A l m a n a c balkan cavers camps and ba by Bülent ERDEM

AALLMMAANNAACC BALKAN CAVERS’CAMPS CAMPSand and BALKAN BALKAN SPELEOLOGY BALKAN CAVERS’ SPELEOLOGY

BUL GARIAN CAV IN G SOCI ETY BULGARIA N CAVI NG SOCIET Y 2016

2016

ALMANAC BALKAN CAVERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; CAMPS & BALKAN SPELEOLOGY

BULGARIAN CAVING SOCIETY 2016

The book is dedicated to the 10-th anniversary of the carrying out of Balkan Cavers‟ Camps of Balkan Speleological Union and is issued with its kind support .

Compiler and Editor: Alexey Zhalov Pre-print and design: Alexey Zhalov

Table of Contents

Preface ………………………………………………………… Аlexey Zhalov

First meeting of BSU „Othris‟2003” – Greece ………………. Кostas Adamopoulos

First Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Balkan‟2007 – Bulgaria…………. Аlexey Zhalov

Second Balkan Cavers‟Camp “En Limni‟2008” – Greece……. Lampros Makrostergios

Third Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Olimpos‟2009” – Turkey………. Meltem Pancarci

Forth Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Padish‟2010”…………………… Viorel Lasku

Balkan Cavers‟Meeting “Jasen‟2010” - FYRMacedonia ……...Gordana Janakievska

Fifth Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Samokov‟2011” FYRMacedonia... Alexander Stojanoski

Sixth Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Logatec‟2012”…………………. Uroš Iliţ , Maks Merela

Seventh Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Njegisi‟2013” – Montenegro… Jasmina Ceranic

Eight Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Mravinjci‟2014” – Serbia………. Danilo Tomic

Ninth Balkan Cavers‟Camp “Ogulin‟2015” – Croatia ………... Аlexey Zhalov

Speleology in Albania ………………………………………… Аlexey Zhalov

Speleology in Bosnia and Herzegovina ……………………….. Jasminko Mulaomeroviš

Speleology in Bulgaria ……………………………………….. Аlexey Zhalov

Speleology in Croatia…………………………………………….Аlexey Zhalov

Speleology in Greece …………………………………………. Thomas Theodosiadis

Speleology in FYR Macedonia ……………………………….. Marian Temovski

Brief history of Speleology in Romania………………………. Bogdan Badescu

Speleology in Serbia ………………………………………….. Jelena Calic

Speleology in Turkey …………………………………………. S. Canbek , M. Pancarcı

Preface The present Almanac is intended for readers, who are mainly among the wide range of cavers, who have a sense of historicism and desire to "dig" in the past. The idea of compiling such book belongs to Mr. Vanyo Gyorev â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a member of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Caving Society and appeared in the process of preparing the coming 10-th Anniversary of the Balkan Cavers Camp in Bulgaria. We, the organisers as hosts of the event, turned to speleological organizations in the Balkans with a call to join the initiative by sending us materials, containing a brief history of caving in their countries and information on the 3-rd emblematic caves of each country. Meanwhile, we gathered and summarized the available information about the conducted so far 9 Balkan Caversâ&#x20AC;&#x17E; Camps. Not all responded immediately to the calls. However, after several appeal letters, we managed to gather not all of the requested information. Unfortunately, in the Almanac there is no data about the speleological activities in some Balkan countries and also of the most interesting caves on each country. That is way this Almanac is not fully complete. It could be seen only as the first attempt to present some fragments of the history of the organized speleology and caving on the Balkan peninsula and of course, for the development of the Balkan Speleological Union! The publication in front of you is the result of the efforts of many cavers and speleologists. The compilation of the Almanac would have been impossible without the co-operation of the colleagues from Balkan countries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; authors of the articles. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them. Of course, we feel especially indebted to the BSU for the financial support which made possible the issue of the book. Enjoy the reading! Alexey Zhalov Compiler and Editor 4

FIRST MEETING OF BSU - “OTRIS’2003” - GREECE st

1 Balkan Speleological Meeting of Balkan Speleological Union was organised by Hellenic Federation of Speleology (FHS), realised from 11 until 20 September 2003 in Othris Mt. of Magnisia prefecture, Greece. At the 10 days of work they took part 96 speleologists from which 7 Bulgarians. Us they honored with their presence the Chairman and the G. Secretary of Balkan Speleological Union of Prof. Petar Beron and Alexey Jalov. Speleologist that participated they were entertained in the camps of Holy Metropolis of Kozani, in the area called Pigadi of Pteleos. The secretariat and the departure point of caving teams were the ground floor of Pteleos town hall. Were organized 48 teams with total time of work 300 man days. For the transportation of the cavers to the caverns were used 15 private vehicles which covered in total 5,000 km. Beside the participants, 20 local villagers assist in the effort in various ways. Visited 40 caves and potholes what are analyzed as follows: Potholes - 1 9 ; Water collectors – 4; Caves - 1 5 ; Underground River - 1. Out of these 40, five (5) have archaeological or wider scientific interest, while from 7 caverns have been collected fauna organisms of important speleological interest. The deepest cave (Titanospilia )was 65 meters depth and the longest ( Tetrastomo) was 1km long. In “Tetrastomo” cave 600m of new galleries were explored. Cumulative survey length (by all 40 caves) was 989m and cumulative depth, 490m. On the other hand we have collected information on other 30 entry (new objects). The volume of this work consisted of 40 files, which contain notes, sketches, reports with all the elements of primary form on the each cavern. Also we have enough work finished with regular reports and mappings. In all the files exist also the proportional photographic material and transparencies while in certain other exists photographic material in electronic form (CD - ROM, diskettes). This entire work categorized is in the disposal of BSU and FHS. For the finalization of the analytical report, some time interval will be required. It could be underlined that the cooperation between the Greek and Bulgarian cavers was at high levels. Especially during the Cave rescue exercise which took place the last day of the expedition both sides exchange experiences and techniques. FHS believe that BSU will reinforce speleological investigation though out the Balkan Peninsula and will play a key role in the representation of the Balkan cavers to the rest of the world. Written by Kostas Adamopoulos FIRST BALKAN CAVERS’ CAMP – “BALKAN’ 2007”- BULGARIA The idea about the initiating of the First Assembly of the cavers from the Balkan peninsula appeared in the autumn of 2006 and belongs to the Vice-Chairman of the Bulgarian Federation of Speleology (BFS) and General Secretary of the Balkan Speleological Union (BSU) – Alexey Zhalov. The Bulgarian Federation of Speleology undertook its organizing, encouraged by the readiness of the Tourist Society “Rhodopeya” – Yagodina and the speleo clubs “Silivryak” – Trigrad and “Studenetz” – Chepelare to offer their help in the organizing and carrying out of the Assembly. The wish of the Regional administration of Smolyan district and the mayors of the municipalities Devin, Borino, Chepelare and Smolyan for active participation in the event, gave the organizers even bigger strength. The Balkan Cavers‟ Camp took place in the village of Teshel, Smolyan district, from 27 June to 1 July 2007. On 27 June in hut Teshel arrived the representatives of all foreign guests, except these from Serbia. In the end, the Balkan Cavers‟ Camp in Teshel gathered the following representatives: Albania – Prof. Gezim Uruchi – Chairman of the Albanian Speleological Association; Bulgaria – Dr. Petar Beron – Chairman of the Balkan Speleological Union and the Bulgarian Federation of Speleology, as well as 118 cavers from 18 speleoclubs from Bulgaria; Greece – Nikos Mitzakis – Chairman of the Greek Federation of Speleology and Fanis Ellinas – Vice-Chairman of the Greek Speleological Association and 20 others Greek cavers; Macedonia – Josip Zmajzek – Chairman of the Speleological Federation of FYRMacedonia together with 7 other Macedonian cavers; Romania – Prof. Tuberiu Tulucan – Chairman of the Committee for expeditions and research of the Romanian Federation of Speleology and 11 other Romanian cavers; Turkey – Ali Yamac – Secretary General of the Union of the Turkish Speleologists and 24 other Turkish cavers. In total – 187 cavers participated in the First Balkan Cavers’ Camp. The next three days were dedicated to visits in the tourist caves Yagidinska, near vill. Yagodina and the sink hole cave Dyavolskoto Garlo near the vill. Trigrad. The program offered also penetrations in the non-tourist part of 8.5 km long Yagodina cave, Haramiiska dupka, Sanchova Dupka and Eminova dupka. Some participants had the chance to penetrate by dinghy in the water cave, from were flow out the waters of the Dyavolskoto Garlo cave. Part of the Bulgarian cavers visited others caves, which were not included in the preliminary program.

During the evening hours on 28 and 29 June were submitted presentations of the foreign and Bulgarian cavers on the following topics: A Short History of Turkish Speleology and the Cavers Union – Turkey;

1.Explorations of SC “Extrem”- Sofia” of the Bosnek Karst region in Bulgaria; 2."The Underwater Research in Greece” – Greece; 3.SC “Helicit”- Sofia – Acitivity and Trends for Development; 4.Reseraches of the Speleo club in Krayova, Romania; 5.2 short films – Club BUMAK, Istanbul - Turkey; 6.The Miracle Bridges in the Rhodopes, Bulgaria; 7.The Cave “Orlova Chuka” – Bulgaria; 8.Speleo Reseraches and Discoveries in the Trigrad Karst Region, made by MOERPA, Bulgaria; 9.A History of the Cooperation between the Bulgarian and Albanian Speleologists – Albania; 10.3 Short Films - ANUMAB, Ankara, Turkey; 11.Explorations of Macedonian Speleologists – Macedonia; 12. Cave Rescue - Romania. The most popular were the evening camp fires, which created wonderful atmosphere of friendship, discussions of ideas for cooperation among the Balkan cavers. These fires were nice scenery for drinking of different local drinks and singing of many songs from different part of the Balkans. According to the program, on 29 June many participants visited the Museum of Speleology and Rhodopian Karst in Chepelare and the Architectural reserve Shiroka Laka. During the camp were also organized stands of the shop “Stenata” and products of local traditional crafts. Official events The last day – 30 June, in hotel ”Silivryak”, vill. Trigrad took place the General Assembly of the Balkan Speleological Union with participation of the leaders of member speleological organizations. Mr. Tiberio Tulucan from Romania participated as an observer. The members of the Assembly listened and accepted the Report of the Activity of the Union for 5-years‟ period since it was established, as well as the Financial Report for this period. The Agenda continued with election of new executive body of the Union, due to the expiration of the mandate of the pervious one, which members were: Chairman – Petar Beron (Bulgaria), Vice-Chairman - K. Zoupis (Greece), General Secretary – Alexey Zhalov (Bulgaria) and members – Ivan Zhezhovski (Macedonia) and Jaka Jakovchich (Slovenia). After the discussions with full majority was elected a Petar Beron (Bulgaria) - Chairman; N. Mitzakis, Greece - Vice-Chairman; Alexey Zhalov (Bulgaria) – Secretary General ; Miss Meltem Pancrachi (Turkey) – Member; Oliver Gitchevski (Macedonia) – Member. After that, began the discussions of the project of Protocol for Cooperation among the federations of the Balkan countries. In the process of discussions, the representatives of the two Greek organizations – the Greek Federation of Speleology and the Greek Speleological Association, argued about that which organization can represent all Greek speleologists. The colleagues from the Greek federation appealed to the Assembly to end this quarrel by changing the Statute of the Union. After lively discussions and voting was accepted a change of Article 7 of the Statute of the BSU. The new article 7 states: “Every Вalkan country – member of BSU is represented by one delegate. In case that there is more than one national speleological organization per country, the national delegate is elected among them according mutually accepted rules”. In addition, the matter of discussion is solved also by Art.10 of the current Statute: “The General Assembly is composed by delegates (one each member per country). The signing of the Protocol for cooperation raised new quarrels between the Greek colleagues. In the end, with the help of other delegates, the passions were moderated and the Protocol was signed by all participants. The choice of a host for the next Assembly of the cavers from the Balkan Peninsula provoked new emotions. The Bureau of BSU received two separate offers from the two Greek organizations. The first one was made by the Greek Federation of Speleology. The Greek Speleological Association offered co-organization, but it was refused by the initiator of the first offer. The choice of the next host was in stalemate. Finally the delegates were united with the decision to give time to the Greek colleagues till 11 th November 2007 to make an agreement and to declare their decision. If they arrive at agreement, the Second Balkan Cavers‟ Camp will take place near the town of Siderkastro, North Greece, if not – the host for the Camp will be the Union of Turkish speleologists! With this decision ended the General Assembly of BSU. It is necessary to stress, that one of the main aims of BSU and its organs is “to support the institutions of each country member of BSU in matters concerning karst, caves and Speleology”, but not to solve directly internal problems among the speleological structures of the separate member-countries. In this context, we would like to rec6

