual geosites to whole landscapes, and affecting all areas of the planet. Direct impacts will arise principally through the effects of climate changes on geomorphological processes and vegetation cover, while indirect impacts will result from hard engineering interventions to mitigate risks from natural hazards. We present an indicative framework that sets out key steps to help geoconservation practitioners and managers of all protected and conserved areas (PCAs) with geoheritage interests to assess and manage the impacts of climate change on geoheritage. Strategies for mitigation and adaptation to assist contingency planning and implementation should be supported by site condition monitoring and as far as possible work with nature, but will require to be adaptive in the face of many uncertainties. Our approach is based on assessment of the risk of degradation of geosites and their features and processes arising from the likelihood of climate change affecting them and the predicted severity of impacts. The risk of degradation of a site, feature or process will depend on (i) its geographic location and proximity to geomorphological systems that are likely to respond dynamically to climate changes; (ii) the magnitude, rate and duration of these changes; and (iii) intrinsic factors that include the geological and physical characteristics of the site and its features and processes. Management options range from non-intervention to planned interventions informed by the risk of degradation assessment. However, documentation for posterity may be the only practical option for geoheritage interests close to existential thresholds, such as small mountain glaciers, and sites at risk from sea-level rise and coastal or river erosion. Adaptation strategies for geoheritage in protected and conserved areas should, as far as practicable, align with those for biodiversity and aim to deliver multiple co-benefits for nature and people, although economic, social and political constraints may hinder implementation where wider stakeholder interests are involved. Managers of PCAs will need substantial input from geoconservation experts to carry out the assessments recommended and determine the action required.
Citation
Gordon , J E , Wignall , R M L , Kirkbride , V , Crofts , R & Tormey , D 2022 , ' Planning for climate change impacts on geoheritage interests in protected and conserved areas ' , Geoheritage , vol. 14 , 126 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-022-00753-1
Publication
Geoheritage
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-022-00753-1
ISSN
1867-2477
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyight © The Author(s) 2022. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/26457

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