
José BrilhaUniversity of Minho · Departamento de Ciências da Terra (DCT)
José Brilha
PhD
Geological heritage; Geoconservation; Geodiversity; UNESCO World Heritage and Global Geoparks; Protected Areas
About
191
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Introduction
Geologist and Full Professor at the University of Minho (Portugal)
•Develops applied research on geodiversity, geoconservation, and geoparks;
•Member of the UNESCO's IGCP Scientific Board and of the Global Geopark Evaluation Team;
•Member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and its Geoheritage Specialist Group.
Additional affiliations
January 2015 - present
Institute of Earth Sciences
Position
- Researcher
Description
- Pole of the University of Minho
January 2013 - December 2015
November 1988 - September 2017
Education
January 1993 - April 1997
January 1993 - April 1997
October 1983 - July 1987
Publications
Publications (191)
This methodological paper innovatively proposes evaluating and conserving ex situ palaeontological heritage. To meet this objective, we conducted a state-of-the-art review of palaeontological heritage evaluation methods, which supported this proposal. Based on this review, we defined criteria, metrics and suggested parameters and techniques to supp...
Over the past decade, various methodologies have been developed to systematize, discuss, and propose measures for protecting and sustainably managing geological heritage. The Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park is a crucial component of the most significant network of protected areas in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. It has international recognition...
Geoconservation consists of the selection and conservation of geodiversity elements that have significant heritage value. The management of geological sites is based on specific procedures to ensure public use and minimize adverse impacts. The evaluation of the carrying capacity of geological sites is a management tool that helps to define the acce...
UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) are excellent teaching opportunities as outdoor classrooms and incubators of sustainable development, sustainable lifestyles, appreciation of natural and cultural diversity, and promotion of peace. Naturtejo UGGp offers educational programmes addressed to the school public (formal education) since 2007, focused on geo...
The last five decades were crucial for the development of geoconservation and for the recognition that some geological features are at risk and need to be properly protected and managed. This recognition is happening at two levels. On one hand, the raise of awareness in certain countries of the importance of geoconservation is pushing international...
During the last fifty years, numerous international designations have been established with a focus on biodiversity and/or natural heritage conservation, but only a small number are dedicated to geoconservation. This discrepancy underscores the relatively low level of public awareness regarding the importance of geodiversity and geoheritage. Apart...
Geodiversity—the diversity of abiotic features and processes of the Earth's surface and subsurface—is an increasingly used concept in ecological research. A growing body of scientific literature has provided evidence of positive links between geodiversity and biodiversity. These studies highlight the potential of geodiversity to improve our underst...
Geoconservation and related quantitative and qualitative geodiversity assessments are gaining increasing attention. However, methodologies for measuring geodiversity at local scale are currently rare. Here, we present a framework for assessing local-scale geodiversity of different landforms using field-based and digital elevation model (DEM-) deriv...
This work describes the achievements made towards geoconservation within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from the 1990s onwards. The key milestones in the recognition of geoconservation within the IUCN are presented. Initially, the IUCN's geoconservation efforts were focused on refining the criteria for World Heritage (WH)...
Chen et al. (2023) have proposed a scheme to define which services should be included as ecosystem services and which should be excluded so as to avoid “an all-encompassing metaphor that captures any benefit”. We discuss the proposals, drawing attention in particular to definitions of ‘natural capital’ and ‘ecosystems’, the complexities of separati...
The profound interdependence between geodiversity, biodiversity and cultural assets is the foundation for numerous recent studies on geodiversity. Given the need to incorporate this angle into research on the subject in Colombia, we propose a geodiversity characterisation which aims at its inclusion as an integrating part of the management of natur...
This work describes the achievements made towards geoconservation within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from the 1990s onwards. The key milestones in the recognition of geoconservation within IUCN are presented. Initially, IUCN's geoconservation efforts were focused on refining the criteria for World Heritage (WH) designa...
The inventory of the geological heritage, along with the quantification of its value, is an essential task for the implementation of geoconservation strategies. Despite the Brazilian’s rich geological heritage, only the state of São Paulo has concluded its systematic inventory. This paper presents the geological heritage inventory of Paraná State a...
