The wonders of a karst landscape

Karst (Kras in Slovenian) is a rocky region in the south-east of the country, where numerous caves and chasms have formed in the limestone base. This karst underground system is unique in the world; here, natural values conditioned the development of cultural heritage in the past. The Škocjan Caves were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia established the Škocjan Caves Regional Park through an Act of Parliament and designated the Škocjan Caves Park Public Service Agency as the managing authority of the protected area in 1996. Conservation and development of the surface and underground ecosystems are guided by legal provisions with the necessary restrictions on human habitation and interventions.

The underground course of the Reka River in the Škocjan Caves was included on the list of wetlands of international importance of the Ramsar Convention in 1999. The Škocjan Caves Park was included as Karst Biosphere Reserve in the world network of biosphere reserves of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme in 2004. The karst landscape includes dry karst meadows, rocky landscape, corrosion fissures, karren surface features, pastures, collapse dolines, dolines, cave system, underground canyon, the torrential Reka River, sinkholes, speleothems (mineral deposits), underground halls, canals and natural bridges. The underground river canyon in the Škocjan Caves system is a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.