Geodiversity and the ‘8Gs’: a response to Brocx & Semeniuk (2019)

Abstract

Brocx and Semeniuk’s (2019 Brocx, M., & Semeniuk, V. (2019). The ’8Gs’ – a blueprint for geoheritage, geoconservation, geo-education and geotourism. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 66(6), 803–821. doi:10.1080/08120099.2019.1576767[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) paper is discussed, particularly in relation to the concept of geodiversity and their proposed sequence of ‘8Gs’. Their ideas on these topics are at odds with the majority of published papers and Internet sources on geodiversity. We argue that geodiversity as a concept has real value and that (a) the planet’s geodiversity occurs at all scales from global downwards, (b) it deserves an absolutely central place in any sequence of ‘Gs’ since it is the backbone of international and national geoheritage and geoconservation strategies, and the basis for geoheritage assessments, and (c) that as well as underpinning biodiversity, geodiversity is the source of many other geosystem services, including geotourism. Finally, a revised proposal for the relationship between geology, geodiversity, geoheritage, geoconservation and other ‘Gs’ is presented.