Australia's crystalline heritage: issues in cave management at Jenolan Caves

摘要

This paper provides an environmental sustainability perspective on contemporary cave management issues in Australia through examination of Australia's most prominent tourist cave attraction, Jenolan Caves. Five key issues are discussed:the administration and funding of the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve; the extent of baseline data available; long-term access and transport arrangements to the caves; visitor management; and the provision of interpretation facili-ties. Each of these illustrates the difficulty of balancing the competing values and interests represented by conservation, commercialisation and tourism. Cave management at Jenolan has improved in recent years but further changes in policy and management structures are required to ensure environmental sustainability.