Editorial 63-2.indd


127

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Sustainability of the karst

 environment – Dinaric karst
and other karst regions

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doi: 104154/gc.2010.08

Geologia Croatica 63/2 127 Zagreb 2010

Geologia CroaticaGeologia Croatica

EDI TO RIAL

Dear readers,

This issue 63/2 of Geologia Croatica is largely dedicated 

to the topic of karst, a theme we would like to include more 

often in our journal. Besides the usual editor, Geologia 
Croatica also has a guest editor Dr. Ognjen Bonacci. He has 

been appointed guest editor for this volume since he was the 

scientifi c organizer of the international interdisciplinary con-

ference Sustainability of the karst environment – Dinaric 
karst and other karst regions, September 23−26, 2009. The 

conference was organized by the Centre for Karst Gospić, 

and was held at the spectacular Plitvice Lakes (UNESCO 

World Heritage Site), Croatia. 

The objective of this international conference was to 

provide theoretical and practical contributions to the concept 

of sustainable development in karst regions, with specifi c 

emphasis on the experiences from the Dinaric karst region. 

Karst landscapes, in which dissolution of bedrock by water 

is the dominant process, characterise almost 20% of the con-

tinents and more than a quarter of the Earth’s population lives 

on or near karst areas (FORD & WILLIAMS, 2007). Typi-

cal karst topography is essentially related to subterranean 

drainage and therefore geomorphology and hydrology are 

closely interrelated. The Dinaric karst stretches the length of 

the eastern coast of the Adriatic from the Bay of Trieste in 

the north to the Drin River in the south. This karst area is 

some 600 km in length, and up to 200 km in width. However, 

karst landscapes are present in many parts of the world, but 

most of the time these areas are shaped by a multitude of 

processes. The karst landscape is a unique geological envi-

ronment that extends not only on the surface but also under-

ground, in a continuum of habitats and geo-ecosystems that 

still wait to be discovered and studied.

More than eighty presentations and posters were pre-

sented at the conference, and nine papers originated from 

presentations at the conference dealing with geological 

themes. All contributions have passed the regular reviewing 

procedure, since this is an ordinary volume of our journal 

Geologia Croatica although it is predominantly devoted to 

karst issues. Themes covered range from the evolution of 

caves, to understanding the hydrology of karst, and chal-

lenges to sustainability in karst terrains. Sustainable devel-

opment of surface and subterranean water resources in karst, 

and the overall karst environment has been threatened by 

current climate change and climate variability in combina-

tion with anthropogenic impacts. Interdisciplinary studies 

are imperative in order to establish the possible consequences 

of such impacts and to fi nd practical solutions to protect karst 

systems. After the “karstic” papers, there are three other in-

teresting contributions spanning palaeontological to geo-

chemical issues.

REFERENCES
FORD, D. & WILLIAMS, P. (2007): Karst hydrogeology and geomor-

phology.– John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, U.K., 562 p.

Ognjen Bonacci, Guest Editor and 

Mladen Juračić, Editor-in-Chief



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