ommend to the Greek colleagues to sit around the table of negotiations and to point their efforts to unite under flag of their country, because it is an old and well-known true, that “the unification makes the power”. In this case not only the Greek, but the Balkan speleology in general would be far more strong and effective! The evening of 30 June the First Balkan Cavers‟ Camp was closed officially. The event was visited by Mr. Ivan Angelov – vice-mayor of Devin. The participants were welcomed by the Chairman of BFS and BSU – Dr. Petar Beron, who closed the event. A local folklore cast from Devin presented a short concert and many of the participants in the Camp played the horo dance. The official part ended with a small cocktail party, given by the mayor of Devin municipality, and the unofficial part continued near the camp fire till late night hours. The first day of July marked the final of this successful event and put the beginning of departure of participants. We hope that the meeting managed to fulfill its main aim – to create conditions for mutual familiarizing of the participants and establishing of deep friendly contacts among the cavers from the Balkan countries. The successful organization and carrying out of the Camp is a result of the several months‟ efforts of the whole cavers‟ community in Bulgaria. The most active and wedded were A. Zhalov, G. Raichev, K. Hadjiiski, S. Genchev, M. Stamenova, K. Bonev, Z. Petrov, Tr. Daaliev, G. Staichev, G. Vlaikov, A. Baldjiev and many other cavers. Special tanks we owe to the mayors of the municipalities Devin, Borino, Chepelare and Smolyan for their comprehensive help. Last, but not the least, we are very thankful to the sponsors – the shop for mountaineering and caving equipment “Stenata”, Mnieral water “Devin”, Kirov AD, “Orion-ski”, which contributed to the realizing of the event! Written by Alexey Zhalov Translation in English: Magdalena Stamenova SECOND BALKAN CAVERS’ CAMP “EN LIMNI’2008”- GREECE The idea about the initiating of the Assembly of the cavers from the Balkan peninsula appeared in the autumn of 2006 . The Balkan Cavers‟ Camp took place in the village of Teshel, Smolyan district, from 27 June to 1 July 2007 . The Host of the second one was given to Greece. The Hellenic Federation of Spelology undertook its organizing, encouraged by the readiness of the Greek Ministry of Culture, the administration of Drama Prefecture and the mayors of the municipalities of Rrosotsani and Alistrati. The participants arrive on 13 June near the Performance area “En Limni” slose to the Kokkinogia Vill. Bulgaria – Dr. Petar Beron – Chairman of the Balkan Speleological Union and the Bulgarian Federation of Speleology, as well as 134 cavers from 22 speleoclubs in Bulgaria; Greece – Nikos Mitsakis – Chairman of the Greek Federation of Speleology and 96 others Greek cavers; Romania – Prof. Tuberiu Tulucan – Chairman of the Committee for expeditions and research of the Romanian Federation of Speleology and 22 other Romanian cavers; Turkey – Meltem Pancarci – Secretary General of the Union of the Turkish Speleologists and 10 other Turkish cavers. Cyprus – Sofoulis Chadjipanayis Hungaria - 7 cavers Ukraine – 1 caver In total – 278 cavers participated in the Second Balkan Cavers’ Camp. The next 8 days were dedicated to visits in the tourist caves Angitis (Maaras) , near vill. Pigadi and Alistrati Cave near Alistrati The program offered also penetrations in the non-tourist part the same caves. Of course the most intersecting trips was made upstream to the underground river of Maaras which total length is up to 12 km. Some participants had the chance to penetrate in the Zesto Nero Cave near Siderokastro Town, Maronia Cave close to the same vill. in prefecture of Komotini and at last the famous prehistoric cave of Orpheus near Alistrati. Those of the cavers who was involved of verticals was the opportunity to drop into the Hionotripa (Ice|) Cave in Falakro Mt. – 150 m deep. The official opening of the Camp took place on 14 June at evening time. The opening was honoured by representatives of the Greek Parliament, Ministry of Culture, Drama Prefecture and municipality Protsotsani and Alistrati, The event was opened by Nikolaus Mitsakis and the official guests welcomed the participants on behalf of the relative institutions. After a local folklore cast from Drama presented an amazing concert of traditional music and songs! During the evening hours on were submitted more than 25 speleological movies and presentations of all presented nationalities . The most popular were the evening camp fires, which created wonderful atmosphere of friendship, discussions of ideas for cooperation among the Balkan cavers. These fires were nice scenery for drinking of different local drinks and singing of many songs and play dances from different part of the Balkans. The farewell party in 20 of June was the apogee of this full of e motions and fun nights. During the camp were also organized some cavers stands. In the 16 of June took place the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Balkan Speleological Union with participation of the national delegates of all Balkan countries presented in the camp. Albania was represented officially (by proxy) from Alexey Zhalov. Mr. Martion Kucheria and Gabor Loshonci from Hungaria participated as an observer. The members of the Assembly listened and accepted the brief Report of the Activity of the Union for last 1-years‟ . The Agenda continued with accepting of new members of the Union in the face of Romania. After that, began the discussions of the project for the approval of redused annual membership fee on proportional principle. There was decided that the amount or the

Annual subscription of country members will be arranged into 3 categories as follows: National organizations under 100 cavers: 50 Euro; National organizations between 100 and 500 cavers: 100 Euro; National organizations with over 500 cavers: 150 Euro. The Bureau of BSU received offer from the Turkish Cavers Union to be organizer and host of the next 3 rd Balkan Cavers Camp on 2009. This offer was accepted with great pleasure. The Romanian colleagues declare their intentions to be a hosts of the Balkan Camp in 2010 but the official decision on this subject will be taken during the of National Congress of Romanian Federation of Speology in September 2008 . During the GAM was discussed also the project if the Written declaration of European Parliament on Protection of caves as a cultural, natural and environmental Heritage, the construction of new more interactive web page of the Union, and the legal registration of the Union. The evening of 21 June the First Balkan Cavers‟ Camp was closed. 22 of June - the first day of the summer marked the final of this successful event. The meeting managed to fulfill its main aim – to create conditions for mutual familiarizing of the participants and establishing of deep friendly contacts among the cavers from the Balkan countries. The successful organization and carrying out of the Camp is a result of the several months‟ efforts of the members of Hellenic Federation of Speleology . The most active and wedded were N.Mitsakis, L.Makrostergios, N.Diafas, S.Zaharias , A.Zaharidis, K.Malama . Special thanks we owe to the Greek Ministry of Culture, Prefecture of Drama the mayors of the municipalities Prosotsani and Alistrati for their comprehensive help. We were very thankful of all Greek the sponsors which contributed to the realizing of the event! Written by Lambros Makrostergios THIRD BALKAN CAVERS` CAMP “OLIMPOS’2009” - TURKEY The honor to organise the 3-rd Camp had the Union of Turkish Cavers. On the 24th of June, the famous Kadir's Tree Houses in Olimpos area, Antalia County, Turkey gathered in total 172 cavers from the 5-th following countries: Bulgaria – Alexey Zhalov – Vice-President of Bulgarian Federation of Speleology, Secretary General of the Balkan Speleological Union, Vice-Secretary of European Federation of Speleology and 57 other Bulgarian cavers from 14 caving clubs; FYR of Macedonia – Oliver Gichevski – Vice-Chairman of Macedonian Speleological Federation and 2 other cavers from 2 Macedonian caving clubs; Greece – Nikolaos Mitsakis – Chairman of the Greek Federation of Speleology; 6 other Greek cavers from 4 clubs; Romania – Viorel Lasku – Chairman of the Romanian Federation of Speleology, as well as 26 Romanian cavers from 10 clubs; Turkey – Meltem Pancarci – Secretary General of the Turkish Cavers‟ Union and 78 cavers from 14 Turkish Clubs. The official opening of the Camp took place on the evening of 25th June. The event opened Ms Meltem Pancarci and the leaders of foreign delegations welcomed the participants on behalf of the relative speleological federations. After a tasty buffet, the cavers danced and enjoyed all night. The following days, the program of the Camp included penetrations in some not very long and deep, but quite interesting caves like Tabak, Kilise and Kocain, which were visited by 108 cavers in total. Later, we all had the pleasure to visit also the tourist caves Dim near the town of Alanya and enjoyed its beautiful decoration. Those who were interested in archaeology and history, visited the famous antique-mediaeval town Olimpos (2 C B.C- 6 C A.D). In the end all of us took bath in the Mediterranean see and enjoyed the sun of the exotic Olimpos beach . During the evening hours of the camp were submitted approximately 10 speleological movies and presentations. The farewell party was organized on 27th June. It was the apogee of the Camp nights, full of emotions and fun for all participants. Official events The General Assembly Meeting (GAM) of the Balkan Speleological Union took place on 26th June with the participation of the national delegates of all Balkan countries presented in the camp. Albania was represented officially (by proxy) from Alexey Zhalov. The members of the Assembly listened and accepted the Moral Report of Secretary General about the last 2 years and Financial Report of the Union for the same period. The Agenda continued with the discussions on some changes of the BSU Statute. All of them were accepted. The most important thing in the new adopted statute was the creation of BSU Commissions. As a first step in this direction, the Assembly decided to create Cave Training, Cave Rescue and Cave Protection Commissions. Peter Beron spent two consecutive terms as a President of BSU. According to the Statute, the GAM has to elect a new president. At the same time, Ms Meltem Pancarci resigned as a member of BSU Bureau. After discussions and voting, Mr. Viorel Lasku from Romania was elected as a new President of BSU. Ms Asli Dönmez from the Turkish Cavers Union was elect8

ed as a member of the Bureau. The Romanian colleagues confirmed their intention to be hosts of the 4th Balkan Camp in 2010. The event will take place in Padish - Caput Area from 28 July to 1st August 2010. The delegates agreed that only one Balkan event per year is not enough for the further developing of Union. That is why in the future, BSU will organize Balkan speleological expeditions, cave rescue and training camps every year. The Balkan expedition in 2010 will take place in Bulgaria. The host of the 5th Cavers Camp and the next Balkan expedition will be organized by the Macedonian Federation of Speleology. The four days of this event flew out like sand through fingers and the morning of 28th June marked the final of the 3rd Balkan Cavers Camp. The meeting create conditions for mutual familiarizing of the participants and establishing of deep friendly contacts among Special thanks we owe to all Turkish sponsors in the face of TAMAK (Toros Antalya Cave Research and Protection Association); Antalya Muratpaşa Municipality; Kadir's Tree Houses, Olympos; Antalya Big City Municipality; Antalya Directorship of Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Antalya City Museum Project; Kemer Life Hospital; Tropik Restaurant; Dilek Color; Kutay Limited Company, which all contributed to the realizing of the event! Written by Meltem Pancarci FORTH BALKAN CAVERS` CAMP - “PADIS’2010” – ROMANIA st

The 1 Balkan Cavers‟ Camp took place in the village of Teshel in Bulgaria in 2007. The second one was held in 2008 in Kokinogia - Greece. The 3-rd Camp was organised by Turkish Cavers Union in 2009 in Olimpos area, Antalia County, Turkey. The honour to host the 4th Cavers` Camp had the Romanian Federation of Speleology. According to the registration data between 14 and 18 July 2010, the Padis area, located in Apuseni Natural Park, Bihor County, gathered at least registered 226 cavers from 9 European countries: Bulgaria (58), FYR Macedonia (2), Germany (4), Greece (5), Hungary (20), Poland (3), Romania (117), Slovenia (5), Turkey (11). The tents of the cavers in the area were located in such a big area, that for sure the number of the cavers there was much bigger than the official registration data! The majority were the cavers from member countries of the Balkan Speleological Union! The respect to the greatest Unions‟ event manifested Emre Baturay Altinok – President of the newly founded Turkish Federation of Speleology; Peter Beron – President of Bulgarian Federation of Speleology; Viorel Lasku – Chairman of the Romanian Federation of Speleology. The official opening of the Camp took place at the evening of 15 th July. The event opened the president of Balkan Speleological Union - Mr. Viorel Lasku and Dr. Peter Beron - the veteran among the present cavers. The next days the program of the Camp included penetrations in some of the most interesting and spectacular caves in Apuseni Mt. – like the Cave Humpleu (length 40 km), Pothole V5 - the deepest cave in Romania (556 m), the amazing Cave “Cetatile Ponorului” (7.5 km). The participants visited some other vertical and horizontal caves among which were the famous Scarisoara Ice Cave and maybe the most beautiful Romanian cave in the tourist class - Peshtera Urshilor. During the camp took place the international cave rescue exercise as a part of its general program. The décor of this event was the «Cetatile Ponorului Cave». The event was under the coordination of SALVASPEO ROMANIA (Cave Rescue Romania) and organized by Salvamont Salvaspeo Bihor, Department of the Administrative County Council Bihor. The exercise gathered Speleo-rescuers from Romania (97), Bulgaria (19), Slovenia (1), Poland (4) and Hungary (14). The cave rescue exercise was directed by the Technical Counselors Ionut Latcu and Tudor Rus, with the operational partnership of ISU “Crisana” Bihor (the Department for Emergency Situations Bihor), SMURD Bihor (the Emergency Mobile Medical Rescue Service) and Administration of Natural Park Apuseni. The rescue scenario consisted of three victims, trapped into a cave by water flows: two of the victims - one dead and one with hypothermia were at about 2000 m from the entrance, area “La Venetiana”. The third one, physically exhausted, found at 350 m from the entrance, area “Sala Taberei”. The hypothermic victim was re-heated and evacuated from the cave on her own feet; stretchers evacuated the other two victims, the corps and the exhausted person. From the cave entrance, the victims on stretchers were taken over by the Salvamont teams and transported over vertical walls, with support of complex system of fixed and mobile ropes to the plateau, were the SMURD ambulance was waiting; the duration of the outdoor Salvamont evacuation was over one hour. The rescuers used over one tone of equipment, including over 4,000m of ropes. The report of the event revealed the full success of the action and showed the capacity for team-work of the rescuers coming from different countries and the cooperation between different administrative bodies involved in action. Some impression from the event you can find at: In the evening hours there are no presentations as it was expected, but the camp fires and the hut gives enough atmospheres for social contacts. The farewell party around the big fire pursued with traditional soup borsh, wine, cuika (raki), etc., took place on 17th July. It was the apogee of the Camp nights, full of emotions and fun for all participants! According the Camp program round table on cave protection was held at 16 th July. The chairman of Cave protection commission of BSU , Vesselin Drobenov present the newly established commission. Later the Cave protection commission (ECPC) of the European Speleological federation was presented. In spite of the lack of many participants, the round table made the firs step to put at public discussion among Balkan cavers the subject of cave and karst protection and the recent trends for preserva9

