O Geopatrimônio no licenciamento ambiental do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

In the same year that Rio Grande do Sul became the Brazilian state with the largest number of geoparks recognized by UNESCO, regulation was published to include the issue in environmental permits at state level. Environmental impact assessment is a support mechanism for decision-making on major construction projects aimed at avoiding significant impacts on the health and safety of communities or compromising the balance of environmental systems. Following the current legislation and aiming to promote geoconservation within environmental management in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the State Environmental Protection Foundation Henrique Luis Roessler (FEPAM) published the Technical Guideline no. 12/2023 establishes procedures for identifying and assessing geosites and geodiversity sites. This article aims to introduce the instrument that FEPAM has adopted in the environmental permits for activities that have the potential to impact or pollute the environment. The technical guideline seeks to mitigate conflicts between economic activities and the geoheritage. Key challenges and advancements of the guideline include: i) proposing a methodology for inventorying and evaluating sites of relevance; ii) inclusion of the issue in the routine environmental impact assessment within the state environmental permits system; and iii) fostering inter-institutional dialogue to share the highlighting areas of geoconservation interest during environmental permits system. Therefore, this initiative is pioneering in explicitly incorporating this issue in the analysis of public organization, establishing mechanisms to safeguard of regional geoheritage.