On Friday, 4 April 2025, the 27th Slovenian Geologists' Consultation took place in Ljubljana, organised by the Department of Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana (Oddelek za geologijo NTF UL) and the Slovenian Geological Society (Slovensko geološko društvo). At the consultation, Slovenian experts in geology and related sciences present their current research in short lectures and posters. Some of the activities carried out by the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation (Zavod RS za varstvo narave) in the KRAS-CARSO II project were presented at the event. The project is co-financed by the European Union under the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme.
In the poster section, a poster entitled "The Kras-Carso II project, assessment of the status of protected nature areas and examples of carrying capacity determination" was presented. The paper presents the results of two studies carried out by the project
partner Institute of the RS for Nature Conservation; Assessment of the status of protected nature areas and tourist use, which highlights the most stressed areas in the future Kras-Carso Geopark due to activities of tourist visitation, hiking, cycling, climbing, horse riding and caving, and Carrying capacity of nature for selected geolocations. The latter includes carrying capacity calculations for five tourist caves (Dimnice, Pečinka, Krompir, Divača and Giant cave / Briškovska jama) and two protected areas Glinščica Valley (Dolina Glinščice), which includes the Beka Landscape Park (Krajinski park Beka) and the The Rosandra Valley Reserve (Naravni rezervat Dolina Glinščice), and the Duino Cliffs Nature Reserve (Naravni rezervat Devinske stene). The poster was on display for the entire duration of the event.
Events of this kind represent an important opportunity to promote the KRAS-CARSO II project, the future Kras-Carso Geopark and current project activities. The Slovenian Geologists' Consultation is a good opportunity for networking, exchange of knowledge and good practices and strengthening of professional cooperation.
Figure: The authors with the project poster (photo: T. Lukežič).
Text: Jana Preradovič and Martina Stupar, Zavod RS za varstvo narave
