Geodiversity Also Needs Protection during Armed Conflicts

May 6, 2020 | Kevin Kiernan
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The IUCN motion on the Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict acknowledges that in addition to the harm that armed conflict causes to biota it “also generates the loss of geodiversity and its geological heritage and the places of geological interest that are also part of the environment”. Geodiversity encompasses geological formations, landforms and soils. Components of geodiversity including significant fossil assemblages in bedrock geological units, landforms such as caves or waterfalls, and different types of soil profiles, can all be very important targets for nature conservation initiatives in their own right. In addition, geodiversity provides the essential diversity of habitat niches upon which biodiversity is dependant, and it often also underpins the livelihoods of those living in conflict zones.

The environmental harm that war inflicts upon geodiversity is an important but inadequately considered topic in its own right. Comprehensively safeguarding geodiversity is also fundamental to the effective conservation of biodiversity, given that geodiversity provides the requisite stage upon which all the dramas of life are enacted. Geodiversity and biodiversity really need to be addressed concurrently, hence a more all-encompassing concept such as “enviro-diversity” might provide a more useful lens through which to view the environmental damage caused by armed conflict, and promote an outlook that is less conducive to the presently common preoccupation with biota alone.