Around 15% of the earths land surface is underlain by carbonate rocks most of which have distinctive karst landforms. Most caves are in carbonate rocks but there are also many lava caves. Caves are particularly long-lived landforms that have retained and protected important pieces of Earth’s long and tumultuous geological past. These range from ancient mineral deposits, long gone oceans and early forms of life, to unique cave adapted organisms, extinct megafauna remains and the early manifestation of human art. Without caves and karst, such information would have been largely unavailable to us. Karst and caves are among the most exquisite and valuable landscapes in our planet, with intrinsic touristic and economic value. There is also a particularly strong relationship between biodiversity and geodiversity in caves and in karst areas. The protection of surface and underground karst geoecosystems is particularly relevant to Goal 15 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and as ~10% of the world’s population gain their water supplies from karst, either from discrete springs or from karst groundwater, protection is also relevant for Goal 6. However, caves and karst areas present particular challenges to land managers because environmental change on the surface has impacts underground and change underground can impact on the surface, for example via collapse. 

The Caves and Karst Working Group (CKWG) provides support, advice and liaison regarding cave and karst protection and management around the world with particular reference to caves and karst in protected areas, most notably World Heritage Sites and UNESCO Global Geoparks but also in Ramsar Sites and in sites that are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Members of the CKWG have a wide range of skills and subject experience, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of cave and karst studies. In 2022 members of the CKWG published a second edition of the Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection which aim to convey an update of global best practice that is accessible to general readers, while providing technical details of interest to the specialist.

The CKWG Terms of Reference (ToR)

The purpose of the IUCN/WCPA/GSG Caves and Karst Working Group (CKWG) is to facilitate conservation of caves and karst and specifically:

• To provide advice and guidance on all aspects of geoheritage as they relate to the establishment and effective management of karst and caves in protected areas;
• To provide specific advice on the conservation and effective management of karst and cave geoheritage in protected areas and to prepare guidance material as appropriate;
• To identify significant karst geoheritage areas that could be formally reserved as protected areas by nations;
• To provide specialist geoheritage advice for the assessment of UNESCO World Heritage and UNESCO Global Geopark site nominations that contain caves and karst areas;
• To facilitate the integration of cave and karst geoheritage into all relevant IUCN programmes and activities;
• To provide, as appropriate, a professional interface for UNESCO/IUCN between karst and cave geoheritage stakeholders and the mining industry and others.

As the CKWG operates within the GSG there is an emphasis on geodiversity in these ToR. However, in karst in general and in caves in particular there is a strong relationship between geodiversity and biodiversity. Hence conservation and management of biodiversity and geoheritage go hand-in-hand and demand a holistic approach. In recognition of this the CKWG has established links with the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cave Invertebrate Specialist Group (CISG).

History and significant achievements

At the 1992 World Parks Congress in Venezuela a “Network on Cave Protection and Management” led by John Watson was established within the IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA). The CNPPA later changed its name to the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the Network became known as the WCPA Working Group on Cave and Karst Protection. This was later renamed as the WCPA Caves and Karst Task Force and then, following an IUCN internal review, as the WCPA Caves and Karst Specialist Group (CKSG). In 2017, following another review the WCPA terminated the CKSG and in 2018 a Caves and Karst Working Group was established within the WCPA Geoheritage Specialist Group.

Over the 25+ years of its existence members of the Group have made many contributions to the management of caves and karst but the most significant publication has undoubtedly been the IUCN Protected Area Programme Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection (Watson et al., Eds, 1997). This involved input from many land managers, speleologists, karst researchers, cave explorers and others throughout the world. Another highly important contribution was the 2008 publication: World Heritage Caves and Karst - A Thematic Study by Paul Williams with input from the Caves and Karst Task Force. This formed part of the contribution of the WCPA to the World Heritage Convention.

Work Programme

At the 2018 Vilm Meeting of the GSG the CKWG was given two primary goals

(a) revision of IUCN Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection first published 1997. Professor David Gillieson, one of the editors of the 1997 document has agreed to take a lead role in the revision.

(b) producing a report on Cave and Karst geoheritage in international protected areas other than WHS, specifically Global Geoparks, sites in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and Ramsar sites. John Gunn is leading on this and is producing databases listing sites in each category that have significant cave or karst geoheritage value.