Share Your Love Story of Geodiversity

Guest Article by Yose Cormier, Coordinator of the IUCN #NatureForAll initiative

"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." Baba Dioum, 1968

Each rock, each fossil, landform has a story to tell. And for many of us, we have stories to tell about them. The moment we saw snowcapped mountains for the first time. The time we found the perfect agate on a beach. The first time we saw an ammonite fossil in a museum. Event the quiet moment contemplating the vastness of the ocean sitting on a rocky outcrop.

These moments are all tied to geodiversity, the diversity of Earth's non-living nature which includes rocks, minerals, fossils, soils, water bodies, landforms, and the processes that create them.

Landforms like wetlands, volcanoes, the ocean floor, and limestone outcrops each host unique ecosystems that contribute to our planet's biodiversity

These moments, sometimes just one, sometimes an accumulation of many, are the ones that inspire. They inspire us to learn more about our environment, to understand how everything is connected, and ultimately, it inspires us to take action to preserve it.

By protecting geodiverse sites, we not only conserve our planet's history, but also its rich biodiversity.

To celebrate geodiversity and inspire action for nature, you are invited to share your #LoveGeodiversity moment with geodiversity with the IUCN’s #NatureForAll initiative. When did you

Help inspire others to learn about geodiversity, understand its importance and fall in love with its beauty and importance by sharing the moment you fell in love with geodiversity or what inspires you to take action for geodiversity?

Between now and October 6:

• Be inspired by stories from around the world on the #NatureForAll website.

• Capture your #LoveGeodiveristy moment (film it, write it or take a photo(s) of it) and then submit it here.

• Organise an event – in person or virtual – celebrating your community’s love of nature and add it here.

• Promote geodiversity on social media and tag #NatureForAll.

The #NatureForAll initiative is a global movement to inspire love of nature. Spearheaded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it is a convening space for organisations around the world to share successes, find ways to collaborate, and celebrate the amazing work being done globally to address the threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution. It is led by a core group of committed partners: the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the Alana Institute, the Children & Nature Network, Parks Canada and Sustainable Forestry Initiative-Project Learning Tree.