Asier Hilario’s scientific contributions

The announcement on October 28, 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.

An IUGS Geological Heritage Site is a key place with extraordinary geological elements or processes of the highest scientific relevance, used as a global reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history. The Second 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites, as with the First 100, receive IUGS recognition because they are the of highest scientific value. They are the world’s best demonstrations of geologic features and processes. They are the sites of fabulous discoveries of the Earth and its history. They are sites that served to develop the science of geology, particularly its early history. They are located worldwide, and they are geologically diverse. Their visibility is greatly enhanced by IUGS recognition. They are attractively illustrated and described in this Book “The Second 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites”, and they will be promoted further on the website of the International Commission on Geoheritage. www.iugs-geoheritage.org The Second 100 Geological Heritage Sites are distributed in 53 countries. Some of the sites are classic and known to almost all geologists, but few geologists know most of the sites because of their diverse types and geographic settings. Older geologists know many; young geologists few. The announcement of the “Second 100” and the release of the attractive book at the 37th International Geological Congress in Busan, Republic of Korea on 27 August 2024 will lead to many of the sites becoming known for the first time to large numbers of geologists and the public. Interest in individual sites will increase as will geo-visitors. Many of the “Second 100” are well protected in national parks, geoparks, and natural reserves, but many are not. Recogition and visibility of the “Second 100” by IUGS can lead to their further appreciation, to their use as educational resources, and, most importantly, to their preservation.

The work of awareness-raising in relation to the importance of the geodiversity and geoheritage in the conservation of Nature at several levels has given its fruit at least in Spain. This is the case of the introduction of these issues in the Ordesa-Viñamala Action Plan 2017–2025 as key-actions. Taking into account that the WNBR are laboratories of export of visions and experience disseminated along the Earth, let us hope that this pioneering initiative go spreading across the network over time.

During the last 8 years since the update that we provided at ProGEO’s 6th Inter national Symposium in 2010, there have been significant advances towards geoconservation in Spain. We herein summarize the main achievements, initiatives underway, and the needs and perspectives for the future, again hoping to contribute towards the common goals of ProGEO at national and international levels. The members of the Commission on Geological Heritage of the Geological Society of Spain (CPG-SGE) keep active working on geoconservation in Spain from their universities, research centers, government organizations and NGOs. We are grateful to their enthusiasm and support, and count on them for the future, because much still remains to be done.

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 Naturaleza de la UICN de 2016 las resoluciones relacionadas con la conservación del patrimonio geológico y la geodiversidad, es decir, relacionadas con la geoconservación. Estas tres organizaciones consiguieron que, en varias resoluciones, se nombrara explícitamente la geodiver- sidad y/o el patrimonio geológico; y que en otras se utilizaran términos inclusivos como patrimonio natural o diversidad natural, en cumplimiento de la resolución WCC-2012-Res-048 de la propia UICN. Además, redac- taron y propusieron una moción para la conservación del patrimonio geológico mueble que fue finalmente aprobada como resolución WCC-2016-Res-083. Intentamos aquí resumir el significado y analizar las posibles implicaciones de estas resoluciones, proponiendo líneas de acción para el futuro.

During the last decade, the three geoconservationist members of IUCN (SGE, ProGEO and SEDPGyM) have been contributing towards the inclusion and appropriate consideration of geoheritage and geodiversity in IUCN policies. We herein synthesize the recent process of elaborating, modifying, defending and voting at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress the resolutions related with the conservation of geoheritage and geodiversity, that is, related with geoconservation. These three organizations succeeded L. Carcavilla, J. Duque-Macías, J. Giménez, A. Hilario, M. Monge-Ganuzas, J. Vegas y A. Rodríguez (Eds.), Patrimonio geológico, gestionando la parte abiótica del patrimonio natural. Cuadernos del Museo Geominero, nº 21 Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid, 2017. ISBN 978-84-9138-032-0 © Instituto Geológico y Minero de España L. CARCAVILLA, J. DUQUE-MACÍAS, J. GIMÉNEZ, A. HILARIO, M. MONGE-GANUZAS, J. VEGAS Y A. RODRÍGUEZ (EDS.) 248 in explicitly referring to geodiversity and geoheritage in the resolutions, and to use inclusive terms such as natural heritage or natural diversity in others, in compliance with IUCN resolution WCC-2012-Res-048. In addition, they drafted and proposed a motion for the conservation of the moveable geoheritage that was finally approved as Resolution WCC-2016-Res-083. We herein attempt to summarize their meaning and analyze the potential implications of these resolutions, proposing lines of action for the future.

El número 21 de la Serie Cuadernos del Museo Geominero que lleva por título “Patrimonio geológico, gestionando la parte abiótica del patrimonio natural”, y que recoge los trabajos presentados a las sesiones científicas de la XII Reunión Nacional de la Comisión de Patrimonio Geológico, de la Sociedad Geológica de España (SGE), celebrada en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Menorca entre los días 6 y 10 de junio de 2017. El patrimonio geológico responde hoy a una nueva manera de entender los recursos geológicos como bienes de interés científico, didáctico y turístico que pueden ofrecer interesantes posibilidades para el desarrollo local, siempre y cuando se den garantías para su protección.

Resumen.-En el Geoparque de la Costa Vasca se han localizado unos 50 hornos excavados en el sustrato. Muchos de ellos cambiaron de uso con el transcurso del tiempo, desde una primera función basada en la obtención de hierro por reducción, a ser dedicados más tarde a la fabricación de cal. Estos hornos podrían etiquetarse como "Hornos Vascos": hornos de reducción de mineral de hierro, de tecnología pre-hidráulica, encajados en el sustrato rocoso y de grandes dimensiones, en principio los más grandes de Europa. En el verano de 2014 se excavó uno de estos hornos en el paraje de Zelaitxueta (Mutriku), el cual destaca por poseer el foso más profundo de todos los conocidos hasta ahora. Esta iniciativa representa un buen ejemplo de cómo los geoparques trabajan habitualmente en la puesta en valor de la vertiente cultural de la geología. Palabras clave: Calero, Geoparque Costa Vasca, Horno vasco, Mutriku, Reducción hierro. Abstract: About 50 furnaces have been found in the Basque Coast Geopark. Some of them were reused from former iron furnaces (bloomeries) to late limekilns. These structures could be classified as "Hornos Vascos" (Basque Furnaces) defined like manual-powered, cylindrical shaft shaped, rock-hosted, giant bloomery furnaces (probably the biggest ones described in Europe). The Zelaitxueta furnace, excavated in the Basque Coast Geopark in 2014, is characterized by the largest pit ever found. This initiative is a good example of how geoparks work with the cultural implications of the geology of the territory.