Geoconservation in Chile: state of the art and analysis

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the main international organizations dedicated to the conservation of nature and geosciences have included geoconservation among their areas of research. Gradually but increasingly, Chilean institutions linked to geology are working in this line, with the common hypothesis being that the country has a significant geoheritage. However, an exhaustive recollection of the geoconservation initiatives currently being developed in Chile throws that statement into question. The analysis of that background information and its subsequent comparison with works developed by other countries in Latin America and Europe shows the still incipient state of geoconservation in Chile. The inferred causes of this underdevelopment are the lack of public politics on geoconservation, the meager collaboration between the institutions that develop the currently ongoing initiatives, and the limited knowledge from the academic and professional world in Earth sciences related to what and how to conserve.