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Dear friends and colleagues, this is the abstract for Kyriazi and Zouros's paper entitled "Conserving the Lesvos Petrified Forest" which is going to be presented at the IIC London Congress on 17th September 2008.

Kyriazi, Evangelia and Zouros, Nickolas
Conserving the Lesvos Petrified Forest

Conservation and Access: Contributions to the 2008 IIC Congress, London (2008)

The Lesvos Petrified Forest was created by volcanic activity in the Lower Middle Miocene and has been a protected area since 1985. Since 1997, the newly founded Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest has taken over research, excavation, conservation and restoration and undertakes protective measures in this area. Conservators treat dozens of petrified trees and face several problems, including unstable temperature and relative humidity (RH) conditions, as fossils are exposed to the open air. Conservators perform innovative work by applying and testing various treatment methods to withstand both weather conditions and careless visitors. Research and educational work are two of the areas into which the conservation team are putting a lot of effort, aiming to sensitize visitors and save the fossils for the generations to come.