Chapter 13: karst and environment in southern China

Résumé -Abstract - Zusammenfassung -:63 % of China´s rural population live in the more or less karstified tropics and subtropics of South China. 61 % of food supplies and 93 % of the rice are produced  there. The size of mountainous arable acreage and intensive cultivation have caused the almost complete disappearing of forests and give way to  severe soil erosion during the summer monsoon. Protection of natural environment remains one of the more important challenges of todays's China. Reforestation, irrigation, soil conservation and water storage need to be increased to limit flood damage and soil erosion. Caves play an important role in the everyday life of the rural population. In several places wide caves are used for dwelling areas or stables and have given ramified shelter during times of war or social unrest. In the course of the past centuries nitrate was intensively exploited to be used in gunpowder and fertilizer. To cover everyday needs even minor coal seams have been quarried all over the country since 1980, which results in substantial air and water pollution. There is karst tourism in about fifty show-caves, which probably attract several millions of visitors each year.

Keywords: Karst, environment, cultivation, clearing, soil erosion, deforestation, irrigation, conservation, water tanks, cave-shelter, nitrate, show-cave, tourism, pollution, Guizhou.