Аннотация:More than 30 specialists from 11 countries made 17 contributions to this volume with findings on how to best preserve fragile and vulnerable karst environments. The studies are driven by the necessity to devise a new international agreement to protect karst regions, which make up nearly 30% of continental land surface. The papers cover topics ranging from karst dynamics, karst hosted mineral deposits, karst environments, archaeology and art, water resources, mining and tourism. Political issues, such as cave protection, land use planning and legal boundaries for cave and karst area protection are also touched upon. While some major karst areas are already protected (e.g. those included in the World Heritage List) there are many features, often small and not scenically spectacular, which require specific international agreements in order to recognize and protected them. This monograph proposes and details such an agreement. The volume is profusely illustrated with 126 diagrams, schemas and photos and includes 14 tables.