The chapter documents the process of proclaiming of the International Geodiversity Day as a grassroots initiative of the Earth science community for the benefit of our entire present civilisation and for future generations. The huge support that this initiative gained among scientists around the world contributed to the rapid circulation of documen...
These Guidelines are intended to help improve the conservation and management of geoheritage and geodiversity in protected and conserved areas and recognition of the interrelationships and interactions with biological features and processes. They are not a textbook on geoconservation management practice, but rather set out the essential background,...
El registro paleontológico de la Formación Paja del Cretácico Inferior, localizada en el Alto Ricaurte, Departamento de Boyacá, Colombia, es conocido en la comunidad científica por la diversidad y abundancia de su registro fósil, y es ahora denominado como un Lagerstätte. Descubrimientos fósiles recientes en el área incluyen nuevas especies de tort...
Geoconservation has gained a growing recognition in the last three decades. Significant steps have been given to identify, assess, and protect many geosites worldwide. Several countries have published national geosite inventories but quite often soils are not included in these inventories. Consequently, soils are usually disregarded in geoconservat...
The Brazilian agricultural business and industry are committed to
continue to increase their participation in the global biomass produc
tion. The focus on fertilizers, not considering other soil functions, is
changing to a new, more holistic paradigm. Therefore, the productivity
of Brazilian agriculture can still be increased by improving and a...
Texto original: Guidelines for geoconservation in protected and conserved areas (2020)
Crofts, R., Gordon, J. E., Brilha, J., Gray, M., Gunn, J., Larwood, J., Santucci, V.L., Tormey, D., Worboys, G.L
Tradução para língua portuguesa (2022):
José Brilha, Maria da Glória Garcia, Paulo Pereira e Ricardo G. Fraga de A. Pereira
Identification and evaluation of geosites are essential to the management and conservation of geological heritage. However, the only systematic geoheritage inventory done so far in a wide area of Brazil is the one in São Paulo State. In order to contribute little by little to a national systematic geoheritage inventory, this paper presents and disc...
O Atlas da Geodiversidade de Arcos de Valdevez dá a conhecer a paisagem deste concelho, em especial a variedade de formas de relevo, rochas e processos geológicos que, desde sempre, condicionaram a biodiversidade e as atividades humanas. Os diversos mapas que integram este atlas, assim como as fotografias dos principais aspetos da geodiversidade, c...
Geoconservation and geoethics are two emergent domains in geosciences. During the last decade, both topics have increasingly gained the attention of geoscientists and the society, but the main geoethical dilemmas related to the conservation and management of geoheritage are not clearly identified yet. This work aims at providing an overview on the...
The characterisation of geoheritage and the understanding of the physical and socio-cultural features of a territory are essential to achieve the major geoconservation goals: protection and sustainable use of exceptional elements of geodiversity. This research was done in the Sertão Central, an economic vulnerable area in the hinterland of northeas...
This abstract presents the process and aims for the establishment of the International Geodiversity Day.
The concept of geodiversity, despite being in use for almost 30 years, still has little impact on society. It is not easy to explain the reason for this dissociation, considering that the elements that constitute geodiversity are intrinsically part of nature, play an essential role in ecosystem services and, consequently, in human well-being. Durin...
The proclamation of an International Geodiversity Day would provide an annual reminder of the essential role of geodiversity for human well-being. It provides the foundations and habitats for all living things. It is the source of materials that build our towns and cities; it provides our energy resources, including renewable energy and the materia...
Geoheritage, or geological heritage, is a term used to describe minerals, rocks, soils, fossils, and landforms having a significant value that justify their conservation and proper management. This includes the ongoing geological processes that produce these especially significant physical objects. Despite what can be an apparent appearance of robu...
These Guidelines are intended to help improve the conservation and management of geoheritage and geodiversity in protected and conserved areas and recognition of the interrelationships and interactions with biological features and processes. They are not a textbook on geoconservation management practice, but rather set out the essential background,...
