prvi hrvatski speleološki kongres - KARST underground protection

Facing this situation, CWEPPS made it its mission to act in favour of the
protection and the preservation of this particular environment and the values
associated with it.
CWEPSS : Origin and historical background
CPSS, later to become CWEPSS was created by Belgian cavers and scientists
in 1970, becoming the first association in the world with such a goal. The initial
objective was to protect the environment, underground waters and, by extension, all
karstic phenomena from destruction and pollution.
In the beginning…campaigns were organized to clear pollution. Teams
removed litter from depressions and sinkholes. Pollution cleaning weekends were
organised in cooperation with the towns and Civil Protection. This led to litter being
collected from the caves. Some pollution clearing has been carried out more recently
in cooperation with caving clubs.
Purpose
CWEPSS wants to contribute towards the sustained protection and
management of karstic sites and subterranean waters, whilst favouring speleological
exploration and scientific research in a generally unknown environment.
Actions
Since 1970, CWEPSS has been coordinating or taking part in various "actions
in the field " such as clearing pollution, managing and preserving some caves,
hydrological studies, biodiversity inventories, conservations programs… It is
officially consulted over some land use and management problems in karstic areas, for
some conservation issues and in cases of possible conflicts with limestone quarries. It
has been asked by the Walloon government to provide a network of 100 subterranean
reserves in order to ensure the protection and long term conservation of that very
particular ecosystem.
It carries out public awareness campaigns on the topic of “Subsoil waters and
endangered caves” to the attention of schools, of local and regional authorities, of
river contracts.
Longer term, it aims at a durable protection of the sites and subsoil waters by
requesting classifications, the introduction of the statute of Underground Cavity of
Scientific Interest for certain outstanding caves and an adequate position for the
karstic zones in the regional planning charts. Its objective is to contribute to a taking
into systematic account of the characteristics, the wealth and the vulnerabilities of the
karstic areas in regional planning and to promote scientific research and a consensual
and durable management for the subterranean environment by including the cavers.
Through different campaigns, it tries to raise the opinion interest (in priority, in
schools, with local and regional authorities) on the challenge of sustainable and long
term management of groundwater resources and on the vulnerability of the
subterranean environment.
All these actions are made possible because of the support and the
participation of a large group of cavers and members who provide precious local
information concerning karstic areas and on the 1200 caves actually known in
Belgium. This information is stored in a geo-referenced database. This quite unique
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