tion, education and policy making. The General Assembly Meeting (GAM) of the Balkan Speleological Union took place on 17 th July with the participation of the national delegates of all Balkan countries, presented in the camp (Bulgaria, FYROMacedonia, Greece, Romania, Turkey). The first point of the agenda after the formalities, was the approval of the application of Speleological Association of Slovenia for membership in BSU. The application was accepted with consensus and Slovenia became the 10-th BSU member after Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYROMacedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey. The members of the Assembly listened and accepted the Report of Bureau about the last year and Financial Report of the Union for the same period. The Agenda continued with the discussions on different matters. The mandate of Nikolaos Mitsakis as a vice president, Alexey Zhalov as a Secretary General and Oliver Gicevski as a Bureau member was over. According to the Statute, the GAM has to elect new persons it these posts. At the same time Mr. Nikolaos Mitsakis resigned as a vice president of BSU. After discussions and voting, Mr. Stelios Zacharias from Greece was elected as a new Vice-President of BSU. Alexey Zhalov and Oliver Gicevski was re-elected on their posts. The Macedonian colleagues confirmed their intention to be hosts of the 5th Balkan Camp and the Balkan Exploratory expedition in 2011. The morning of 18 th July marked the final of the 4th Balkan Cavers Camp. We are sure that the meeting managed to fulfil its main aim – to create conditions for mutual familiarizing of the participants and establishing of deep friendly contacts among the cavers from the Balkan countries. We got back to our countries full of impressions of the landscape and caves of Apuseni Mt. and of Romania and its culture, traditions and hospitable people! The successful organization and carrying out of the Camp was a result of the efforts of the members of the Romanian Federation of Speleology. We are very thankful to all of them for their hospitality and friendship! The whole event was publicized on national and local TV (TVR, Realitatea TV, TVS Oradea) and written press as well. Special thanks we owe to the co-organisers and sponsors of the camp, which contributed to the realising of the event! Written by Viorel Lascu BALKAN CAVERS’ MEETING “JASEN ’2010” – FYR MACEDONIA Balkan cavers meeting “Jasen ‟2010” was held near Belitsa village, FYR of Macedonia from 8 to 11 April 2010. It was organized by Speleological Federation of FYR Macedonia, speleo club "Ursus speleos” Skopje, with the support of the Public Enterprise for Management and Protection of the Multipurpose Area Jasen - area (covering the river Treska and the entire valley and adjoining). The territory or management covers an area of 32 000 ha including the Yakupitsa (Vodno) mountain. It is located in the central part of Macedonia to the west of the town of Veles and south of Skopje. The Yakupitsa embrace several mountain ranges between the rivers Treska, Vardar and Babuna. The highest peak is Solunska glava (2540 m.n.v), near which is located the Solunska Glava Cave, which is the second deepest in Macedonia (- 450 m.). In the area of the second highest peak of Mount Karadzhitsa (2 473 m) is the entrance of Slovachka yama cave (- 525 m) which for now is the deepest in the country. The region is the subject of joint Slovakian-Macedonian expeditions. A significant part of the mountain is covered by karst. In its scope can be found among dozens of caves. Here is the longest cave in Macedonia - Slatinski izvor (4 km long) close to Slatino village; the cave with the largest entrance in the country; the karst spring "Vrelo”, which is one of the most deepest in Europe (- 190 m). It was subsequently the subject of investigation by Bulgarian, French, Belgian, Italian and Macedonian cave divers, but its end is not yet reached. On 8 April, a mountain hut near Belitsa vill. becomes gathering place of the cavers from the Balkan countries. Besides representatives of the organizers in the face of the caving clubs “Ursus speleos ", "Peoni "," Vrelo " from Skopje and Zlatovrav" - Prilep, the hut gathered there 5 cavers from Bulgaria (the clubs "Academic" and "Helictit” from Sofia ), 8 representatives of Romania, by two speleologists from Slovenia and Croatia, 4 Serbian cavers! The meeting was opened by Gordana Janakievski - President of the Macedonian Federation of Speleology. On behalf of the Bulgarian Federation of Speleology, Balkan Speleological Union and European Federation of Speleology the participants were welcomed by Alexey Zhalov. The program continued with a presentation of the activities of the associations participating in the meeting, which was interrupted for technical reasons. In the next few hours of break the participants had the pleasure to visit one of the attractions of the area – the Peshna Cave near Lokvitsa vill. It is an active river cave with phenomenal entrance with dimensions 16.8×52.4 m. The visit of this cave was also an opportunity for us to see remains of a Byzantium fortress. The legend says that this fortress used to be the home of Pesna - a sister of King Marko (1335- 1395). On the opposite side of the cave there is another fortress - Devini Kuli, known to have been the home of the second sister of King Marko - Deva. After the Peshna Cave we visited the karst plateau above it where was locates Kraptski ponor (sinkhole). It is supposed that this is a sinking place of Peshnitsa rivers which springs from the Peshna Cave. The distance between the points of sink and appearance of the water is 10 km with denivelation of several hundred meters. As a result of the joint Macedonian-French Research the sinkhole was explored down to 1.5 km with depth ~ 160 m. In the old sinkhole of the same river, which is located ~ 200 m of the active cave, the explorers also have entered ~ 1.5 km. According to cavers from the Macedonian club «Peoni", the distance between the two galleries of the caves is only 5 m. According to existing data, the development of a large cave system, which is a comprehensive study on the future. Presentations continued until late evening with the stories, photos and movies from Macedonian Slovenian,Croatian and Romanian colleagues. The third day of the meeting was assigned to the penetrations into some of the most interesting caves in the area near the 10

village of Slatina: Slatinski Izvor, Gorna Slatinska Cave and Puralo. All three caves were with interesting morphology and with beautiful decoration. In three evening was held official meeting of the Balkan Speleogical Union. The secretary of the Union A. Zhalov reported about the activities of the in the period after the 3rd Balkan Camp in Turkey - the constitution of the three working commissions and election of their presidents. He presented the newly elected Chairman of the Cave and of karst protection commission Veselin Drobenov from Bulgaria. V. Drobenov shared his ideas on the activities of the commission and its first steps. After the final words of Gordana Janakievska and A. Zhalov, the participants in the Balkan Meeting "Jasen'2010" wished each other good-bye to the next events in the Balkan Speleological Union. The morning of April 11 put a final end to the first of all 6 Balkan events, which will be held during the year. It is more than certain that the meeting fulfilled its main task, namely to create conditions for mutual understanding and establish friendly relations between the Balkan countries speleologists and to motivate speleologists to participate in the 5th Balkan and Balkan Camp and cave expedition which will be held here in 2011. The provided accommodation and food and the general overall organization and conduct of the meeting were perfect. They are the result of the efforts of members of the Macedonian Federation of Speleology, Club “Ursus speleus” and the Management of the enterprise "Jasen." Therefore we owe thanks the Macedonian colleagues for their hospitality and care during our stay in Belitsa and generally in Macedonia. FIFTH BALKAN CAVERS’ CAMP „SAMOKOV’2011” – FYR MACEDONIA Fifth Balkan Speleological Camp was held from 29.06 - 03.07.2011 year. in the village of Samokov in the hotel Porecki Biser and its surroundings, only 35 km from the Municipality of Makedonski Brod. The camp was completely supported by the Balkan Speleological Union, and it was organized by the Macedonian Speleological Federation and the Exploring Society "Ursus Speleos" - Skopje, a member of the federation. The camp was attended by about 150 cavers from the Balkan and the European countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, Turkey, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia), and was the largest international caving event in our country. The opening ceremony of the camp was on 29.06.2011 and attended by the Mayor of the Municipality of Makedonski Brod, Mr. Milos Vojnovski, the President and Vice President of the Speleological Federation of Macedonia, Gordana Janakievska and Ivan Zezovski, the President of the Balkan Speleological Union Viorel Lasku, the outgoing Secretary General of the Balkan Speleological Union Alexei Zhalov, the President of the Exploring Society "Ursus Speleos" - Skopje Ali Samet, who also addressed the participants and declared the fifth Balkan Speleological Camp open. This largest ever international event in caving in Macedonia was organized with great help from the Speleological clubs "Zlatovrv" from Prilep and "Orle" from Kavadarci, the Municipality of Makedonski Brod, the local unit of the Ministry of Interior in Makedonski Brod, the Environmental Society "Treska" and of course our sponsors, Vigo-48 AD . Evropa Macedonia, General patron ( sponsor ) winery Skovin, from which we presented the wines and enabled the guests to enjoy the beautiful traditional taste. During the camp there where organized tours to various caves and pits for everyone's skills and desires. We visited the caves Peshna and Devina peshtera, which were offered as tourist caves primarily for the youngest and oldest participants. In the village of Slatina the participants visited the caves Slatinski Izvor (4 km. The longest cave system in the country), Gorna Slatinska, Ovcharska peshtera and Puralo ( still unexplored fully ) where young Macedonian cavers together with the Slovenian speleologist Uros Ilic found new channels with length of 280 meters. Next to visit were Momichek cave in the village of Belica and the caves Janoa 1 and 2, near the village of Samokov. Additionally, due to great interest also we visited the pits Gorna and Dolna Bijesh (-60m) which represented a real challenge for experienced speleologists. On 30.06.2011. there was a General Assemblu Meeting of the Balkan Speleological Union. The biggest news from this year's Assembly is the decision of the doyen of BSU, Alexey Zalov that no longer served as the Secretary-General, although he has been on the function since the establishment of the Union, which he gave immeasurable contribution. The decision was made because of personal and family obligations, but he promised to continue to provide support and represent the Union in FSE. In his place was elected new Secretary General of the Union - Mr. Kiten Topalov from R. Bulgaria. During the camp each evening visitors had the opportunity to present their various activities in their clubs or federations, in order to be better acquainted with each other's activities and of course a desire for further more successful and fruitful cooperation. On 02.07.2011 in the evening was held the official closure of the camp, and there we presented the new book "Land and caves" by Mr. Peter Delchev from the Bulgaria's National Museum, and after that we handed out the awards of the International Photo Competition " caves and we "in two categories: 1. we and the caves 2. the beauty of caves, organized by speleological club Prista Ruse in Bulgaria, competition directly supported and sponsored by the Balkan speleological Union. During the camp, the best 40 photographs were displayed all the time, and were seen by all present at the event. Before the final closure of the camp, participants held a minute of silence for the death of one of the most experienced cavers in the state Mr. Blagoja Kocevski the Speleological club "Salamander" from Stip. Immediately after the Macedonian Speleological Federation awarded the certificates of appreciation to representatives of the federations for their participation and after that the Exploring Society "Ursus Speleos" Skopje as the main organizer of the event expressed gratitude to all the staff who directly or indirectly helped in the organization of this camp. First awarded were 11

the youngest cavers in our country, that with their smiles and confusion managed to get biggest cheers in the audience and which also showed that the speleology in Macedonia has a large and prosperous future. After the awards the Traditionally flags and banners bearing the Balkan Speleological Camp were given to the new General Secretary of the Balkan Speleological Union, Kiten s Topalov, a tradition when you define the next host state. After the official closing of the camp, there was a big party until dawn. Written by: Alexander Stojanoski SIXTH BALKAN CAVERS` CAMP “LOGATEC’2012”, SLOVENIA