There has been little discussion about the relationship between geoethics and geological heritage, probably because both topics are relatively new in geosciences and still little understood. Here we provide a short overview of the relevant concepts of geodiversity, geological heritage and geoconservation. Palaeontological heritage is specially high...
The Rabat-Tiflet area (north-western Morocco) has a complex geological setting and a high geodiversity, two reasons that justify the geoheritage inventory done in this work. The inventoried 13 geosites were quantitatively assessed and clearly show that the Tortonian/Messinian Akrech River GSSP Stratotype is the most important geosite in the area du...
This work presents a method to identify, to evaluate and to quantify the losses of the offer of ecosystem services provided by geodiversity, using as a case study the Taubaté Basin region, a highly urbanized portion of southeastern São Paulo State, Brazil. Our method considers not only the qualitative analysis of the abiotic as- pects, but also the...
Geoconservation in Portugal has been gaining importance, particularly during the last decade. The inventory of geosites with international and national scientific relevance is now complete, and the national legislation concerning nature conservation includes the management of geoheritage. Forty-three per cent of the inventoried geosites are geomorp...
Os serviços ecossistêmicos da geodiversidade correspondem aos benefícios disponibilizados direta ou indiretamente pelos elementos abióticos da natureza, tais como os rios, solos, rochas e minerais, utilizados para promover o bem-estar da população (Gray, 2013). Embora existam outras classificações na literatura, neste trabalho adotou-se a classific...
Spain is an international reference for geoparks and geoconservation polices, and it is the second country in the world with the highest number of UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps), after China. Additionally, Spain was one of the four countries involved in the establishment of the European Geoparks Network (EGN) in 2000, the first geoparks network. Ba...
Following the establishment in 2000 of the first geoparks, the role of UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) in geoscience education for sustainability needs to be characterized and understood. This is particularly relevant because education is one of the three main pillars of UGGps. In fact, UNESCO Global Geoparks are excellent opportunities to assist sc...
This short paper intends to present an updated and concise information about geological heritage and geoparks, with some insights about the present status of geoconservation in Morocco.
The Rio do Peixe basin, which is developed during the Lower Cretaceous, consists of the Sousa, Uiraúna-Brejo das Freiras, Pombal and Vertentes sub-basins. They have abundant ichnofauna represented by dinosaur tracks of theropods, sauropods and ornithopods, these being the main objects of geological heritage in the region. The majority of palaeontol...
The concept of geologic heritage, or geoheritage in short, is becoming increasingly recognized and accepted around the world. It is now clear that certain geologic features that allow us to better understand how our planet works are at risk due to several man-made threats. These threats may destroy these records, compromising future scientific rese...
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. Howev...
In order to characterise the role of UNESCO Global Geoparks on the promotion of educational activities for schools (formal education), a questionnaire was prepared and sent to all the 127 UGGps (data as of May 2017). The preliminary results are presented in this abstract.
Rapid environmental change is driving the need for complex and comprehensive scientific information that supports policies aimed at managing natural resources through international treaties, platforms, and networks. Although the current essential variables frameworks account for the biosphere, atmosphere, and some aspects of the hydrosphere, they l...
Localizada no segmento central do Rifte Continental do Sudeste do Brasil, na porção leste do Estado de São Paulo, a Bacia de Taubaté ocupa uma área de aproximadamente 2400 km2. A região representa um local-chave no entendimento da história geológica associada ao pós-Gondwana, apresentando elevada geodiversidade que tem sido afetada tanto por ativid...
The United Nations 2030 Agenda has 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aiming to achieve a better world for the entire human population. In spite of the fact that human development is dependent on nature and its resources, the non-living (abiotic) natural resources and processes are persistently neglected in international and national policies t...
A new programme – Key Geoheritage Area (KGA) – has been suggested in the last two years, correspondent to the Key Biodiversity Areas already running under IUCN. The KGA should be primarily based on the scientific value of geological features. For an effective KGA designation, objective geological contexts with appropriate criteria should be develop...
A natureza fornece todos os bens, condições e serviços para a manutenção da vida, das sociedades e do bem-estar humano. Muitas das abordagens públicas anunciam esses benefícios como serviços dos ecossistemas, embora maioritariamente ou exclusivamente prestados pela biodiversidade. Nesse contexto, os elementos da geodiversidade, não renováveis e ren...
