The discussion on living organisms, or biodiversity, often intersects with the element of soil or geodiversity. However, the integration between these two is minimal, despite the need for proper synergy between biodiversity and geodiversity to maximize their development.
Through a series of public lectures at the Faculty of Geography on Tuesday (27/6), Professor Eko Haryono, a lecturer at the Department of Environmental Geography, explained why geodiversity has recently been further explored in geography.
“We have 560 conservation sites, which are efforts to deepen our understanding of the environmental order and preserve it. But most of these sites are based on biodiversity, while geodiversity has only recently emerged. If we look at history, biodiversity conservation was carried out first,” said Professor Haryono.
Not only at the national level of conservation but the criteria for world heritage sites have also not fully integrated biodiversity and geodiversity. This can be seen from the recent inclusion of geodiversity as a separate category. The existence of geodiversity in national regulations is also lacking.
“If we look at Law No. 5 of 1990, it states that the term ‘biological resources’ includes flora, fauna, and non-living elements. So technically, non-living elements are still included, but because the forestry sector is the leading sector, the proportion of non-living elements is still lacking,” added the professor.
“There needs to be an impetus to develop geodiversity conservation. Some efforts include the participation of earth science experts, the development of geodiversity management plans in conservation areas, regulations, and institutions.”
Professor Haryono revealed that in 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature introduced new criteria for conserving geodiversity heritage with eight main themes. As a country with abundant natural resources, Indonesia has great potential to build geodiversity conservation.
The online public lecture “Integration of Biodiversity and Geodiversity Conservations for Optimizing Environmental Services” provided a new perspective on geography.
“It seems that biodiversity and geodiversity are not fully integrated yet. The focus is primarily on biodiversity conservation, while geodiversity has not received much attention. However, the two are interconnected,” said the faculty’s Vice Dean for Education, Teaching, and Student Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Kamal.
Author: Tasya