On behalf of the European Cave Protection Commission and the Institute of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University Pavol Jozef Šafárik we kindly invite all speleologists, scientists and authorities active in monitoring and management of cave-, karst- and groundwater, to participate at the 7th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium organized jointly by the University Pavol Jozef Šafárik (UPJŠ) in Košice (SK) and the European Cave Protection Commission (ECPC) of the European Speleological Federation (FSE). The symposium will be held from 9th to 13th September 2024 at the teaching-training facility of the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Danišovce,district of Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia.
Caves and Karst are important features of the European landscape and have intrinsic natural beauty and value. However, they are constantly exposed to numerous human impacts, directly inside the cave environment or indirectly in the associated surrounding. Karst regions suffer from destruction, air and water pollution associated mainly due to forestry, agricultural chemicals, quarries, landfills, mining, urban and rural development and uncontrolled mass tourism. Karst and caves offer a direct access to the groundwater aquifer and the risk of pollution from threads is very high.
The 2024 EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium’s theme of “WATER in Caves and Karst” Understanding – Vulnerability – Protection will focus on scientific and technical aspects of water in caves and karst. Protection and conservation, through speleological input, exchange of best practice and sharing of knowledge.
At this symposium we would like to welcome the cave experts or the main responsible persons for monitoring questions, one from each FSE member state’s speleological organisation and from the official administration responsible for the reporting, to exchange experience, practical issues, cross border coordination, monitoring and reporting issues.
You can find all information on the symposium at the ECPC website.
You can dowmload the first circular and the application form.