Geoheritage sites can provide an excellent resource for sustainable development that represents a growing movement in Africa. Kobokwe Cave is formed within the Middle Proterozoic–aged sandstone of Kobokwe Gorge and is nationally important; the cave is the site where British missionary David Livingstone spent a night in 1847 and subsequently converted Kgosi (Chief) Kgari Sechele I, the first and only Christian “conversion” at that time by Livingstone. However, the site currently appears undervalued as there are little stewardship and minimal organized tourism and is affected by litter, graffiti, fires, illegal dumping and sand mining, and noise pollution from a nearby road; the building of the road itself destroyed a boulder of cultural significance. To test the level of environmental disturbance, the Karst Disturbance Index (KDI) was employed and this is the first known application to a non-carbonate karst environment and the first such application in Africa. Field observations were coupled with laboratory analyses of physico-chemical, nitrate, and heavy metal parameters in soil and water from the site. The final KDI score for Kobokwe of 0.29 is classed as showing “minor disturbance” and likely due to low visitor numbers although the sub-category of cultural disturbance scored 12 and is relatively high, as also found in previously published KDI studies from the USA, Italy, and Mexico. The analytical results are mostly at natural background levels, except for Pb in the cave floor soil (5.13 mg/L) and Pb in all water samples (0.3–0.63 mg/L) likely due to nearby vehicular traffic; also, Fe in all water samples (0.79–1.13 mg/L) that has possibly leached from the gorge sandstone and the spring water was slightly above standard background levels and possibly leached from nearby soil/rock. Future recommendations to avoid further disturbance and to promote environmental management of the site include community involvement, litter bin installation, graffiti removal, tour guides, information panels, entrance gate, tarred road, footpath installation, and enforcing of stronger site stewardship.

中文翻译：

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喀斯特扰动指数（KDI）在博茨瓦纳东南部Kobokwe洞穴和峡谷的应用：对国家重要地质遗迹场址的管理意义

地质遗迹场址可以为可持续发展提供极好的资源，这代表了非洲日益增长的运动。Kobokwe洞穴是在Kobokwe峡谷的中元古代时代形成的砂岩中形成的，具有全国意义。这个洞穴是英国传教士戴维·利文斯通（David Livingstone）在1847年过夜的地方，随后改建了当时的利古斯通第一次也是唯一的基督教“ con依”的克戈西（首席）克加里·谢赫尔一世。但是，由于管理工作量少，有组织的旅游活动少，该地点目前似乎被低估了，并受到垃圾，涂鸦，大火，非法倾倒和采砂以及附近道路噪声污染的影响；修路本身摧毁了具有文化意义的巨石。为了测试环境干扰的程度，采用了喀斯特扰动指数（KDI），这是在非碳酸盐岩喀斯特环境中的第一个已知应用程序，也是非洲的第一个此类应用程序。现场观察与实验室分析对现场土壤和水中的物理化学，硝酸盐和重金属参数进行了分析。Kobokwe的最终KDI得分为0.29，被归类为“轻微骚扰”，可能是由于访客人数偏低，尽管文化骚扰的子类别得分为12，且相对较高，这在美国先前发表的KDI研究中也发现了，意大利和墨西哥。分析结果主要是在自然本底水平上，除了可能由于附近的车辆通行而导致的洞穴底土壤中的铅（5.13 mg / L）和所有水样中的铅（0.3-0.63 mg / L）之外。同样，所有水样中的铁含量（0.79–1。13 mg / L）可能是从峡谷砂岩和泉水中浸出的，略高于标准背景水平，并且可能是从附近的土壤/岩石浸出的。为避免进一步的干扰并促进对场地的环境管理，未来的建议包括社区参与，垃圾箱安装，涂鸦清除，导游，信息面板，入口大门，柏油路，人行道安装以及加强场地管理。