Geoconservation and geoethics are two emergent domains in geosciences. During the last decade, both topics have increasingly gained the attention of geoscientists and the society, but the main geoethical dilemmas related to the conservation and management of geoheritage are not clearly identified yet. This work aims at providing an overview on the meaning and scope of geoethics and how it intersects geoheritage and the practice of geoconservation. Some case studies—many of which are under current debate and have a high potential as geoeducational resources—are presented for addressing ethical, social and cultural settings as well as dilemmas affecting geoheritage. We find that there are particular cases (mostly concerning the trade of fossils, and in particular the growing concern about activities that rely on amber from Myanmar) for which a clear dichotomy of views makes them much more problematic and complex. These cases deserve more suitable legal frameworks that help implement more balanced ethical standards and practice guidelines for geoconservation, guarantee human rights and needs in relation to that heritage and contribute to the advancement of geosciences. Particular attention is given to palaeontological heritage, as fossils are among the most threatened elements of the Earth’s diversity and are in need of more effective and statutory protection measures. In the context of geoethics applied to palaeontological heritage, and given the need of a clear understanding of what ethics in palaeontology means, a new concept—palaeontoethics—is proposed and formally defined.

地球保护和地球伦理学是地球科学中的两个新兴领域。在过去的十年中，这两个主题越来越受到地球科学家和社会的关注，但与地质遗产保护和管理相关的主要地球伦理困境尚未明确。这项工作旨在概述地球伦理学的含义和范围，以及它如何与地质遗产和地理保护实践相交。一些案例研究——其中许多正在辩论中，并且具有作为地理教育资源的巨大潜力——提出解决伦理、社会和文化环境以及影响地理遗产的困境。我们发现在某些特殊情况下（主要是关于化石贸易，特别是对依赖缅甸琥珀的活动的日益关注），明确的观点二分法使它们更加成问题和复杂。这些案例值得拥有更合适的法律框架，以帮助实施更平衡的地理保护伦理标准和实践指南，保障与该遗产相关的人权和需求，并促进地球科学的进步。古生物遗产受到特别关注，因为化石是地球多样性中最受威胁的元素之一，需要更有效和法定的保护措施。- 古生物学 -被提出并正式定义。