O município de Florianópolis tem 45% do seu território designado como área protegida. Essas áreas estão sendo fragmentadas e degradadas devido ao desenvolvimento de infraestruturas urbano-turísticas. Como consequência, vem ocorrendo a redução da diversidade de ecossistemas e de patrimônio natural, incluindo a perda de geodiversidade e patrimônio ge...
A geoconservação tem por finalidade a proteção e gestão do patrimônio geológico e dos elementos de geodiversidade com valor excepcional. A classificação é uma das ações que formam uma estratégia de geoconservação que visa a proteção legal desse patrimônio. Por se tratar de uma temática recente, são poucos os países que apresentam dispositivos legai...
Trabajo divulgativo que explora y expone el patrimonio geológico en las Reservas de la Biosfera de España utilizando esquemas explicativos y textos sencillos.
Quantitative assessment of geological sites has been demonstrated as a consistent tool in order to delineate geoconservation strategies, especially for large areas with scarce resources. The working area is located in a vulnerable region in north-eastern Brazil characterised by low socioeconomic conditions. This area comprises an assemblage of 52 g...
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aiming to achieve a better world for the entire human population. In spite of the fact that human development is dependent on nature and its resources, the non-living (abiotic) natural resources and processes are persistent...
The quantitative assessment of geoheritage in the Ceará Central Domain allowed defining the priority sites for protection of scientific value as well as the promotion of potential uses. One of these presented areas will be chosen to develop a geoconservation management plan based on geoeducational and geotourism purposes.
As a contribution to an abiotic ecosystem approach, in this work we carry out a preliminary inventory of the contribution of geodiversity for the ecosystem services in the region, both to guide future territorial planning and to promote a smart use of geodiversity resources. We also point out the main threats that affect geodiversity, which is esse...
A new programme – Key Geoheritage Area (KGA) – is proposed here to recognize and conserve geological sites. The KGA should be justified, in the first place, by geological (scientific) values, without considering additional educational and touristic values. For effective designation and protection, objective geological contexts with appropriate crit...
The Executive Committee of ProGEO has started the preparation of a glossary of geoconservation terms in April 2016. Since that time, members of this committee have been participating actively in e-mail discussions, not only to select which terms should be included in the glossary, but also to write the most appropriate definitions.
An inventory of geological sites based on solid and clear criteria is a first step for any geoconservation strategy. This paper describes the method used in the geoheritage inventory of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and presents its main results. This inventory developed by the geoscientific community aimed to identify geosites with scientific va...
The development of research involving the geodiversity concept has been growing in the last two decades. The quantification of spatial patterns of geodiversity seems to be one of the most promising lines of research related with natural diversity, since it explores the relations between abiotic elements. This last aspect can be crucial, not only fo...
One of the most important tasks in geoheritage management is the conservation of the geosite values, protecting them from natural or human induced degradation. In some cases, degradation still occurs even with the existence of geoconservation initiatives. Normally, the loss of geodiversity features is irreversible and protection measures are only a...
For the last 20 years there has been a growing interest in the geosciences for topics related to geoheritage: geoconservation, geotourism and geoparks. Geoheritage: Assessment, Protection, and Management is the first and only reference book to cover these main topics as well as the relationship of geoheritage to other subjects such as landscapes, c...
Geoheritage, which has been studied almost since the 18th century, has been rediscovered by the scientific community during the last 25 years. Although much remains to be done before geoheritage is recognised by society and political authorities, great improvements have been made during the last two decades, both at the research and the management...
The recognition of what is geoheritage is based on the perception that some geodiversity elements have something that it is unusually important, which means that they have an extra value. Due to this high value, these elements must be protected, particularly when the risk of degradation caused by natural or anthropic factors is critical. This chapt...
Geoparks are territories with a sustainable development strategy based on the conservation of geoheritage and its use in educational and geotourism activities, together with other natural and cultural resources of the territory. Geoparks gained the international distinction label ‘UNESCO Global Geoparks’ in 2015. The geoheritage of each geopark is...
