Geodiversity and the Role of the Planning System in Scotland

The Nature Conservancy Council Earth Science Conservation Strategy (1990) had six main areas for action, including maintaining the Special Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSI) series through the Geological Conservation Review and expanding the Regionally Important Geological/Geomorphological Sites Network (now Local Geodiversity Sites; LGS). Protection of SSSI's is well understood, statutory and the planning system generally sympathetic, albeit with a few recent notable exceptions. Local Geodiversity Sites protection is achieved through local planning policy. However, the establishment of a geodiversity site system and recognition of LGS is patchy in Scotland. Many local authorities still do not have policies to conserve their local geodiversity or to give it consideration in planning. Even where LGS have been recognised, damage to sites can occur because of lack of consultation following emergency incidents. A petition in 2009 was raised unsuccessfully in the Scottish Parliament to establish a Scottish Geodiversity Duty in order that an integrated approach to geodiversity and its conservation might be achieved. The Scottish Geodiversity Forum was established in 2011 and has pursued the avenues opened by the petition and a key Scottish Natural Heritage Report. The outcome is the launch of Scotland's Geodiversity Charter and active participation in the revision of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.