France Habe Prize

Origin of the prize

The France Habe Prize has been awarded since 2013 by the International Union of Speleology (UIS) to promote the protection of karst and caves for future generations. Their natural heritage is a proven source of increasingly rich information about the history of our planet and humanity, enabling people to act more thoughtfully, effectively and sustainably for the future of our environment.

On the proposal of his successor, the award is named in memory and honour of Dr France HABE († 10/12/1999) from Slovenia (Yugoslavia), who among his many occupations and achievements, among others, served as President of the UIS Protection Department from 1973 to 1997.

List of the France Habe prize winners

2013 
Thomas Arbenz Switzerland for “Cave pearls of Meghalaya”,

2014
Verband der deutschen Höhlen-und Karstforscher Germany for “Cave animal of the year 2014″.

2015
Ciudadanos del Karso Puerto Rico for”Puerto Rico’s Karst Physiography Protection and Conservation Act”.

2016
Commission Wallonne d’Etude et de Protection des Sites Souterrains (CWEPSS) Belgium for “Atlas du Bassin du Hoyoux – 6e volume des Monographies karstiques par bassin versants”.

2017
Ir. JUNIAT Irawati Indonesia for the “Protection and management of karst regions in Indonesia”.

2019
Guglielmo RONAGHI Italy for “Light in the dark” (film).

2020
Olivier Testa, Vincent Rouquette Cathala et Phillip Lehman Dominican Republic for “Somos los cenotes project”.

2021
Speleological Group of Villacarrillo (GEV) Italy for “Our friends bats”.

2022
LA VENTA – Associazione Culturale Esplorazioni Geografiche Italy for the “Puerto Princesa underground river – Palawan – Philippines”.

2023
Daniel Caron Canada for “Centre d’interprétation du monde souterrain – Caverne de Saint Léonard – Montréal».

2024
Paul De Bie Belgium for the monograph project “La Magne souterraine – Le système Wuinant- Haminte et autres phenomena karstiques de la vallée de la Magne”

2025
Laurent Bruxelles and his team, France for «Gcwihaba cave» – Bodsuana"