GSSPs: The Case for a Third, Internationally Recognised, Geoconservation Network

Abstract

A network of over 100 Global Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) is being established by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, a Commission of the International Union of Geological Sciences. This network of sites, about 60% of which are already ratified, relates to all the stage, system and series boundaries of the geological column and thus provides the fundamental basis for the geological timescale and the history of planet Earth. Given the importance of these sites and the work that has been ongoing by the international geological community since 1977 to select and ratify the sites, their long-term conservation is essential, yet in most cases, there is no legislative protection for them and no international recognition, beyond the geological community, of their importance. The two existing international conservation networks used to protect geological sites/areas (World Heritage Sites and Global Geoparks) are both unsuitable for the conservation of the GSSP network, and instead a case is made in this paper that UNESCO, in collaboration with other organisations, should establish a third internationally recognised geoconservation network for the complete GSSP site series.