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2010 petition official text

Download the Petition to Stop Trade, Import and Export of Cave Contents:

» download in English «            » download in Spanish «

Federations should sign the second page of the petition until 30th September and send it (either scan and mail or postal mail) to:

Ms Bärbel Vogel
Graßlergasse 24
83486 Ramsau
Germany
E-Mail:
Phone: +49 (0)8657 983787

2010 petition support documents

>Support letter< from Professor Paolo Forti, University of Bologna

>Support letter< from the representatives of the 20th International Symposium on Subterranean Biology

>Support letter< from Dr. Jean Clottes Foix, President of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO)

WD66 downloads

Download the written declaration 66 in your language here:

WD 66 (bg) WD 66 (cs)
WD 66 (da) WD 66 (de)
WD 66 (el) WD 66 (en)
WD 66 (es) WD 66 (et)
WD 66 (fi) WD 66 (fr)
WD 66 (hu) WD 66 (it)
WD 66 (lt) WD 66 (lv)
WD 66 (mt) WD 66 (nl)
WD 66 (pl) WD 66 (pt)
WD 66 (ro) WD 66 (sk)
WD 66 (sl) WD 66 (sv)

Campaign documents

Some speleological pictures

For further explanation of the speleological terms see the Glossary of Karst and Cave Terms.
The pictures on this page may be reproduced freely as long as the full name and society of the photographer is clearly stated. Numbering from left to right.

Karst, limestone and fossils

Photos: Stefan Näff, Swiss Speleological Society

Caves are found in karstic regions. Karst may form unique landscapes, of which some are even under Unesco protection (1st to 3rd). Fossil animals are geological indicators of the conditions during deposit of the sediments a cave is laying in (4th).

Glaciers and ice caves

Photos: Arniko Böke, Swiss Speleological Society (1st, 2nd from left) / Stefan Näff, Swiss Speleological Society (3rd, 4th from left)

10 years ago, these cave entrances have been hidden under a thick alpine glacier (left). Now - because of the glacier deterioration - 20m high waterfalls emerge from a cave system. This is several kilometers long and drains the whole glacier (2nd). Ice caves are caves containing snow and ice that is naturally trapped. They preserve a climate record over hundreds or thousands of years, similar to tree trunks (3rd). Speleologists study these caves (4th) and compare their results with climatologists and glaciologists all over the world.

Speleothems

Photos: Arniko Böke, Swiss Speleological Society

Flowstone and speleothems can - similar to ice, but much slower and over a much longer period - record climate data. Speleothems grow over thousands of years, but can be very fragile and destroyed within a fraction of a second.

Surveying and documenting caves

Photos: Arniko Böke, Swiss Speleological Society

The requirement for any speleological conclusion is the discovery and serious documentation of caves (1st: discovery of a new pit, 2nd: discovery of a narrow passage). The caves are consequently surveyed and mapped (3rd). European cave systems can stretch out over hundreds of kilometers, which means speleologists are bound to stay underground during several days to reach remote cave regions (4th & 5th: cave bivouac).

Cave galleries

Photos: Arniko Böke, Swiss Speleological Society

Some typical galleries of European caves.

Education

Photo: Stefan Näff, Swiss Speleological Society

Training of young, interested people in speleological knowledge, technical aspects of caving and environmental awarenes is one of the most important tasks of the national speleological societies and their affiliated clubs.

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