The 6th Balkan Cavers Camp was organised by Slovenian Speleological Federation and was held in Logatec from 28 June to 1st July 2012. Altogether there were 206 participants, who included 47 Slovenian cavers and cave rescuers to help with organization of the camp and guiding to caves in addition to a 159 foreign cavers. The number of countries represented and participants included Bulgaria (74), Croatia (6), Germany (2), Greece (2), Ireland (1), Macedonia (2), Montenegro (3), Poland (3), Romania (35), Serbia (14), Turkey (16) and Austria (1). At 27. June afternoon was intended for assembly and accommodation of participants. There was already one cave on programme. Reception was open until 5 in the morning. In the evening was the opening of the meeting was made in the evening of the same day with a speech by the representative of Administration for civil protection and disaster relief, the President of Speleological Association of Slovenia and representatives of BSU and FSE. Followed by the presentation of the program of the meeting. Emphasis was given on safe and environmentally friendly visiting of caves and existing legislation that regulates visits to Slovenian caves. Representative from our Ministry for environment. In the first day of the camp was organized departure of participants to 8 caves of varying difficulty levels and one tourist caves. Visits was organized by caving clubs. In the evening there presentation of the Slovenian-Croatian joint European project “EU Proteus” and the first results of the project – Identification of all special conditions and dangers in caves. Next day the participants made penetrations in 9 more caves of varying difficulty levels and one tourist caves. In the same afternoon the Meeting of the Bureau BSU and later Assembly General of BSU were held. During the evening there were some presentation as: The Cave Registry of the Speleological Association of Slovenia – system of Cave Registry and applicability in research and rescue. Follow the results of the review and updating of records of significant caves in the Cave Registry in Slovenia and Croatia within the framework of the EU Proteus project and presentations of important expeditions into the deep and long caves with a focus on individual problem areas in the cave. On 20 of June international cave rescue exercise Najdena jama, was held. Slovenian and foreign cave rescuers, who have so far attended one of the three international programs Cave Rescue training (in Montenegro, Macedonia or Bulgaria) and national cave rescuers participated. In parallel was organized departure of participants to 6 caves of varying difficulty levels. This day was also dedicated for the Meetings of BSU commissions for Training, Cave protection and Cave Rescue. In the evening the organisers Balkan photo contest „We and Caves” present the awards of the event. And after the official Closure of Camp was held. Joint closing dinner and cultural program end the day. The main aim of this meeting was to bring together cavers from different countries and visit as many caves as possible. Slovenian cavers and cave rescuers helped the event organizers to accomplish this goal. Every day participants had an option to visit one or more of the 25 listed caves. These caves were categorised according to the level of skill required for their exploration. Categories included “Hard”, “Middle” any “Easy”. On Thursday (28th June) there were 115 cavers in 8 caves, while on Friday there were 120 cavers in 9 caves. Besides cave rescue exercise where attended 42 participants on Saturday also 45 cavers visited 6 caves. We have special arrangement with Škocjanske jame that participants of the camp pays only entranse fee for children. We have no information how many visitors choose this option. On all days there were 6 vans available for transfers to airport, train and bus station and to caves. All participants were impressed with the level of organization shown during the meeting. The logistics and information centre were run by Slovenian cavers and cave rescuers. Cave rescue training Due to the interest shown by cave rescuers at the meeting, we arranged an international cave rescue exercise in Najdena jama. Najdena jama is a complex cave system, characterised by a labyrinth of passages, abysses, water and a lot of mud. This took place on the Saturday (30.6.2012). The exercise was headed by Maks Merela and forty-two cave rescuers from nine countries including Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, Turkey, Croatia, Romania, Montenegro, Macedonia and Slovenia participated to the exercise. The goal was to recover an injured caver located at a depth of 120 m approximately 1.2 km from the cave entrance. Cave rescuers were organized into six rescue teams working in the cave; additionally we setup our headquarters (HQ) in front of the cave. HQ members note down all the important events that occurred during the training exercise. Each instructor deliberately chose rescuers from different countries to see how international cooperation with rescuers with various levels of 12

experience would work. Organizing such an action is a real challenge not only because of communication problems but also because it is not possible to know in advance the personal experience and skill level of each rescuer. The first rescue team entered the cave at 11:00 pm. Their task was to take a stretcher into the cave and all the necessary material and equipment to prepare the casualty for evacuation. Immediately afterwards, the second team installed the telephone system to allow communication between rescuers and surface personnel. An efficient communication system is vital in a cave rescue situation because the underground cave environment does not allow the use of simple wireless connections such as twoway radio systems. All other members of the cave rescue teams then entered the cave one after the other. Prior to evacuation (at 14:48) the casualty was prepared i.e., fitted with a body warming device and placed securely on the stretcher. Preparation of the casualty for a long muddy journey out of Najdena jama & starting the evacuation by hauling the stretcher upwards with a pulley system. The cave layout meant that rescuers had to prepare several cave specific manoeuvres for getting the stretcher across the many obstacles. Preparation of the equipment for safe stretcher transport & hauling the stretcher by rope. At 17:33 the casualty finally emerged from the cave. The whole evacuation took just under 3 hours. The cave was then deequipped and the final rescuer emerged from Najdena jama at 19:10. Analyse of the International cave rescue training exercise The whole rescue exercise was considered a success. Evacuation of the injured caver was fast enough albeit there were some deficiencies. These included: • Communication problems (language). • The use of different and in some case incorrect rescue techniques. • Some of the rescuers did not have the correct personnel equipment and did not carry out optimal rescue manoeuvres. Written by Uroš Ilič & dr. Maks Merela SEVENTH BALKAN CAVERS` CAMP “NJEGUŠI’2013” - MONTENEGRO The 7th Balkan Cavers‟ Camp took place in the village of Njeguši, county Cetinje in Montenegro from 26th to 30th June 2013. The 7th Camp was organized by the Montenegrin Speleology Commission presided by Mr. Marko Zornija. On 26th June, a total of 133 cavers from eight countries gathered in Njeguši: Bulgaria – Petar Baron – the President of Bulgarian Federation of Speleology and 62 other cavers from 14 Bulgarian caving clubs; Greece – Lefteris Tzelepis – Equipment Secretary of the Hellenic Federation of Speleology and Stelios Zacharias (BSU Vice president); 5 other Greek cavers from 1 club; Romania – Tiberio Tulucan – representative of the Romanian Federation of Speleology, as well as 26 Romanian cavers from 10 clubs; Serbia – Matija Petkoviš – Representative of Serbian Speleological Association with 6 cavers from 3 clubs Slovenia – Rajko Braţiš, the President of JRZ Slovenia with 25 cavers from 7 clubs Croatia – 4 participants from KS HPS Poland – 3 cavers from Klub Wisokogorski Krakow (who participated in the organization of the event) Montenegro was the host country and there were 9 cavers (from 3 clubs) who all played an active role in the organisation of the event. It total 145 Cavers from 8 countries! The official opening of the Camp took place on the evening of 26th June. The event was opened by Mr. Marko Zornija in the presence of numerous local community representatives as well as the Municipality of Cetinje and the Head of Tourist organization of Cetinje Ana Ivanoviš. The activities for the following days were presented. The following days the program of the Camp included penetrations in some of the not very long and deep, but quite interesting caves of the Njegusi area like Njegoš cave, Boljanovica and Duboki do which were visited by 120 cavers in total. Some participants opted for the seaside as it is quite near Njeguši. The representatives of the speleological federations had the opportunity to share information and impressions about the speleo events to which they attended and to agree future visits and cooperation. Younger Montenegrin cavers had the opportunity to meet their foreign colleagues and exchange the experience. The evenings were free as the lack of technical equipment disabled having presentations and discussions. The presentations will be sent to all heads of the federations by e-mail so that they can forward them to their members. The last day of the gathering was spoiled by rain and the visit to canyon Skurda which was planned for Saturday 29th June had to be cancelled for the sake of a ll participants. But, 59 cavers managed to visit the canyon the day before and they descended from 650 m above the sea to the sea level in Kotor. The farewell party was organized on 29th June. The Mayor of Cetinje participated in the closing ceremony and greeted the participants expressing his satisfaction that Montenegro is recognized as a country with large potential for caving development. He also announced that one of the caves near Cetinje was leased to Slovenia and that it would be transformed into a tourist cave which Montenegro lacks. The representatives of the Mountaineering Association also greeted the participants hoping that there will be more caving events in Montenegro. After the closing speeches held by the organizers and General Secretary of BSU, the letters of thanks were distributed to all federations and clubs whose federations are not the part of the BSU. It was the apogee of the Camp nights, full of emotions and fun and dancing for all participants. 13

The General Assembly Meeting (GAM) of the Balkan Speleological Union took place on 28th June with the participation of the national delegates of all Balkan countries presented in the camp. The members of the Assembly discussed the items from the agenda, gave proposals for Poland to have observer status in the BSU. The General Secretary presented the financial report and the minutes from the previous GAM. The most important thing was the election of new bureau: Alexey Zhalov (Bulgaria) was nominated as President of the BSU, Tiberiu Tulucan (Romania) was nominated Vice-President, Stelios Zacharias (Greece) was nominated General Secretary and Treasurer, and Jasmina Šeraniš (Montenegro) was nominated the member. All new bureau was unanimously accepted. During the GAM, the future activities were discussed as well as the proposal of where to organize the 8th Balkan Cavers Camp. All participants agree that Serbia should be the organizer and the proposal was sent to their Federation. In the meantime, Serbia accepted the organization of the 8th Camp and more details will be soon disclosed. We are sure that the meeting managed to fulfill its main aim – to create conditions for mutual familiarizing of the participants and establishing of deep friendly contacts among the cavers from the Balkan countries. All we get back home full of impressions of Montenegro – its nature, culture, traditions and hospitable people. The successful organization and carrying out of the Camp is a result of the efforts of the members of the Montenegrin Cavers Union, especially its President – Mr. Marko Zornija and his small team. Montenegro owes special thanks to the Municipality of Cetinje and municipal community of Njeguši for their support as well as Tourist organization of Cetinje which provided the tourist material. Written by Jasmina Ćeranić

EGHT BALKAN CAVERS’ CAMP “MRAVINJCI’2014” - SERBIA Balkan caver‟s camp in 2014 was held in Serbia, organized by the Federation of Speleological Organizations of Serbia (SSOS) and under the auspices by the European Speleological Federation (FSE) and Balkan Speleological Union (BSU) in the period from 24th to 28th September 2014, in the village of Mravinjci, close to the town of Valjevo. All cavers and friends of speleology were invited to participate and exchange caving experience. In the beginning aimed to Balkan countries, now is gathering enthusiast from south-eastern Europe who are exploring karst of Balkan peninsula. The majority of the Camp program was held in Lelic karst, south-west of the town of Valjevo in western Serbia. Participants were able to visit the caves in the immediate vicinity (up to -183 m deep and up to 500 meters long) Dragov ponor, Deguriš cave, Lenţina cave, Vranţev ponor, Filipov ponor, Orlovaţa, Ponara (Plandište), Petnica cave and canyons of the rivers Tribuša, Trešnjica and Dubašnica. Caves were fully rigged and accessible by car. Canyons were equipped (rigged) with permanent anchors, visitors needed to carry their equipment (ropes, carabiners and personal equipment). This year BSC have participants from outside of Balkan peninsula. This number of registered participants was initially larger but because of postponing primary date we had weaker response. Final number of all participants who had participated in the camp was 113 (one hundred and thirteen ) persons as follows: Bulgaria ( 38 ), Croatia (1), Greece (17), Romania(17), Serbia (14),Turkey (12)Slovenia(1o)Poland (5), Italy (1). During camp all speleological objects who were offered for visit had visitors from camp. Most crowded was Dragov pit and Lenţina cave which was to be expected since those two were closest to camp and with special speleothems. In Dragov pit was installed double system, one fordescending and other for ascending so there was no jamming with several large teams entering in the pit simultaneously. There was only one big team that have visit canyon, who was mix of different national teams combined together.. In total, there was 354 persons/entry in caves/canyons during camp with around 1416 (one thousand four hundred sixteen) hours, or exactly 59 days combined time of all cavers conducted "underground". All entries in caves/canyons were controlled and tracked by Speleo Rescue Service of Serbia. Quick response team was on standby during the duration of the camp in building of Speleological Organizations of Serbia which is located in city of Valjevo. Note that several teams have entered in more than one cave in same day, so the number of entries by person is possible to be more than total number of participants of BSC. 14

After visits to the caves/canyons, in the evening hours were held presentations by national speleological association, clubs, rescue services. All were invited to present their organization's / actions / expeditions / achievements, etc. After presentations, which were almost all oral, participants were left to discuss about them, ask questions, give proposal and advices until late at night. Speleo Competition was held in Saturday in Petnica cave after visiting building of SSOS and sightseeing of city of Valjevo. It was planned that during that day all who are interested visit Petnica cave and have small history talk about her and region around her. Competition was separated in two categories, male and female. Length of climbed rope was same for both categories. Official events: During the camp BSU Bureau meeting and General assembly meeting was held. In the evenings some presentation were made also. Written by Danilo Tomic

