BIODIVERSITY, GEODIVERSITY AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY: THE NEXUS.

Geographical areas with high biodiversity, high geodiversity and high cultural diversity tend to coincide. However, conservation strategies tend to consider these aspect of diversity separately, instead of considering them all together. Application of an integrated approach could potentially improve effectiveness of conservation actions and deliver significant benefits both to human and to the natural environment. Practical implementation of the integrated approach might, however, be problematic due to the fact that conservation actions have to consider different aspects of regional and global environmental change. In this context protecting isolated areas with high biodiversity, geodiversity and/or cultural diversity might not deliver desirable outcomes. Consequences of ongoing climate change deserve particular attention as it is not clear how flora and fauna could adapt to climate change in areas with currently low levels of geodiversity, and which consequences this might have for human society. Here we critically evaluate opportunities and limitations of an integrated approach to conservation of biodiversity, geodiversity and cultural diversity in the context of global environmental change, and consider potential applications of Nature-based Solutions to address this issue. Based on this critical analysis we propose practical and policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]