IUGS 60TH ANNIVERSARY
By THAN HTUN (MYANMAR GEOSCIENCES SOCIETY)
IUGTHE International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), founded in 1961, with 121 national members, representing over a million geoscientists, is one of the World’s largest scientific organizations. It encourages international cooperation and participation in the Earth sciences in relation to human welfare and is a member of the International Science Council (ISC). Membership is open to countries or defined regions. IUGS believes that it is of mutual benefit to establish close links with other organizations engaged in geoscience activities, especially those organizations whose work relates to some of the major activities of IUGS.
The announcement on 28 October 2022 of the “First 100” Geological Heritage Sites recognized by the International Union of Geological Sciences follows a 60-year tradition of the IUGS establishing globally recognized geostandards through international collaborations. The chronostratigraphic units and GSSPs, the IUGS Classification of Igneous Rocks, and the Global Geochemical Reference Network represent good examples of these global standards.
IUGS-ratified geostandards have authority. They are of the highest importance to the practice of geology and, thus, receive international recognition. Their legitimacy derives from the well-established, transparent, deliberative process by which decisions are made and proposals are approved often by consensus or unanimously by the voting members of a sub-commission, who are experts and internationally diverse. The proposals must then be analyzed and approved at the Commission level, and finally, the IUGS EC must vote to approve the proposal. It is then ratified as an international geostandard.
The Commission on Geoheritage was reorganized recently with the immediate objectives of recognizing Geological Heritage Sites, strengthening the recognition of Global Heritage Stone Resources, and establishing a group to recognize Geocollections. For IUGS Geological Heritage Sites, the first group of 20 international experts on geoheritage from 13 different countries developed high standards for recognition. An open process of identification was opened among more than 40 participants of the IGCP 731 project. 181 candidates from 56 countries were proposed and evaluated by 33 international experts. The result of this international collaboration between IUGS and more than 10 commissions and affiliated organizations is the selection of the “First 100” presented in this book. The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites is a great milestone that will inspire the work of this ambitious program. There will be more IUGS Geological Sites recognized in the coming years (Stanley Finney & Asier Hilario).
The IUGS categorized nine geoheritage types with a total of 100 geoheritage sites. Only a single geoheritage site of each category can be shown due to limited space. Myanmar Geosciences Society is one of the members of IUGS and we look forward to presenting internationally significant Geological Heritage Sites and Geoparks of Myanmar in near future.
