With the major attention being drawn towards wildlife conservation, conservation of rocks, sediments, soils, fossils, landforms and processes that form the physical elements of our environment are being undervalued. These have their own diversity a geodiversity - that has value to our society but is under threat from a variety of natural processes and human activities. This book is the first to focus on the geodiversity of the planet and the threats to this diversity, to explain the value of inanimate nature and to assess the approaches that should be taken to preserve the diversity. The content matter of the book begins with an overall definition of geodiversity and the interrelationships between geodiversity and biodiversity at different scales. The book looks at the value of geodiversity to society, in terms of cultural, economic and functional value for example, before progressing on to the threats to geodiversity that exist, such as mineral extraction, dumping, river management. The book ends with looking at the traditional approaches to protect geodiversity and the new management agenda which is starting to be used instead.