Geoethics and geoconservation : integrated approaches.

Abstract

The last thirty years have seen major changes in the relationship between humanity and the Earth system. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, RIO 92, brought both the society and the scientific community, in general, the perception of the need for an integrated view of the Earth and the meaning of the irresponsible intensity of the exploitation of natural resources, by definition restricted to the planet. From this convention emerged integrative initiatives in the natural, human, and social sciences. Two fields of geoscientific knowledge have emerged: geoconservation and geoethics. Geoconservation, more widespread today, deals with the conservation of outcrops, rocks, minerals, and fossils of geoscientific relevance and their forming processes, spreading its values both at the scientific, educational, and tourist levels. Geoethics, for its part, is concerned with the relationship between huma nity and the Earth system, seeking to act in education as well as in the professional practice of geoscien tists. Between both fields, there is an overlap of action zones. In these overlapping zones, intensive rock sampling in important outcrops from the point of view of geoconservation is discussed. What is in focus is the responsibility of geoscientists to preserve the integrity of emblematic outcrops in the construction of knowledge about geohistory. Equally important are the way and quality of the dissemination of infor mation on the elements of geodiversity and the implications for society, in terms of natural disasters and those resulting from the anthropic activity. This article presents an analysis of the interaction between these fields in the educational agenda of universities and professional associations of geoscientists.