Catalyst’s Dan Tormey, Ph.D., P.G. is part of an IUCN team that gathered in Busan, South Korea

Catalyst’s Dan Tormey, Ph.D., P.G. is part of an IUCN team that gathered in Busan, South Korea this week for an international symposium on the future of geoheritage conservation. The Key Geoheritage Areas program would conserve internationally significant geological sites, from fossils and volcanic landscapes to remarkable rock formations. The initiative establishes a major new global framework to protect threatened geological sites—and could help identify important natural heritage in countries that currently have none recognized by UNESCO. The host of the event, the Korea Heritage Service, issued the Korea Declaration recognizing the responsibility to preserve these sites for future generations, the effort is not solely about the past. The event precedes the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which Busan will also host this July.