NINGHT BALKAN CAVERS’ CAMP “OGULIN’2015” - CROATIA

The 9-th Balkan Speleological Camp was held from 16 to 20 of November , in Ogulin, Karlovac County, Croatia. The Camp was organised from Zagreb Speleological Federation and SD Gyula-Medvedica from Ogulin. The camp was visited by 40 cavers from 8 countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Grece and Croatia. Caving trips were made in the most interesting non-touristic caves as : Jopiševa špilja, Đulin ponor , Kuštrovka , Rokina bezdana, Siniţiša špilja, Mandelaja, Vještiţja jama. The caving trips was hosted from Croatian colleagues from the caving clubs SK Zeljeznicar, DDISKF, SD Karlovac, SD Gyula-Medvedica and SOV. They were set up photo exhibition with the best photos from the competition the Balkan Photo Competition "We and Caves"- edition 2015. The Balkan cavers have the privilege to took part in the Annual meeting of Croatian cavers. Written by Alexey Zhalov

THE SPELEOLOGY IN BALKAN COUNTRIES SPELOLOGY IN ALBANIA According to our knowledge information on the caves in the country can be found as early as the 14th century. In his book “Enigma” (vol. IV) Robert d'Angély (Angély 1991) published a very interesting map of the Valona bay and Karaburun (Black Cape, from Turkish: kara - black & burun - cape) Peninsula. The Kara-burun map features two signatures of Greek omega letters at the topographic location where the caves St.Basilio and St.Nikola are situated. The same signatures exist in the German General Staff topographic map of Albania from the 1st World War scaled 1:200,000. The eminent Albanian speleologist Gezim Uruçi (Uruçi 1994) concluded that the signatures mark two well known caves which are visible from far: Shpella e Haxhi Alise (Shën Basilios) and Shpella e Puriqut (Shën Nikolles). D‟Angelys‟ map is probably the first printed source on caves in the territory of Albania. Information with regard to karst features and caves can be found in the travel notes and studies of travelers and scientists from different European countries (France, Italy, Austro-Hungaria, Germany, Great Britain, Serbia/ Yugoslavia, Poland, Bulgaria etc.) who visited Albania in the 17th and 19th century. However, most of these authors described karst occurrences and caves along the roadside and no karst- and cave-related studies were made. The probably very first systematic cave exploration was conducted by zoologist R. Sturany in the caves of northern Albania in 1905 (Ginest & Junerie 1994). In Stoev & Enghoff (2008) we found irrefutable evidence that on 30th July 1905 Petrovic studied the unnamed cave in Sildi Mountain near Shkodra and collected some millipedes. Later, in 1906 and 1908, A. Winneguth explored some caves in the southern part of the country. German zoologist Otto Wohlberedt explored „Toubenhöhle” (Pigeons Cave) near Reci village and described it having a huge entrance hall (~400 m2) which continues in a 40 m wide passage) Baron Franz Nopcsa (1877-1933) was one of the most prominent researchers and scholars of his time. He became a leading explorer of Albania. His studies covered different fields of science but mainly focused on geology and geography of northern Albania. Fifty-four of Nopcsa‟s publications are related to Albania and surely some of them include information on karst and caves. The most interesting work that we found was “Aus Šala und Klementi” (From Shala and Kelmendi) (Nopcsa 1910) where he provides information on 8 caves in the area of the Albanian Alps: Shpella Bravnikut and Drels close to Curaj, Shpella Dragins (Niksi), Spella Pejs (Theth), Shpella Kopois (Boga), Shpella Humit (Vukli), Shpella Prenkut (Trabojna) and Spella Skander-begut. Apparently, some of these caves were visited in the period between 1906-1908. In May 1914 Carlo Lona from Triest made faunistic studies in caves of the Cukali Mountains north of Shkodra: Scpedha (Shpella) n‟Ciuk tugit Vukai; Scpedha n‟kunor Vukai, Scpedha e bocit, Scpedha n‟rasst kunors, Scpedha n‟giuka kunors; Scpedha nre Ges n‟gur t‟barzodhs, Scegha lacurigit (Bat Cave). In July 1922 Lona and and G. Ravasini explored some other caves in Tomor Mt. in the southern part of Albania. From 1930 to 1942 A. Bischoff explored more some Albanian caves in a more systematic way. On 4th May 1931 A. Bischoff , C. Lona and A. Winkler explored the area of Mt. Dukati near Valona especially Stere Cave located in Groppa e Vasos in St.Elias Mt. (Winkler 1933). The next known cave exploration is dated from 1936 when Muftar Uruçi from Shkodra explored Zhyla Cave close to Prekal vill. in Shkodra district and made a sketch map (Uruçi 1994). In the same year In he together with mountaineering friends, he founded a speleological group in the Sporting Club "Vllaznija" in Skodra. Between 1930 and 1939 Italian archaeologist Luigi Cardini travelled extensively throughout south-western Albania and, with the help of a few dedicated Albanian guides, mapped and recorded over 60 natural caves and rock shelters. Under Cardini's supervision, Albanian workers made archaeological excavations in some caves (Dragot and Vajza caves). Cardini‟s next visit was in 1936, when he explored Velcia and made a first survey of ten caves in the area. In 1936 Cardini conducted studies on Karaburun peninsula including Ravena and Belos Caves. He continued the excavation in Velcia (Maçi Cave) in 1937. His excavations revealed stone axes, flint tools and a previously unknown type of Eneolithic painted pottery. Some caves in the Dukati Mountain south of Vlöre were biospeleologically investigated in October 1941 by L. Boldori, who was a captain of the Italian occupation army in Albania. During the early decades of the 20th century most information for the existence of karst and caves and fragmental studies of them can be found in geological and geographical literature. The bibliography of this kind of researches in Albania is very extensive and it is practically impossible to assess all cave related data. This is a hard task to be done in the future. In 1958, on request of the Albanian government, the eminent Hungarian speleologist and hydro-geologist Hubert Kessler led a team of Hungarian experts and cavers to solve the water supply problems of Tirana. Kessler‟s team conducted detailed cave exploration of the Mali me Gropa Mountain and the high-elevation karst plateau representing the recharge area for the karst springs of Selita and Shemria . In 1961 a German zoological axpedition in Albania visited some caves in Central A1bania including Shpella Mezhogorit located in Dhembeli Mt. on the left bank of the Vjosa river between Tepelena and Pestan villages. From 27th September to 25th October 1960 Czech zoologist V. Hanak and his Albanian colleagues I. Zeko, Xh. Muraj and F. Lamani studied the cave dwelling bats of Albania. During their field-work 9 caves in Albania were explored (Shpella Mezhgoranit, Tepelene, Shpella close to Vanista village, Girokastra, Shpella close to Velea village, Little Cave close to 16

Himara, Cave near Fush (Kruje town), Igors Cave near Pishkash village, Cave near Cherve-nak village, Cave Ali Dedës near Juban village, and a cave near Korite village (Hanak 1964). On 17th April 1971, by initiative of mountaineers from Club Vllaznija (Shkodra town), the Speleological Association of Shkodra was founded (Uriçi 1994). The elected bureau was composed of Gezim Uriçi (president), Kujtim Gjilbegy (vice secretary) and Romeo Leno (secretary). The Shkodra Association conducted the first systematical cave exploration in Albania but the politic and socio-economical conditions did not allow for cave documentation according to international standards. Despite of lack of modern equipment the association found and explored a lot of caves all over the country mainly in the northern Albanian Alps. Until 1991 many caves were explored, the most important of which were Gaitan , Uban, Maya Arapit, Gjek Marku, Azem Galices (Perceves), Dom ndre Mjedes, Gjoglajve etc. Bënjës Cave is a karst cave located on the right shore of the beautiful Langarica river canyon near the village of Bënjë. The narrow entrance leads to a 160 m long corridor with side niches suitable for habitation. In 1983 Muzaffer Korkuti made excavations in the cave. Drilling conditions were very difficult because 1.5 km of electric cable for lighting needed to be installed as well as a 10 m high ladder to access the cave entrance. A very rich ensemble of archaeo-logical artifacts was found and a stratigraphy of defined periods of human inhabitence. The beginnings of cave occupancy belong to the Copper Age (mid third millennium BC). During the Bronze and Iron Age (first millennium BC) the settlement was most intensive proven by a rich diversity of pottery and work tools (Korkuti 2012 ) The Albanian Speleological Association was created on 1st of July 1991 in Shkodra. This was the first official speleological organisation after the political changes in Albania and it was chaired by Gezim Uriçi. The president of the Association and its members participated in most of the international speleological expeditions which were carried out in the country. According to G. Urici (1994) the Association studied about 1,700 caves in Albania. The early scientific research of surface karst forms may be attributed to Albanian geo-graphers like Kristo (1973), Gruda (1981, 1985, 1990) or Hoti (1990). The first archaeological and paleontological studies in the Albanian Alps (Shpella Gajtanit) date from 1923. The same cave was excavated by A. Fistany in 1961 and 1982 when fossil remains of Hominids were found (Fistani 1982). The Gajtan prehistoric cave near Shkoder yielded an extensive mammal fauna indicating a warm phase in the Middle Pleistocene. Some cranial and post-cranial well preserved material belongs to a little sized Ursidae, scarce enough in the European Pleistocene: Ursus thibetanus (Cuvier). It's the first mention of the species in Albania. For the second time a skull was found with moderately worn teeth and a connected mandible. Our knowledge on the cranial and dental morphometry of the species is better known and allows a comparison with U. mediterraneus, U. stehlini, U. schertzi and U. (Plionarctos) telonensis. Some pieces, refered to these species, are discussed and assigned to U. thibetanus. The Gajtan discovery is a knew confirmation of the existence of U. thibetanus in the Western Eurasia during the Middle Pleistocene and provides new information on its geographical extension . Katundasit Cave is located at 405 m a.s.l. 20 km north of Berat near the Sinecit canyon. Its length is 54 metres. The surface of the cave is about 350 m2. The archaeological excavation started in 1986 by the nestor of modern archaeology in Albanian, Muzaffer Korkuti. The material found dates to the Early Neolithic (Copper era following the Neolithic dates from 2,600-2,100 BC). More important is the fact that after the Copper Age findings pass into the Bronze Age, dating back to 2,100-1,200 BC. Iron Age (11th-5th century BC) is represented by painted pottery of Devollian style and bronze ornamental objects, known from many places in Bulgaria. Besides daily use pottery, characterized by an advanced technique of painting, massif earthenware was recovered including pithoi and amphorae that were used for keeping food. Life in the cave has continued during the Mideval period (Korkuti 1986) In 1991 excavations started in Konispol Cave revealing the earliest human occupation of this region. The Konispol Cave (known locally as Shpella e Kërçmoit) is a large solution cavity in a maquis-covered karstic limestone landscape. It lies at an altitude of 400+ m a.s.l., near the top of the Saraqint ridge. The cave is approximately 50 m long, and about 6 m wide and 6 m in height. Daylights in the ceiling above the main entrance and at the cave‟s western end provide some light and ventilation. The excavations in 1992 and 1993 were focused on determining the depth of the geological and cultural remains, extracting samples for radiocarbon dating, and collecting data relevant to reconstructing the economy of the cave during its prehistoric occupation. Preliminary excavations made by Albanian scientists during 1989 and 1990 suggested that the cave has a significant sequence of Neolithic occupation, with sporadic evidence of use in the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, and classical period (Korkuti and Shabani 1989). During the campaigns of 1992-94 a surface area of 19.36 m2 was excavated. A maximum depth of 4.20 m below the current floor of the cave was reached. The stratigraphic levels represented in the cave have been designated provisionally as follows: Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Archaic through Hellenistic . The second national speleological organisation named Shoqata Didaktike Shkencore Speleolo-gjike Shqiptare (Didactical Scientific Speleolo-gical Albanian Association, DSAA) was founded in Tirana in 1993. Its president was Perikli Qiriazi. In his article “Karstic caves, temples of nature appeal, with force for a particular legal status” Qiriazi (1998) stated that during the 5 years of DSAA‟s existence the Association discovered and explored “about 1000 karstic caves in collaboration with our foreign colleagues”. The Association together with some colleagues from abroad has made a couple of exploration in different areas in Albania, one of which was Pellumbas Cave. The cave is also known as the Black Cave (Shpella e Zeze) and is located just 27 kilometers SE of Tirana about 2 km NE of the name-giving Pëllumbas village, on the left side of the Erzeni river canyon at 350 m.a.s.l. The cave is 360 meters long. DSAA was the first to visit the cave in 1995 and found evidence of ancient human life. The archaeological material revealed in the first phase of excavations was Neolithic, Eneolithic to Bronze and Iron period. The cave is regarded to be one of the most valuable archaeological sites in Albania. The first phase of investigation yielded 100 fragments of earthenware, belonging to different eras, and some animal bones. According to the the Museum of Natural Sciences, University of Florence, cave bear (Ursus Speleaus) fossils were found. Specialists believe that the cave has remains of human cultures belonging to the Paleolithic period to the Middle Ages. A cave near Tren village was also explored. Shpella e Trenit is a valuable historical heritage in the southeast region of Albania. Train Cave is located in the western part of Lake Prespa and findings date back to 6,000 BC (late Neolithic period) until 17

