Geoconservation Management Options
Management options for sites and areas of geoconservation significance can be broadly grouped under four headings as below. Whilst these options were originally identified in the context of forestry planning (Dixon et al. 1997a), they are probably broadly applicable to regions subject to a wide range of human activities. Determination of the appropriate option for a given feature mainly depends on its sensitivity rating. The numerical sensitivity ratings referred to below relate to the 10 - point scale of sensitivity described elsewhere on this website (see "The Sensitivity of Geodiversity"). Determination of the sensitivity of a site depends upon knowledge of its nature and response to processes and disturbances affecting the values of the site.

The four broad management options are:

1. Protection
The exclusion of artificial disturbances from a significant site or area is appropriate when the geoconservation values are of sufficiently high significance as to warrant preservation, and of sufficiently great sensitivity that disturbance is likely to degrade the values.

This management option may apply to significant places with a sensitivity rating of 1 to 4 and, in the case of some highly significant features, to places with a sensitivity rating of 5 or 6. Examples may include parts of major active karst or fluvial systems, some classes of aeolian landforms, and fossil deposits of limited extent.

2. Special Prescriptions
Some significant features exhibit a lesser degree of sensitivity, so that their values can be preserved in the context of some development activities provided these are conducted with special modifications (prescriptions) to avoid degradation of the significant values. Examples of special prescriptions include:

3. General Prescriptions
Some significant features may have values that are relatively robust to many artificial disturbances. The values of such features can be preserved in the context of a variety of development activities. The appropriate management prescriptions are those general prescriptions to maintain overall environmental quality which should apply to any responsibly - conducted development activities, such as normal provisions to minimise soil erosion, water turbidity, and so on. In Tasmania, many of the provisions of the Forest Practices Code (Forestry Commission 1993) are general prescriptions of this sort which apply to the conduct of roading and logging operations.

This management option may apply to significant features with sensitivity ratings of 8 to 10. Examples may include significant large scale structural landforms or medium to large scale geological features.

4. Precautionary Management (Further work required to establish Management Requirements)
The management requirements of some places may be unknown, due either to poor understanding of the natural processes affecting the response of a significant phenomenon to disturbance, or because there are indications that significant and sensitive features may be present but insufficient survey work has been done to confirm or refute the existence of such features.

In accordance with the Precautionary Principle of conservation practice (see for e.g., ACIUCN 1996) appropriate management in such places involves deferring disturbing activities, or at least reducing their intensity to an unproblematic level, until necessary investigations have been undertaken to determine the appropriate management option (see "Determination of Appropriate Management Options and Prescriptions" this page below).

Sensitivity Zoning
Where sufficient information exists on the spatial distribution of phenomena of significant geoconservation value in a region, and the processes controlling their response to disturbance are sufficiently well understood, areas can be zoned according to their sensitivity to disturbance. The ability to zone regions in this fashion provides an important planning tool which can be used to minimise conflict between conservation and development values at an early stage of planning, so avoiding unnecessary conflict and wastage of time and money (see also "Identification of Significant Sites and Processes: Ad Hoc Identification of Values").

In a major sensitivity zoning exercise of this sort, Eberhard (1994, 1996) has zoned Tasmania's extensive and significant Junee - Florentine Karst System into High, Medium and Low Sensitivity Zones, for which he recommended, respectively, Protection, Special Prescription and General Prescription management options as described above. Since a large portion of the Junee - Florentine karst system lies within State forest, this zoning scheme has the potential to greatly reduce future conflict over the conduct of forestry operations in the area. Baichtal et al. (1996) have used a similar system of 'Karst Vulnerability Zoning' in Alaskan karst areas for the US Forest Service, which is related to Eberhard's zoning scheme.

Determination of Appropriate Management Options and Prescriptions
As noted above, the ability to determine the appropriate management options and prescriptions for a feature or system of geconservation significance depends on knowledge of its sensitivity to disturbance, which in turn is dependant upon knowledge of its nature and the processes determining its response to artificial disturbances.

