prvi hrvatski speleološki kongres - KARST underground protection

very intense limestone erosion which is the main factor in the process of formation of
these objects. Erosion activity lead to formation of large amount of underground karst
forms.
The most famous explorers that had been working on the area of Montenegro
were A.Grund, A.Penk, K. Abolson and J.Cvijic. A more complete and wider research
on speleological objects in Montenegro started after II World War i.e. with
establishment of Speleological Association of Yugoslavia 1952., which organized
those activities all over the country. In Montenegro speleological organization was
established around 1960. when the continuous work on underground objects started.
The most important result in speleological explorations were made in last 20 years.
Most of the exploratory activities were conducted on the mountain massif of
Durmitor, where the deepest shaft of Balkans was discovered. Because it has a large
number of speleological objects, the Durmitor national park was named a
speleological Eldorado. Detailed explorations were made in massifs of Lovcen and
Orjen, surroundings of the Skadar lake and on the outskirts of Niksic field.
Conducting hydro-geological explorations on the Pester plateau, speleologists have
found probably the longest cave in this part of Balkans, in Djalovica gorge (near
Bijelo Polje). Until now, 16 km of cave canals have been explored.
In those explorations, significant place belonged to speleologists from clubs
from Belgrade(Proteus, ASAK, SOB), Zagreb (DISKF). Sarajevo and explorers teams
from Poland, United Kingdom and France.
The significance of speleology and it's results are multiple. Areas that lay on
limestone basis are known as areas with no fresh water streams. This led to formation
of large deserted areas due to lack of humidity. The population of those areas is very
small, because nature circumstances do not give basic life sustaining conditions. The
importance of speleological research in direction of discovering underground water
basins in this area is priceless. Those basins would probably return life to many areas
and enable development of agriculture. Important results of speleological explorations
were made during the exploration of water intake for means of city water supply,
determining basin areas for means of building artificial lakes, for power plants etc. In
Montenegro at the moment there is no cave that has been adapted for tourist visits
although there is large number of discovered caves with extraordinary cave ornaments
during the years of research and exploration.
Long activity of limestone erosion caused formation of breathtaking cave
ornaments. The beauty of those can often be compared with famous artwork. In
speleological objects in Montenegro almost all ornaments known: stalactites,
stalagmites, draperies, malts, bigrenic tub, helectites, hieroglyph, cave milk, cave
rose.
Underground life is fairly developed but the most famous inhabitants of those
areas are of course bat and Proteus. Proteus has not yet been found in Montenegro,
although it has been found in Dinarides limestone area to the west of Montenegro.
There are many tasks to cope with for Montenegrin karst underground, despite
the fact certain parts of Montenegro were subject of extended research. Research
needs to be continued in areas of Durmitor, Lovcen, Orjen, Mountain range of
Moraca, Djalovica gorge. Also, new fields for research need to be opened for
explorers in unexplored areas of Rumija, Prokletije, Komovi, Ljubisnja. A separate
part are speleological objects in zone of “Morsko dobro” i.e. underwater, which need
to be subject of future detailed research. Also, one of main tasks is to initiate activities
in direction of making legislative which will enable level of protection of
speleological objects as it is in surrounding countries.
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