the Middle Ages. The cave has been studied for its historical and natural values. Beside these surveys further excavations were conducted in Himara Cave. The aim of this excavation was to check the results obtained by Luigi Cardini in 1939. Comparing the stratigraphy reported by Cardini with those from the excavations of 20022003 there are some important differences that relate to the dating of a number of late antique, Iron and Bronze Age deposits (found also by Cardini). The lithic finds may belong to the Mesolithic. The excavated ceramic material was dated from the archaic, classic and Hellenistic periods. The layers that yielded imported wares represented by bowls, cotyla, skyphoi, kylix, and others with a light brown slip, light brown, dark, red to brown and light red, represent the higher phase the Iron Age, mainly 7th-6th century BC. (Gjipaly 2009). During 2002-2004 evaluations at Himara Cave and Kanalit rock-shelter in the Acroceraunian Mountains further north were carried out. Survey and excavation work was undertaken by Pete Crawley, Emily Glass, Rovena Kurd, Syrja Lala, Nevila Molla, Jerry O'Dwyer, and Rudence Rucha. Both locations revealed stratified evidence of prehistoric activity dating from the Mid-Holocene. At Kanalit, an extensive lithic assemblage provided evidence form the Mesolithic, while at Himara, the artifacts shows intensive human activity at the cave from the Early Bronze Age. Radio-carbon dates have provided a significant independent chronological marker for Early/ Middle Bronze Age horizon. The ceramic evidence indicates a predominance of local influences, the site not becoming part of wider trading networks until the late Iron Age, c. seventh to sixth centuries BC . If the information provided by the presidents of both Albanian speleological organisations is regarded to be correct the amount of explored caves in Albania totals at about 3,700. In 1993, due to the Bulgarian support the International Speleological Congress in Beijing, accepted Albania as a member of UIS, and Gezim Uruçi was nominated as representative of the country. Later on Albania became a founding member also of the Balkan Speleological Union with its delegate also being Gezim. Written by Alexey Zhalov

Emblematic Caves of Albania Shpella ne Majes te Horropit (Harapit) - Maya Arapit Cave Theth village. Altitude: 1,324 m a.s.l. Length: 3,286m. Depth: 413 m (+384 m/-50 m). The Maja Arapit summit massif is located at the east border of the “Bjeshkët e Namuna” Mt., in the so-called Radohima Mt. block, western Albanian Alps. It is bordered by the southern parts of the Maja Prozmit massif in the north, the valley of Shala in the south, the Qafa Pejes ridge (1,776 m a. s. l.) in the east and Qafa Reth Visnjes ridge (1,930 m a. s. l.) in the west. The Maja Arapit summit with his altitude of 2,217 m a. s. l. overlooks the massif. The cave is located in the foothills of the southern wall of the Maja Arapit summit at 1,324 m a. s. l. Geology: Maja Arapit Cave is situated in the Albanian Alps zone, which is mainly composed of carbonate and carbonateterrigenous rock sequences. The cave is located at the easternmost part of the Malesia e Madhe sub zone (Kelmendi Microblock) close to its tectonic boundary with the Valbona Microblock (Onuzi 2006). The cave system is developed in an over 1,500 m thick succession of different types of limestone: biomicritic, oolitic, biosparitic, algae, oncolitic, fossiliferous, reef-like etc, covering the time span from Middle Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous. The late Alpine tectonics, especially the fault called Lepushe -Qafes se Thores-Nderlyses, with its general NE-SW spreading, and secondary processes of karstification, are the main factors that control the cave system‟s development. The micrite limestone and marl successions handi-cap the karst evolution. However, the combination of strike-slip and normal fault tectonics provides opportunities for different processes of cave conduit development, which sounds optimistic with regard to possible future exploration of Maya Arapit Cave. Description: The cave has two entrances - a lower and an upper one. The lower entrance is 2.5 m wide and 1.30 high. The upper entrance is accessible only by a 25 m free-climb in the cliff. Its dimensions are 0.50 х 0.40 m. The cave has two main ascending galleries. The first one is directed E-NE-N. The second gallery trends northwards and follows the general direction of the main folds in the area. The east branch has average passage dimensions 5 m wide and 3 m high and ends in a sump. During the snow melt in spring or intensive rainfall the level of the sump rises due to flooding. In these cases the water of the sump lake overflows, follows down the main passage and emits from the lower entrance of the cave as a confined resurgence. The length of the sump at the end of the afore-mentioned passage is 70 m and its depth is 3.5 m. The wall after the sump lake was climbed up to +44 m from the level of the sump and +109 m from the entrance level. The cave continues by a down sloping passage and two pits with a depth of -25 and -12 m. This branch of the cave ends in a mud-covered boulder choke. The difference of elevation between entrance and the end point of the exploration is -6 m. The northern branch is formed by a fault fissure. The first passage section is approximately 1 m wide, with a heigth ranging between 10-15 m. Further on, the height of the passage decreases, but the passage becomes more wide until a short ascending squeeze is met. The subsequent passage is narrow and leads to a 6 m deep pit. At its bottom there is a narrow room with two little lakes and in the ceiling a chimney was found, from where a very narrow horizontal passage continues, followed by a meandering gallery. This leads to a big room with a lake on the floor. There are clay and calcite deposits аt one of the walls of the chamber. 18

The cave continues in straight vertical direction and this passage leads to a 100 m long and steeply sloping ascending gallery. At its end a 15 m deep drop leads to a water collector. In wet periods the water emerges from two places – from a big clay-covered chimney, and from a narrow muddy meander. After the 2012 expedition the surveyed depth and length of the cave reached 3,172 m and 395 m (+369 m/-26 m) respectively. Currently, on a world-wide scale, Maya Arapit Cave ranks amongst the caves with the longest upward development from the entrance. Explo-ration will continue because the theoretical depth potential is not less than 1,000 m. The air temperature in the dry part of the cave 3-5° C and 2-3o C in the wet passages with a humidity close to 100%. Temperature measure-ments revealed the following data: in Africa Hall: 7° С, sump lake: 6° С, meander: 5° С, 2nd pit near the underground camp: 2° С. Explored by Bulgarian Cavers 1992-2015! Still in exploration! Shpella e Celicokave (BB-16) Boga village. Altitude: 1,840 m a.s.l. Depth: -505 m. Length: 124 m. The cave is situated in the N slope of Bridash massif (2,126 m a.s.l) which rises north of Boga village. Shpella Chelicokave is developed in Upper Jurrasic limestones. The vertical entrance has the form of an irregular ellipsoid (1.5 by 2 m) and resembles the start of the first pit (90 m deep). The shaft arrivey in a room measuring 7 x 10 m. From here a narrow and corroded meander leads to the top of the second shaft (93 m deep), at the bottom of which a wide meandering passage leads for 60 m in NNW direction. The passage is intersected by some steps down with the last one being the deepest (8 m). At the end of the passage the next pit (depth 30 m) is encountered which has a little room at its bottom (3 x 5 m). Ten metres further there is a 6.5 m deep drop followed by narrow but easily accessible meander (length 35 m) which ends on top of the next pit (15 m deep). At the beginning of the meander a small water stream joins the passage from an inlet. From the bottom of the 15mshaft a 25 m long and 2.5 m wide gallery starts. Its floor is covered by boulders under which an stream flows. The next pit of -39 m is reached after having passed a short crawl. The cave continues by a 40 m long meander followed by a series of four small pits with depths of 6, 16, 15 and 12 metres respectively. The last pit ends in a small room. A water inlet emerging from the ceiling of this room joints the main cave stream, which has a debit of about 1 litre/sec and disappears into the final pit of the cave (depth 100 m). The bottom is a chamber with the floor covered by boulders and and broken rocks. The cave was discovered in May 1993 by A. Drazhev during the 3rd Bulgarian-Albanian speleological expedition. During that expedition the exploration was ceased at a depth of -390 m. The survey was continued in September of the same year during the national expedition organized by the Speleo Clubs Helictit from Sofia and Studenetz from Pleven. The survey team was led by K. Danailov. Biospeleology: troglobitic beetle Kircheria beroni Giachino & Vailati 2005 and Coleoptera: Carabidae: Leptodirinae. SPELEOLOGY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The tradition of the speleological research in Bosnia and Herzegovina dates back to the middle Ages. The articles of the scientist and philosopher Jakov Sorkoţeviša (1534 – 1604) and Nikola Guţetiša (1549 – 1610) can be considered as the beginning of that tradition. In the article Sopra le Metheore d'Aristotle (published in Venice in 1584), Guţetiš explains the occurrence of wind on the entrance to a cave in the Popovo polje, which does not name, but it is clear that this is a cave Vjetrenica in Zavala. In a large travelogue La Turquie d'Europe (Paris, 1840) A. Boué writes about caves, sinkholes and underground streams in Herzegovina. Also, it should be noted that a Jesuit A. Ayalea describes Vjetrenica cave in his letter to the members of the Central Council for the Propagation of the Faith in Paris. The great progress in speleological research occurs after the so-called Berlin Congress when Austria-Hungary gets a mandate to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina and establish its administration. After the establishment of the Austro Hungarian administration, the Military Geographical Institute in Vienna started with cartographic recording of the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the recording it has been observed many karst phenomena (abysses, caves, pits, estavelas, icecaves). The first research and descriptions of karst phenomena, and therefore the caves, could be found in a substantial extent in the works published in 1884 in the second edition of Speleological Section of the Austrian Tourist Club. The National Museum in Sarajevo, established at the end of the 19th century, raises major field research. Viktor Apfelbeck and Franjo Fiala, curators at the Museum, begin the search of caves. Apfelbeck was searching the caves as underground fauna habitats, and Fiala as prehistoric sites. Apfelbeck (1889) in his first paper on insects in caves states that he visited twenty caves in Bosnia, and Fiala carried out the first archaeological excavations in the caves Megara on Bjelašnica and Marin‟s cave in Rogoušiši (1892). At the same time Hristofor Mihajloviš (1889, 1890) provides the first descriptions of the interior of Vjetrenica cave. Josip Vavroviš (1993) explores the Vjetrenica for water supply of the railway, and brings the first technical draft of the cave and drawings of the cave decorations. At that time begins the intensive geological and hydrological studies of karst areas for land melioration and water supply. We should mentioned articles written by J. Karlinski, Ph. Baliff, F. Riedl, E. Doleţal, and later, at the beginning of the 20th century F. Katzer, A. Penck, A. Grund and V. Havelka. The interesting and unique underground fauna of Apfelbeck‟s findings in late nineteenth century have prompted many researchers to turn on to this area. Some of the significant researchers that should be mentioned are A. Nosek, K. N. Verhoef and L. Genglbauer. Later on, in our region comes the famous Czech researcher of cave fauna Karel Absolon. The first he came in 1908, and then eight more times (the last time was in 1922). He walked around the karst terrain of Bjelašnica, Visoţica, Treskavica, Lebršnik, Bjelašnica (in Herzegovina), Vran, canyon of the river Praţa, Nevesinje, Gacko and Popovo polje. Only in the Vjetrenica cave he was 27 times. Passing the so-called (later called) Absolon‟s canal”, was at that time the largest cave 19

