Abstract

England, and the UK more widely, have robust and mature statutory and voluntary frameworks for delivering geoconservation. Critical to achieving this advanced position was the inclusion of geoconservation within the first nature conservation legislation enacted in Britain in 1949. The development of this legislation benefited greatly from the wisdom of a number of committees set up to inform government thinking. Many of these committees were advised by the scientific community, including geologists and geomorphologists. The work and influence of these committees in establishing geoconservation as part of statutory nature conservation is explored, and the main statutory and policy milestones which have guided and shaped geoconservation in England since 1949 are described. The rise of the voluntary geoconservation movement in the late 1980s is also explored.