The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological and

geomorphological Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or ...

features of Britain. These sites display

sediments Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

, rocks, minerals,

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

, and features of the landscape that make a special contribution to an understanding and appreciation of Earth science and the geological history of Britain, which stretches back more than three billion years. The intention of the project, which was devised in 1974 by George Black and William Wimbledon working for the Governmental advisory agency, the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), was activated in 1977. It aimed to provide the scientific rationale and information base for the conservation of geological SSSIs ( Sites of Special Scientific Interest, protected under British law (latterly the

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species (especia ...

, as amended 1995). The NCC and country conservation agencies were established in 1990 when JNCC became established ( Environmental Protection Act 1990) and took over responsibility for managing the GCR site assessment process, and publishing accounts of accepted sites. By 2000, over 3000 localities had been identified as qualifying for GCR standard (SSSI standard). NCC and later JNCC, have published detailed site descriptions of the GCR localities. For part of the GCR Series of books, commercial publishers were involved, principally Chapman & Hall. To date 36 of the planned 45 volumes have been published, with volumes 15 to 36 being published by JNCC directly, and available for sale through the Natural History Book Service, Totnes.

References

* Ellis NV (ed), 1996 ''An Introduction to the Geological Conservation Review'' JNCC, Peterborough {{reflist

External links

GCR web site
Conservation in the United Kingdom Geology of the United Kingdom