보존가치가 있는 지형·지질의 대상설정에 관한 연구

Abstract

Strategy for the Protection of Geological and Geomorphological Heritage in Korea The Earth, 4.5 billion years old, has undergone many changes and renewals through the geologic time. Its long evolution has shaped the environment in which we live. The Earth retains 'memories' of the past inscribed both in the rocks and in the landscape, a record which can be read and translated. The mankind and the Earth share a common heritage of the past and present. Each and every human-being should understand that the slightest damage could lead to irreversible losses for the future. In undertaking any form of development, we should respect the singularity of this heritage. We urgently request national authorities to take into consideration and to protect this heritage, through all legal, financial and organizational measures that may be necessary. We discussed the geological heritage and geodiversity which is not yet familiar concept to common geological and geomorphological groups in Korea. We need to investigate the general state of the geological and geomorphological aspect of Korea in terms of both protection of geological heritage and the extent of geodiversity. Next step is to realize our geodiversity in comparison with other countries. We need to gather and research the geological information through geological survey before and after any form of development. By doing so, we can understand our abiotic environment more thoroughly by deciphering the hidden geologic formations on the Earth's surface. There are plenty of geological and geomorphological heritages in Korea which can be classified as outstanding universal value, such as Jangseong disconformity, Wangsan active fault, Haenam dinosaur footprints, etc. The geological and geomorphological heritage in Korea is vulnerable to be destroyed or be effaced because of the lack of public awareness, management policies and geological surveys. Though the geomorphological feature, such as a landscape, is included in 'national survey of natural environment', its importance and intensity is infinitesimal compared with plants and animals. The geoconservation, geosite, geopark, geotope, geodiversity, the geological and geomorphological heritage and the Earth heritage, etc. became the common language among the United Nations(UNESCO) and European countries. The geosite of the year is selected every year by the ProGEO, which is a professional geological group in association with the International Union of Geological Sciences and the UNESCO. The United Kingdom has the most powerful management policy and action plan in the protection of the geological heritage. She has good legal and financial measures, and relatively the largest protected area compared with other European countries. The SSSI(site of special scientific interest), NNR(national nature reserves) with AONB(area of outstanding natural beauty) and NP(national parks) are typical examples of steady-going protection policies in the UK. The United States of America is by far the most active country to protect the paleontological resources. Some new legal supports such as the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act and the Vertebrate Paleontological Resources Preservation Act are under discussion in the Congress to replace the existing Fossil Protection Act. The National Parks Service has a practical paleontological resource management policy and action plan (NPS-77 guidelines). We still have a chance to effectively protect the geological and geomorphological heritage in Korea as long as we make a firm legal based action: one is reformulating the existing law such as the Natural Environment Protection Act or the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, and another is making a new Geological and Geomorphological Heritage Conservation Act which gives the Geological Heritage Conservation Review the authority to survey and judge all the Earth's heritage. We should prepare criteria which are compatible with the international standards and other field of disciplines such as biology and landscape to classify the geological and geomorphological heritage. The classified list of geological and geomorphological heritage can be widely used in various purposes, such as the environmental impact assessment(EIA), preliminary environmental assessment(PEA), strategic environment assessment(SEA), natural resources unit map, natural ecological map, academic research, educational site, recreational activity, geotourism, and so on.