At the broadest level, some general distinctions can be made between the sensitivities of significant bedrock, landform and soil features to disturbance, and these may imply a need for differing management options (see "Some General Distinctions between the Sensitivities of Bedrock, Landform and Soil features"). However, there are numerous exceptions to such generalisations, and it is necessary to consider each case on its own merits. Furthermore, even where such broad generalisations apply to a specific case, there is still a need to determine specific details of the management prescriptions relevant to each site. Sensitivity to disturbance may vary even within a given class of phenomena, depending upon local environmental conditions, so that rule of thumb principles may not always be applicable.

As noted above, difficulties may occur where insufficient information is available to determine appropriate management options for a site, and it may be necessary to apply the Precautionary Principle in the interim. Information may be deficient in one or both of two ways:

1. Lack of certainty as to whether or not significant and sensitive features are present, especially where there are indications that significant features may be present. The solution here is to conduct the necessary research and mapping to establish the presence or otherwise of such features, and document their characteristics (see Identification of Significant Sites and Processes).

2. Lack of understanding of the processes controlling the response of the feature or system to artificial disturbance. In general, this means a lack of understanding of the natural processes occurring at the site, and the ways in which artificial disturbance may alter these processes. The remainder of this sub-section considers this aspect.

The Need for Process Studies
Whereas relict landforms and most significant bedrock geological features are the product of past natural processes which are no longer active, many significant landform and soil phenomena are actively forming features and systems whose continuing development is controlled by ongoing natural physical and biological processes. In addition, some relict (inactive) landforms such as old vegetated dunes are also highly sensitive to degradation if current environmental processes affecting them are changed. It is one of the major aims of geoconservation to maintain natural rates and magnitudes of change in such processes so as to preserve the integrity of the landform and soil features themselves, as well as to maintain the role they play in broader ecological and environmental processes (see "The Aims of Geoconservation").

Thus, in order to identify appropriate management options and prescriptions for significant landform and soil systems, it is necessary to understand the natural processes governing those systems so as to be able to:

Although relevant process studies may have been undertaken elsewhere, it is important to remember that no two systems will be identical, so that some degree of local study will always be necessary to determine how geomorphic and soil systems behave under the local environmental conditions.

The Georegional Approach described elsewhere in these pages may also provide a useful guide to designing geoconservation management prescriptions for active systems, since a georegional analysis can provide a guide to broad variations in process types and sensitivities between regions which may imply broad differences in the sorts of management required between those regions (see "The Georegional Approach: Process and Sensitivity Analysis").

In Tasmania, most basic earth science research to date has been directed towards bedrock geology issues of economic (mining and engineering) relevance, although some studies of groundwater, soil erosion and slope stability have been undertaken which are relevant to environmental management. However, little is known of many aspects of geomorphic and soil processes in Tasmania, and a greater research effort in these directions is needed from a geoconservation perspective. Whilst some karst process studies have and are being conducted by both Forestry Tasmania and the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service (Eberhard & Kiernan 1990, Houshold 1997), research into fluvial geomorphic processes (as distinct from hydrology per se ) in Tasmania has been quite limited, with the only current work being research by the Parks and Wildlife Service into the erosion by boat wakes of the banks of the Lower Gordon River (Bradbury et al. 1995). Similarly, whilst studies of soil erosion have been undertaken, little is known of soil formation rates, or the impact of various activities on soil structure and pedological processes. Without such information, it may be impossible to say whether a given measured rate of soil erosion or degradation is above or below an acceptable threshold of disturbance (i.e., sustainable or not).

In order to be able to arrive at appropriate management options and prescriptions for sensitive elements of geodiversity, then, local studies of geological, geomorphic and soil processes need to be conducted at a level which will allow the impact of disturbance on significant features and systems to be understood. Whilst the amount of research necessary for this purpose may vary widely, in the case of Tasmania it is evident that geomorphic and soil process studies to date are in many instances inadequate to allow confident identification of appropriate management prescriptions, so that some application of the Precautionary Principle is necessary.