Page 235 - Fundamentals of Geomorphology

218 PROCESS AND FORM

Table 8.3 Protected karst areas in South-East Asia, 2000
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Country Karst area (km ) Protected karst area (km ) Protected karst area (%) Number of protected areas
Cambodia 20,000 0 0 0
Indonesia 145,000 22,000 15 44
Laos 30,000 3,000 10 10
Malaysia 18,000 8,000 45 28
Myanmar (Burma) 80,000 650 1 2
Papua New Guinea 50,000 0 0 0
Philippines 35,000 10,000 29 14
Thailand 20,000 5,000 25 41
Vietnam 60,000 4,000 7 15
Total 458,000 53,150 12 154

Source: Adapted from Day and Urich (2000)

mining operations continue outside the protected area, Papua New Guinea, karst conservation is minimal, but
where the landscape is badly scarred. additional protected areas may be designated in these
The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas countries as well as in Vietnam and in Laos. Even so,
recognizes karst landscapes as critical targets for South-East Asia’s karstlands have an uncertain future.
protected area status. The level of protection given in It should be stressed that the designation of karst as
different countries is highly variable, despite the almost protected areas in South-East Asia is not based on the
universal aesthetic, archaeological, biological, cultural, intrinsic or scientific value of the karst landscapes, but
historical, and recreational significance of karst land- on unrelated contexts, such as biological diversity, timber
scapes. Take the case of South-East Asia, one of the resources, hydrological potential, or archaeological and
world’s outstanding carbonate karst landscapes, with a recreational value. Nor, it must be said, does the conferral
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total karst area of 458,000 km , or 10 per cent of the of a protected area status guarantee effective protection
land area (Day and Urich 2000). Karstlands in this region from such threats as forest clearance, agricultural inroads,
are topographically diverse and include cockpit and cone or the plundering of archaeological materials.
karst, tower karst, and pinnacle karst, together with The conservation of karst in the Caribbean is in a
extensive dry valleys, cave systems, and springs. They similar position to that in South-East Asia (Kueny and
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include classic tropical karst landscapes: the Gunung Day 1998). Some 130,000 km , more than half the land
Sewu of Java, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol, the pinna- area of the Caribbean, is limestone karst. Much of it is
cles and caves of Gunong Mulu, and the karst towers of found on the Greater Antilles, with other significant areas
Vietnam and peninsular Malaysia. Human impacts on in the Bahamas, Anguilla, Antigua, the Cayman Islands,
the South-East Asian karst landscapes are considerable: the Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Trinidad and
less than 10 per cent of the area maintains its natural Tobago, and the Netherlands Antilles. Features include
vegetation. About 12 per cent of the regional karst cockpits, towers, dry valleys, dolines, and caves. Humans
landscape has been provided nominal protection by des- have impacted on the karst landscapes and the necessity
ignation as a protected area, but levels of protection for protection at regional and international level is rec-
vary from country to country (Table 8.3). Protection is ognized. However, karst is in almost all cases protected
significant in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and by accident – karst areas happen to lie within parks,
Thailand. Indonesia, for instance, has forty-four pro- reserves, and sanctuaries set up to safeguard biodiversity,
tected karst areas, which amount to 15 per cent of its natural resources, or cultural and archaeological sites.
total karst area. In Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), and Very few areas are given protected area status because