KARST TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AS VENUES FOR ENHANCING INFORMAL KARST EDUCATION

Karst terrains are unique and fragile environments with considerable scientific, cultural, hydrological, recreational, mineralogical, biological, and economic importance. Yet, despite the abundance of these terrains and the important role they play in a wide variety of roles including supplying worldwide freshwater drinking supplies, no single, comprehensive study investigates the role of informal environmental education for the understanding and protection of karst environments. Anthropogenic karst disturbances, which are commonly overlooked, partially occur because of the poor dissemination of scientific information to the general populace and policymakers. Moreover, budgetary and time constraints of municipalities often result in karst degradation despite the use of regulatory tools, generating a need for informal environmental education to fill these shortcomings. The purpose of this study was to: 1) establish the status of and quantify the amount of karst-related informal education efforts being pursued in the United States and abroad, 2) reveal if any differences in the nature of educational material exist with ownership (i.e. private vs. governmental) at karst tourism attractions, and 3) evaluate the effects of increasing the quality and quantity of educational karst material presented to show cave and spring visitors. The results of this study revealed that although slight differences do exist in the nature of the karst educational material presented to visitors during tours, the educational quality and quantity of material at both privately- and publically-owned facilities is often significantly lacking. In addition, this study demonstrated that show cave and spring visitors can be simultaneously entertained and successfully educated on karst enviroments with the slightest of changes to tour content.