An updated and broad perspective of geoheritage, its values and threats, and examples of how it
can be protected and managed is presented in the previous chapters by many experts from all conti- nents. Based on the present situation of geoheritage and geoconservation at the international, national and local levels, this last chapter proposes possib...
The concept of geoheritage is strongly dependent on the scale factor. We may refer to the geoheritage of a small protected area with a few square kilometres, of a country like Aus- tralia or Brazil, or even of the whole Earth. Hence, the inventory method used to identify, characterise and assess geoheritage needs to be adapted to the working scale....
Geodiversity – the abiotic component of nature – is subject to everyday individuals’ choices. The use of some of its elements in geoparks – by fostering economic sustainable development of local communities through the promotion of geotourism and education – represents a successful path to global sustainability, as argued in detail in the present w...
The Ceará Central Domain, in the northern Borborema Province/NE Brazil, encompasses important geological records (geosites) which allow understanding a relevant period of the Earth's evolution, mainly associated to Neoproterozoic Brazilian/Pan-African Cycle and West Gondwana amalgamation, besides Neoarchean to Ordovician records. The presented geoh...
O Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara, fundado em 1979 e sagrado Patrimônio Mundial da UNESCO em 1991, foi demarcado com o intuito de proteger a biodiversidade local e o vasto patrimônio arqueológico, que oferece evidências da ocupação primitiva da América do Sul no Pleistoceno. A área, em clima semiárido e solo pouco propício para a agricultura, exi...
“Ponta da Ferraria e Pico das Camarinhas” is a protected geosite in São Miguel Island in the Azores archipelago, Portugal. Due to its importance for the geoconservation strategy of the Azores UNESCO Global Geopark, monitoring actions of visitor impact were implemented in order to assure that the main geological features of this geosite continue to...
Proclaimed in 2016, the International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) emphasizes the role of global understanding to face current social, cultural, and economic changes, and focuses on the global sustainability of local actions. To implement targeted local projects with a global reach is a challenging task, but the mechanisms and actors usually...
According to UNESCO, more than one billion people around the world live with some form of disability, of whom nearly 93 million are children. These people experience inequalities in their daily lives, and have fewer opportunities to access a quality education. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) challenge all countries to implement effective...
Florianópolis is the capital of the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. The corresponding municipality has its major territory in the island of Santa Catarina (424km²) and a small part in mainland (11,9km²). The island has a unique scenic landscape with dozens of beaches, lagoons, dunes, restinga vegetation, rocky shores and mangroves. For...
The Alto Ribeira Tourist State Park (PETAR) is located in the Ribeira River valley, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The park covers an area of 36,000 hectares and includes the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of Serra do Mar and the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve. The area of PETAR integrates the Mantiqueira orogenic system of Neoproterozoic age (...
Devido a uma paisagem cênica única, o município de Florianópolis atrai milhares de turistas e um crescente número de novos moradores. Entretanto, mesmo com 45% do território definido como Área de Preservação Permanente, a diversidade de ecossistemas e de patrimônio natural está sendo degradada devido à construção de infraestruturas urbano-turística...
España es el país europeo con mayor número de Geoparques Mundiales de la UNESCO (GMU). El Geoparque de Las Loras (GLL) en el norte de la Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León es uno de los recientemente aceptados por la UNESCO, a pesar de haber comenzado sus primeros trabajos hace 12 años. El Geoparque de la Comarca de Molina de Aragón-Alto Tajo (G...
Terrestrial impact structures are geological and geomorphological features with particular importance to understand the history and evolution of the planet. Impact structures are scattered around the world but in many countries these features are under threat, essentially due to anthropic factors. Impact structures with higher scienti c value shoul...
Durante la última década, los tres miembros geoconservacionistas de la UICN (SGE, ProGEO y SEDPGyM) han estado contribuyendo a la inclusión y consideración apropiada del patrimonio geológico y la geodiversidad en las políticas de la UICN. Resumimos aquí el reciente proceso de elaborar, modificar, defen- der y votar en el Congreso Mundial de la Natu...