Conservation of Cave Fauna, with an Emphasis on Europe and the Americas

Abstract

We review significant conservation and management legislation, policies, and other actions that have been implemented or proposed to protect and conserve subterranean biodiversity in Europe, North America, Central America, and South America. In particular, we focus on legislation at the national and international levels that has been passed or proposed to directly or indirectly protect subterranean biodiversity. Other conservation initiatives, such as the IUCN Red List and NatureServe conservation assessment, also have conservation implications for to subterranean biodiversity. However, there remain several limitations of legislation, policies, and other initiatives to protect and conserve subterranean biodiversity on these continents. Several suggestions are set forth to overcome these shortcomings and better facilitate subterranean biodiversity conservation in Europe, North America, Central America, and South America.