OR/14/063 Foreword

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Whitbread, K, Ellen, R, Callaghan, E, Gordon, J E, and Arkley, S. 2014. East Lothian geodiversity audit. British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/14/063.

Constant development pressure on Scotland’s land and resources demands a greater awareness and understanding of the dynamics of our natural world in order to deliver a sustainable environment for the future. Geodiversity is an important environmental asset, linking people, places, rocks, soils, landscape and ecosystems, but it remains one of the least recognised and appreciated.

In East Lothian, several nationally and internationally important geological sites have previously been identified and protected by statutory measures (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). However, these sites form only a limited part of the area’s geodiversity. In order to recognise and protect a broader range of important geological and geomorphological features in East Lothian, East Lothian Council has commissioned the British Geological Survey (BGS) to audit and assess the geodiversity of East Lothian.

This report produced by BGS is a systematic inventory and evaluation of geodiversity sites in East Lothian. This audit has the potential to help inform planning policy and planning decisions with respect to the protection of the area’s geodiversity. It also may provide an information resource to support education, and management activities that promote the preservation of geodiversity sites and geological resources.