research on the word scale. The number and significance of caves and other natural monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina prompted the question of their protection. The First World War prevented this initiative, but in February 23, 1941 the Provincial Government for Bosnia and Herzegovina declares a Command on the protection of Bosnian caves. Austro-Hungarian military authorities were motivated by number of caves so much that, during World War I, they have formed a special military division which will deal with the research of caves “K. u. K. Höhlenforschungs-Detachement”. J. Daneš worked as a member of such a department. He explored the canyon of the river Praţa and Glasinaţko polje in 1917 and 1918. Between the two world wars the speleological research has been concentrated on the southern Herzegovina. Research were performed by Belgrade geographers and geologists A. Laziš, S. M. Milojeviš, J. Cvijiš and M. S. Radovanoviš. The last one is the author of an important morphological and hydrographic study of the cave Vjetrenica. Among the local people who were active in caving are mountaineers, including leading members of the Sarajevo tourist association "Friends of Nature" (which at one time had the caving section) and Herzegovina Mountaineering Association "Bjelašnica". In addition to research, the members of these societies were dealing with protection of caves, and for the members were organized visits to caves (Megara, Banja Stijena, Bijambare, Novak's cave on mountain Romanija). Just before the Second World War, A. Poliš explores Hrustovaţa cave near Sanski Most. The first speleological research after the Second World War were performed by archaeologists of the National Museum in Sarajevo. Alojz Benac performs archaeological excavations in Hrustovaţa cave, and later in Zelena cave above Buna spring. Figure: Members of the Sarajevo tourist association "Friends of Nature" on their return from visit to the Bijambare caves, June 3, 1920. The considerable research of karst areas begins in Yugoslavia in 1950s, since almost a half of the country is under the karst. Numerous karst phenomena, especially caves and pits, required specialized studies. At the end of 1953, at the initiative of the Yugoslav organization for karst research, in the geographic societies of all the republics was established caving section. A year later at the First Congress of Speleology in Postojna (Slovenia) it was concluded that all the republics should establish caving organizations. First caving organization established in Bosnia and Herzegovina was Speleological Society "Bosna" from Tuzla (established in early 1956). Speleological Society of NR BiH was established later that year. The Society gathers all caving sections and branches in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Speleology begins to develop rapidly thanks to the works which are open due to the technical and economic solving of economic problems of Herzegovinian karst. Founders and members of the Speleological Society of BiH were prominent experts from Energoinvest, the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and Nature, the National Museum, the University of Sarajevo: S. Mikulec, V. Rţehak, A. Poliš, T. Kanaet, A. Buturoviš, R. Gašparoviš, I. Bušatlija, B. Petroviš, H. Riter–Studniţka, O. Zupţeviš. Sections and branches were established in Travnik, Mostar and Zavala. The mountaineer societies, particularly in Sarajevo, have established sections which were very active and whose members performed most of the technical tasks and conquest. The most active section of mountaineer societies are “Bjelašnica”, “Ţeljezniţar”, “Ozren”, “Bukovik” I “Energoinvest”. The Commission for caving of the Speleological Society of BiH was established in 1962. In 1967 at the initiative of Speleological group from Travnik, near Vilinska cave on Sebešiš starts adaptation of forestry house in the first caving house in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later on, the cavers from Speleological Society "Zelena brda" from Zaţule (Trebinje) founded a second caving house built from the old train station Hum. New Speleological Society "The Bosnia and Herzegovina karst” established in the 1970s, which have inherited the activities of the former Speleological Society NR BiH, begins with the release of the journal “Naš krš” (Our karst). The quality of the journal rises when Mr. Izet Avdagiš becomes the president of the Society and the editor-in-chief of the journal. Speleological societies who have acted in Bosnia and Herzegovina by 1992 are: "The Bosnia and Herzegovina karst” and “Speleo Dodo” in Sarajevo, “Zelena brda” (Green Hills) in Zaţule near Trebinje, “Ursus spelaeus” in Foţa, „Ponir” in Banja Luka and „Atom” in Zavidoviši. Particulary active speleological sections among the mountaineers were „Bukovik” and „Jahorina” in Sarajevo. Today in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the active speleologists are in Sarajevo, Zavidoviši, Banja Luka, Foţa, Trebinje, Banoviši and Tomislavgrad. Caving house on Sebešiš (mountain Vranica) and Zaplanik near Trebinje were destroyed. Publishing activity is continued. Journal “Naš krš” (“Our karst”) has started to be published again. Speleological camping and joint research have been organizing frequently. The cooperation with speleologists from the Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, France, England and Italy is re-established.. Written by: Jasminko Mulaomerović, PhD

SPELEOLOGY IN BULGARIA Bulgarian caves have been known since a very long time. Descriptions of them are to be found after XII Century in old manuscripts and in the papers by Bulgarian and foreign authors. The entrance parts of some of these caves have been converted into churches and monasteries, and have been used as cells by monks or for providing shelter for men and animals. Scientific interest in the country's caves began soon after Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman domination in 1878. At the end of the 19th Century the first Bulgarian prehistorians, naturalists and geographers embarked on their investigation and publications appeared about the results obtained. This exploration continued in later years as well. The first Bulgarian Speleological Society was founded on March 18, 1929. This was the result of the necessity to set up a public organization which, under the conditions prevailing at that time, would begin their systematic investigation, protecting them from destruction and setting the beginnings of cave tourism. The founders of the Society were eminent Bulgarian scientists, people active in the realm of tourism, and cave-exploration fans - office employees and workers. The foundation of the First Bulgarian Speleological Society marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of speleology in Bulgaria. Though not very numerous in its members, and despite its limited financial capacities, the Society engaged in considerable and useful activities. It made a reappraisal of all that had been done until that time in cave investigation and in obtaining more knowledge about the country's caves. Organized trips and studies were carried out in certain caves and Karst regions of Bulgaria. The results obtained were published in the scientific publication of the Society - "Bulletin of the Bulgarian Speleological Society" - Volume One of which appeared in 1936. Active propaganda was also carried out for the protection of the caves. There was useful and active cooperation between the Bulgarian Speleological Society and the Bulgarian Tourist Union. The first provincial branches of the Society was founded in the Rakitovo village and towns of Dryanovo and Lovech. Bulgarian Speleological Society became more active after l947. New members entered the Society, which included university students as well. They took part with great enthusiasm in 1948 and 1949 in what were known as the cave brigades organized with the generous support of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Detailed investigations were carried out during this period in the Karst regions of Lakatnik, Karloukovb, Rabisha (near Belogradchik), and Zlatna Panega in Lovech District. The charts prepared and the materials collected constituted important scientific contribution. After 1949 the Bulgarian Speleological Society discontinued its activities over a brief period of time. A good deal of work was done by the speleologists in the town of Rousse, Chepelare vill. and by the university students organized in their Speleological Club "Akademik" in Sofia. Amateur work continued, as well as the research initiated in this field by the various institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and by Sofia University. However, there was a keenly felt need for a speleological organization in the country. Such an organization was necessary to unite the efforts of amateur speleologists and of the specialists and to promote the development of this branch of science in Bulgaria. Favorable conditions to that end were created after 1957, with the restoration of the Bulgarian Tourist Union. At that time a number of scientists and amateur speleologists, as well as active supporters of the tourist movement, approached the Central Council of the Bulgarian Tourist Union with a proposal to set up a Committee for Cave Tourism. On July 14, 1958, the Central Council decided on setting up a Committee for Caving and Cave Tourism. Fortytwo clubs were set up all over the country. With the generous support of the Central Council of the Bulgarian Tourist Union, the new speleological organization rapidly grew in strength and became very active. Its objectives became concretely formulated and presented, and a number of enactment‟s were passed. There were also a number of additional initiatives, such as plenary sessions, conferences, gatherings, and international expeditions. Penetration, charting, and survey work in the known caves and in the discovery of new cave sites became more active and on a higher scientific and technological level. The Commission on Caving and Cave Tourism (which replaced the Committee for Caving and Cave Tourism) took on the task of the development and popularization of cave tourism in Bulgaria. After the Fourth Congress of the Bulgarian Tourist Union in 1972, the Commission on Caving and Cave Tourism was transformed into Bulgarian Federation of Caving and later in 1993 to Bulgarian Federation of Speleology (BFS). In 2015 new national speleological organization was founded – Bulgarian Caving Society. Bulgarian Federation on Speleology represents a part of Bulgarian cavers and speleologists. It organizes National Congresses, and within International Union of Speleology , European speleological Federation and Balkan Speleological Union. BFS have about 500 members organized in 24 regional speleo clubs. The Bulgarian Caving Society (BCS) is the youngest national speleological organization in the country and its achievements are not so extensive . Nowadays the Society embrace about 80 individuals and 10 caving clubs. In its about one year existence the Society organize few national expeditions in the territory of the country and 2 expeditions abroad (Turkey & Iran). Members of BCS took part in two international scientific conferences – Hypogea‟2015 in Roma (Italy) and Karst and Cave protection in Pirot ,Serbia. Training course for cavers was and 2 photo exhibitions were organized. At international level BCS signed memorandums for cooperation with their colleagues from Macedonia and Serbia. BCS became member of Balkan Speleological Union and took the hosting of 10-th Jubilee Balkan Cavers‟Camp‟2016. Many expeditions were carried out. Caves in all Karst regions of the country have been duly studied, described, and mapped. Detailed scientific research and investigations were carried out in more than 1000 caves. The participants in these cave expeditions collected abundant research material and turned it over to the respective institutes and archaeological museums. The Cave Museum in the town of Chepelare is a valuable achievement, while the construction of the Cave Holiday Home in Karloukovo is expected to promote still further the research work carried out in the field of Speleology A Main Card Index of Bulgarian Caves was set up in 1974 at the Bulgarian Federation on Speleology. This Card Index is a

very comprehensive pool of information, the result of the systematic and continuous work of the Bulgarian speleologists - work which goes on unabated. Up to date the Index consisted information for all 6100 caves explored in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian speleological organizations are engaged in active organizational work as well. Tens of international, national, and club expeditions have been carried out. An important role in the training of the beginner cavers is played by the courses organized from each Bulgarian caving club. In the same time the Federation organize annually national training courses for instructors in speleology and for cave rescuers. A number of commissions have been set up at the Bureau of the Federation, for the purpose of improving its standards of operation, as well as Bulgarian Cave Rescue Team with more than 100 members. Bulgarian speleologists are participating in solving a number of practical problems connected with the country's caves. Featuring prominently in the work of the Bulgarian cavers are its international activities. Close ties have been set up to that end with a large number of speleologists and national speleological organizations in all other countries participated in international expeditions, organized in Bulgaria. Of great significance to the development of speleology and to the qualifications of the Bulgarian speleologists have been the big expeditions organized in one of the deepest and longest caves in the world Jean Bernard, Gouffre Berger, Pierre Saint-Martin, Felix Tromb-Hen Mort in France; Ilaminako Ateac (BU-56) and Torka Urielo- Spain; Snezhnaja and Pantyuhinskaya - Georgia; Voronja – Kruber – Chechnja, Kievskaja -Uzbekistan; Antro del Corcia, Michele Gortani, Spluga de la Preta- Italy; Chehi-2 in Slovenia, Chukurpinar Dudeni and Evren Gunay Mehmed Ali Dudemi - Turkey; Anu Buasili-Algeria; Epos Chasm, Provatina and Mavro Skiadi-Greece; Ozernaja and Optimisticheskaya-Ukraina etc. Practiculary important are the expeditions for the exploration of new caves in Austria, Greece, South China, Cuba, Vietnam, Syria, Spain, Turkey, Iran, and especially in Albania where more than 30 expeditions have been carried out since 1991. The total number of the caves discovered and surveyed by Bulgarian cavers and speleologists abroad is about 600. Attempts at introducing certain elementary improvements in some caves have been made also before the Second World War, but the all-round work on making the caves safe and accessible to visitors actually began in the 'sixties, i. e. after the setting up of the Bulgarian Federation on Speleology. There are nowadays eight caves in the country which have been provided with the requisite facilities as tourist sites; "Magura" near the town of Belogradchik (since 1960), "Ledenika" in the Vratsa Mountain near the town of Vratsa (since 1961), "Orlova Chouka" to the south of the town of Rousse (1961), "Bacho Kiro" near the town of Dryanovo (1964), "Sueva Doupka" at the Bresnitsa Village, Teteven District (1967), "Snezhanka" near the town of Peshtera in the Rhodope Mountains (1979 and 1980), "Dyavolskoto Gurlo" , "Yagodinskata Peshtera" and “Uhloviza Cave” in the Rhodope Mountains (1979 and 1980), „Venetsa” (2015) . All these caves are prepared for exploitation as tourist sites. They are closed and visitors can avail themselves of the services of specially trained guides. The membership of the cave clubs is not very numerous. Numerical growth has not been our policy, but rather the high and steadily improving skills and qualifications of the cave-club members. The work done by the Bulgarian cavers is aimed at creating the necessary conditions for the development of cave tourism and its popularization. The Bulgarian Federation on Speleology and Bulgarian Caving Society , with its members - amateurs and research workers - are the organizations who works for the development of speleology and of caving in Bulgaria . Written by Alexey Zhalov

