Each karst landscape and every cave is unique
and impossible to replace or restore.
Each karst landscape and every cave is unique
and impossible to replace or restore.
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and impossible to replace or restore.
The UIS appeals to authorities, owners, and every stakeholder to protect karst and caves in a sustainable way!
List of Endangered Caves and Karst
The Karst and Cave Protection Commission is spotlighting current cases of endangered caves and karst landscapes to underscore the urgent, global threat posed by pollution, over-extraction, and environmental neglect. Please support local speleologists in their crucial efforts to protect these unique ecosystems and help convince decision-makers to take action toward sustainable cave and karst protection.
List of Endangered Caves and Karst
A cave of the Nullabor Plain. Photo: Stefan &Bronwen Eberhard Photography
Australia
Status: Ongoing
Type: Nullarbor karst, the largest arid karst area in the world, identified as worthy of World Heritage nomination.
Description: Western Green Energy Hub: Proposal to industrialise 22,000 km2 of undisturbed natural karst containing thousands of caves with exceptional conservation value. The proposed development includes colossal infrastructure including 3,000 wind turbines, 60 million solar panels, thousands of kilometres of powerlines, roads pipelines, ammonia plant, and shipping port. If the proposed development is permitted to go ahead the electricity produced via wind and solar would be used to produce hydrogen/ammonia to be sold and shipped overseas to Asia.
UIS supporting letter
ACKMA position statement on the Nullarbor Plain karst
Information: https://savethenullarbor.org/
Support: please sign the petition
Preatic morphlogies in the cave intercepted by the quarry
Photo: Josu Granja
Spain
Status: Ongoing
Type: Limestone karst with important water resources.
Description: A quarry operated by the Heidelberg Materials Group cut a section (approximately 65 m) of epiphreatic karst conduits, part of a preferred karst circulation route less than a kilometer upstream from the main discharge point of the Badaia karst. Quarrying activities are expected to last for at least 30 more years.
Gypsum karst of Qestenberg. Photo: M.K.Brust
Germany
Status: Stopped by the court for now
Type: Gypsum karst in protected areas, the only gypsum karst area with a beech forest in the world, identified as worthy of World Heritage nomination.
Description: The gypsum company Knauf wanted to drill exploratory boreholes to explore the gypsum deposits in the middle of protected areas, like the "Südharz Karst Landscape Biosphere Reserve" – so far, it is the only biosphere reserve in the world in a sulfate karst.
Information
Further support: currently not needed
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