Parks Stewardship Forum

In this paper the focus is on the surface landforms that are found on carbonate karst, on caves within carbonate karst, and on the springs that discharge from carbonate karst. Around 20.3 million km² of the earth’s land surface is characterized by the presence of carbonate rocks. Most is potentially karst. These areas have distinctive surface landforms of high geodiversity value, together with over 10,000 km of cave passages, most of the largest springs on Earth, and many smaller springs. Karst areas and caves commonly have high aesthetic value and high biodiversity value, hosting many endemic and threatened plant and animal species. Carbonate karsts are present in 75 World Heritage Properties, 67 UNESCO Global Geoparks, 151 Biosphere Reserves, and 124 Ramsar Sites. However, the areal extent of karst in these and other protected areas, and the extent of cave and karst geodiversity, are rarely documented. There is a clear need for inventories to inform geoconservation. Two recent IUCN resolutions have important implications for cave and karst geoconservation, and new guidelines for cave and karst protection will be published in 2022.