SPELEOLOGICAL HERITAGE CULTURAL RELEVANCE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PROTECTING IT THROUGH HERITAGE LISTING: a critique of IPHAN’s position based on the case study of the Serra do Gandarela Paleoburrow in MG

Abstract

The article aims to analyze the decision handed down by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), which declared the Paleoburrow located in Serra do Gandarela, Minas Gerais, not to be a listed monument, on the grounds that the lack of human appropriation of the speleological property would make it impossible to value its cultural relevance. The issue is tackled in a theoretical argument from the perspective of Value-Based Conservation, according to which it is the values that give significance to an
asset and should be analyzed in the specific case. After exploratory research, it argues that caves can be considered natural and cultural heritage and presents the values that can be attributed specifically to the Paleoburrow, guaranteeing its cultural significance. It confronts IPHAN’s decision with national legislation, with the Federal Constitution as the main theoretical framework, and criticizes
Ordinance 375/2018, which establishes the municipality’s Material Cultural Heritage Policy, supporting the appropriateness of the asset’s listing. It concludes that IPHAN’s decision fails to do it considering the myriad of values that can be attributed to speleological and paleontological heritage and, by denying the cultural relevance of assets that are not the object of cultural uses, the authority acts unconstitutionally.