Identifying and Protecting Geological Heritage in the Solar System

The pace of space exploration has visibly accelerated, reminiscent of the 1960s space race era. However, following this reinvigorated drive to establish a presence in the Solar System, a critical issue demands attention: exogeoconservation, the protection of irreplaceable geological heritage on celestial bodies beyond Earth. As scientific and commercial ventures prepare to exploit extraterrestrial resources at increasingly faster pace, exogeoconservation can no longer be ignored. The worlds we seek to explore and exploit contain invaluable records of Solar System evolution and quantitative, data-driven foundations are now required for balanced policies enabling responsible resource utilization while protecting the geological heritage.

While planetary protection policies set strict rules to prevent biological contamination of other worlds, no parallel system exists for managing the impact on abiotic environments and materials. Over 20 years ago, the concept of "planetary parks" was proposed to protect unique geological sites [1]. More recently, authors have called for the establishment of exogeoconservation as a discipline based on terrestrial geoconservation practices that protect geoheritage, i.e. geological features of scientific, cultural or aesthetic importance [2]. However, implementation has stalled.

Existing international laws like the Outer Space Treaty lack mechanisms to identify and designate geological conservation areas on celestial bodies. And, although it has been proposed to draw an example from the Antarctic Treaty System’s regulation system, a fundamental barrier remains: criteria for identifying exogeoheritage features are undefined and attempts to directly translate geoconservation methods to Mars using orbital data have failed to pinpoint targets for protection [3]. This underscores the fundamental lack of strategies and policies to inventory and assess the significance of extraterrestrial geological environments in the context of a fast evolving exploration pace. On Earth, geoconservation relies on extensive field mapping and hierarchization based on rarity, scientific value, and other factors, and now analogous exogeoheritage assessment tools and benchmarks tailored to remote planetary data are needed. The new space race era presents both challenges and opportunities, and it is a collective responsibility to seize this moment and chart a course that balances progress with conservation.

 

[1] Cockell, C., & Horneck, G. (2004). A planetary park system for Mars. Space policy, 20(4), 291-295.

[2] Matthews, J. J., & McMahon, S. (2018). Exogeoconservation: Protecting geological heritage on celestial bodies. Acta Astronautica, 149, 55-60.

[3] Fletcher, C., Van Kranendonk, M., & Oliver, C. (2025). Practical exogeoconservation of Mars: Lessons from the Mars Desert Research Station, Utah. Planetary and Space Science, 256, 106038.