Most emblematic caves of Bulgaria Duhlata Cave Bosnek Village, Sofia Distr. Length about 19 km. Depth: -70 m On the southern slope of Vitosha, SW of Cherni Vrah, 35 km from Sofia, on the Struma River, in one of the most important karst regions in Bulgaria – the Bosnek Region. The cave Duhlata is central to this region, the longest and most complicated cave labyrinth in Bulgaria. It includes a six level system of interconnected underground galleries, chambers, galleries, pitches and rivers. Seven permanent, one periodical and one adjacent rivers run underground. “The big river” is with the biggest outflow and is the central river of the cave. All other seven rivers join it, except for the adjacent one. The end point of the waters in the system is the spring . Duhlata in Bosnek Village (918 m altitude). The cave is situated on the right bank of Struma River, 1.5 km upstream of Bosnek Village, on the southeastern slope of the ridge Golema Mogila. The cave was formed by the water of Struma River in the limestone and the dolomite of Middle Trias. The old entrance is situated at 972 m altitude, 6 m above the level of Struma, in a small cliff. From the entrance hall (The Atrium) we follow a narrow passage on the right. A small lake (Ayazmoto) is reached, where different objects (buttons, coins, pencils, etc.) were left by visitors for healing/in the hope to be healed. After crawling, we reach the largest chamber of the cave – Stalagton, then the labyrinth of Prashnite Halls – several small chambers interconnected by narrow passages. After the hall called Urinarnik, we descend a 10m steep gallery - the First Mercedes (3-direction point). Malkata Duhla follows, from where we reach The Second Mercedes, then after several chambers, we reach the end of Malkata Reka (The Small River). The right gallery leads to the so called Suh Kray (Dry End) with a periodical stream in rainy weather. The right gallery leads to the chamber Nosorog (Rhinoceros). Over a steep plate, the Big River is reached. On the left, the labyrinth of Novata Duhla is reached. From Ribkata, we can follow the Big River downstream for ca. 600 m, circumventing the obstructed parts, using a level which is 4-5 m higher than the river bed. Narrow chimneys connect this part with Novata Duhla. After two semi siphons, the river ends in a siphon. On the way left of the underground river, there are multilevel galleries over the Deep River and the Sixth River. From Ribkata, after 50-60 m of narrow passages upstream (The Termopyles), a wide canyon is reached. Nearby is the junction with Malkata Reka (The Small River). After 100 m upstream along the Big River, we reach the junction with the Rain River, connected with the labyrinth of Malkata Duhla. The last two rivers are with waterfalls, the entrance of the “Akademik parts” is 10 m far from the old entrance of the cave. 22

The cave had been known for a long time. It was mentioned in the book “Krazhki Yavleniya” (Karst Phenomena)(1995) by K. and H. Skorpil. In 1926, Pavel Deliradev in his monograph “Vitosha” wrote: "The cave is with several inner entrances. It is possible to penetrate for some 100 m. Further the galleries become narrow and are not accessible to tourists”. The exploration of the inner parts of the cave started in the late 50s. Cavers as T. Michev, V. Beshkov, A. Denkov, P. Nedkov, L. Popov, P. Beron and others managed to discover the way to the Big River. The organized exploration started at the end of 1965. A group of five cavers: M. Kvartirnikov and S. Penchev from the National Caving Commission, D. Konstantinov, A. Filipov and A. Strezov from Akademik Sofia Caving Club surveyed until 1970 more than 6000 m of cave galleries. Kambanariyata, Aragonitovata gallery , Labirinta na Tronnite Zali, Malkata Duhla, Gubilishteto, the upstream parts of the Big River, the upper level and the connections between the various levels were discovered. After 1970, the participation of Akademik Sofia Caving Club in the study of the cave became more intensive. Successful work was done by the mineralogists M. Maleev, A. Filipov, M. Raynova and others. The level above the Big River was surveyed and in March 1970 the “Akademik parts” – over 1,5 km of galleries and chambers - were discovered and surveyed. In October, an expedition of the Sofia based caving clubs (Aleko, Planinets, Cherni Vrah, Akademik, and Ivan Vazov from Sofia and Rudnichar - Pernik) surveyed another 350 m. In 1971, explorations and surveys were carried out mainly by A. Popov, G. Markov, A. Strezov and P. Veselinov from Akademik Sofia Caving Club. In September, the film “Ways to the Abysses” was shot in the Aragonite Gallery. In October 1971, a Republican expedition was carried out (cavers from Russe, Haskovo, Shumen, Aleko, Akademik, Ivan Vazov, Planinets, Botevgrad), and as a result 200 meters of new galleries were surveyed. In 1972, road works opened a second entrance to the cave, a short cut to Tronnite Zali. In May 1973, another such expedition with cavers from Yambol, Russe, Kotel, Botevgrad, Peshtera and Sofia surveyed another 630 meters of new parts. In 1974, the work to open the cave as a show cave started. A tunnel was dug out and then walled. In October and November 1974, parts of Novata Duhla, situated above the Deep River, were discovered. Up to September 1975, 3163 m from the newly discovered parts were surveyed. In October 1976, the labyrinth of galleries between the Second and the Third Semi Siphon was discovered. Over 700 meters of galleries were surveyed with the active participation of Rumyana Panayotova, Lydia Popova, Georgi Markov, Alexander Strezov, Ognyan Stoyanov, Petko Saynov, Maria Zlatkova, A. Ivanchev (Àleko), Ivo Pozharevski, Bozhidar Nikolov and others. In October 1977, while filming the movie Duhlata, the caves Pepelyankata and Akademik were discovered, which are separate sections of Duhlata system – the river in the cave Akademik joins the Big River of Duhlata after the siphon and surfaces at the sources in Bosnek Village. In June 1979, a Republican expedition (P. Neykovski, P. Tranteev, A. Strezov and 34 cavers from the whole country worked for detailed answer to many questions. A third entrance, leading to the fabulously beautiful chambers of Novite chasti (The New Parts) was discovered and later walled. In 1980 cavers from Akademik tried to go through the siphon of the Big River (120 x 80 cm). September 7 to September 10, 1980 expedition of Akademik Sofia Caving Club with 10 participants surveyed 600 m of new galleries. In 1982 in Duhlata started the permanent expedition Chisti Peshteri (Neat Caves) - about 70 cavers participated, collecting large quantities of garbage. On May 9-10, 1987, Atanas Russev and his team discovered and surveyed the “Edelweiss parts” - more than one km of new galleries. In January 1989, a team of cavers from Akademik Sofia Caving Club (K. Krachunov and others), after negotiating a chimney above the 6th river, reached a series of large chambers and galleries – another 290 m were surveyed. In November 1993, after climbing the canyon at the siphon of the Big River, a group including Aglika Gyaurova and Ivo Kalushev reached a labyrinth of large chambers, about 20 m above the river, ca. 600 m, which were not explored to the end. The exploration of Duhlata has a long history and is still going on with the efforts of cavers from Akademik, Edelweiss and Extreme clubs from Sofia. The cave was declared a Natural Monument (Decree 2810/ 10.10.1962, with 5 ha adjacent land). In this cave almost all possible flowstone formations are found. Known troglobites and stygobites: Diacyclops chappuisi, D. strimonis, Elaphoidella pandurskyi, Parastenocaris sp. (Copepoda), Neobisium kwartirnikovi (Pseudoscorpiones). Description: Alexander Strezov (Akademik Sofia Caving Club). Deveteshkata peshtera Cave (Maarata, Oknata) Devetaki Village, Lovech Distr. Length: 2442 m; Depth: 121 m (-25 m,+ 96 m) The cave is located 1,5 km NW from Devetaki village on the left bank of Ossam River and on the northern slope of Devetaki Plateau. Formed in Aptian-Urgonian limestone. Entrance with a semi-elliptic shape of 30x35 m. The gallery widens into a colossal chamber with dimensions length 328 m; max.width 114 m. ; max. high 48 m. The hall occupy an area of 21 630 m2 and have volume 514 885m3 making it the biggest cave chamber in Bulgaria. The chamber is lit by seven holes, called "okna", the biggest (cave) one (Kilika) being 73 x 48 m. A stream runs in the cave, forming deep pools and huge sinters. First studied in 1921 by G. Katzarov, who discovered artefacts. In 1925-28, several times explored by Pavel Petrov. He 23

sailed the cave river on wooden boats and made hydrogeological observations, surveying the cave. In 1950-52, the archaeologists V. Mikov and N. Djambazov excavated the entrance hall and discovered cultural layers from many periods – Middle and Late Paleolith and Neolith, the Iron and Bronze Age and from Roman times. The cave is considered to be the richest and most representative site of different prehistoric cultures in Southeast Europe. In 1967, the cave was declared a Monument of Culture of national importance (Decree 238/07.06.1996 with the adjacent 14,1 ha). Fauna: 21 known species, including the Isopod Trichoniscus tenebrarum, the Amphipod Niphargus bureschi, and the Centipede Lithobius tiasnatensis (= popovi)(Chilopoda).

Suhi pech (Kozarnika ) Cave Oreshets Village, Vidin Distr. Length : 118 m. Depth: 8 (+3;-5) m Kozarnika Cave is located 6 km from the town of Belogradchik in northwestern Bulgaria, on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains, close to the Danubian Plain. Kozarnika cave opens to the south at an altitude of 481m on a northern hillside of the valley of a Skomlia River tributary (itself tributary of the Danube River into which it flows 30 km to the northeast). The hillside is composed of steep Upper Jurassic calcareous slopes of the Belogradchik anticline lying above conglomeratic formations. The valley, about 185 m deep, cuts through three geological formations; from the top, the Upper Jurassic gray limestones in which Kozarnika cave lies (85 m above the valley floor), the Dogger yellow gritty limestones (60 m thick) and 10 m of Lias red conglomerates at the bottom. The strike of the calcareous beds (13 NE) and their fractures have governed the development and morphology of the cave, its unique gallery 210 m long directed N9 , probably developing from a diaclase. Entrance 6х3 m. A horizontal, wide up to 9 m and high up to 3 m. Its floor is covered with clay, guano and fallen blocks. Some groups of stalactites are seen on the ceiling in the last chamber (which is 6 m high). Air temperature 12 o C. At the end of the chamber, there is a short second floor. Explored and surveyed in 1977 by S. Gavrilov, P. Nikolov, Ts. Tsnev and Е. Donkov, cavers from the Caving Club of Bononia Tourist Society from Vidin Sity. Fauna: The cave is inhabited by large bat colonies. So far, 16 animal species have been identified, including eight bat species. The largest bat colony in Vidin District roosts in this cave. The Isopod Trichoniscus bononiensis is a troglobite. The scientists entered the Kozarnika Cave not by accident. In the early 1933 the archeologist Rafail Popov gave detailed reports about the cave. According to him, people lived in this cave from the time of the Stone Age. Since 1996, each summer the Bulgarian team led by Senior Research Associate Nikolay Sirakov from the Archeological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, together with a French team led by Dr. Jean-Luc Guadelli from the Institute for Geology, Prehistory of the Quaternary period in Bordeaux under the patronage of French National Center for Scientific Research started researching the archaeology, paleontology and the geology of the cave. During the studies in the last two decades uncovered 21 geological layers there, containing (moving upwards) archaeological complexes of Early Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic , Early Upper Paleolithic , a sequence of an original Paleolithic bladelets industry with backed pieces that scholars called Kozarnikian , Early Neolithic, Late Copper age, Late Bronze Age, Medieval and Late medieval periods. In the ground layers, dated to 1,4-1,6 million BP (using palaeomagnetism, which determines age using past patterns of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field and analyses of both the microfauna and the macrofauna) archaeologists have discovered a human molar tooth (considered to be the earliest human (Homo erectus/Homo ergaster) traces discovered in Europe outside Caucasian region), lower palaeolithic assemblages that belong to a core-and-flake non-Acheulian industry and incised bones that may be the earliest example of human symbolic behaviour. The findings from Middle Paleolithic layers (East Balkan Levallois cores and side-scrapers as well as East Balkan Levallois and Le Moustier points, rather bifacial points, dating from 300 000 - 50 000 BP prove presence of hunters‟ groups possibly of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Upper Paleolithic layers consist flint assemblages from the earliest European Gravette complex dating from 43 000 up to 39 000 B.P. belonging to Homo sapiens sapiens. The remains marks an older route of early humans from Africa to Europe via the Balkans, prior to the currently suggested route across Gibraltar, and probably keeps the earliest evidence of human symbolic behaviour ever found. Here have been found the earliest European Gravette flint assemblages. Paleontological founds: Birds – Anas crecca, Falco tinnunculus, F. vespertinus, Tetrao urogallus, T. tetrix, Lagopus lagopus, L. lagopus/mutus, Tetrastes bonasia, Perdix paleoperdix, P. perdix, Alectoris graeca/chukar, Coturnix coturnix, Porzana cf. parva, Crex crex, Gallinula chloropus, Tringa stagnatilis, T. totanus, Apus apus, Nyctea scandiaca, ?Aegolius funereus, Athene noctua, Eremophila alpestris, Anthus trivialis, Hirundo daurica, Ptionoprogne rupestris, Riparia riparia, Lanius collurio, cf. 24

Erithacus sp., Monticola saxatilis, Turdus merula, T. viscivorus, Carduelis carduelis, C. cannabina, Fringilla coelebs, Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Loxia curvirostra, cf. Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Garrulus glandarius, Pyrrhocorax graculus, Corvus monedula, C. corone, C. corone/frugilegus; mammals – Desmana sp., Beremendia fissidens, Sorex cf. subaraneus, Crocidura leucodon, Myotis cf. gundersheimensis Lepus sp., Hypolagus brachignathus,Trischizolagus sp., Spermophilus sp., Marmota sp., Myomimus sp., Hystrix sp., Nannospalax sp., Prospalax cf. priscus, Cricetus nanus, C. runtonensis, Sylvaemus mystacinus, S. cf. flavicollis, Pliomys cf. hungaricus, Dolomys dalmatinus, Prolagurus transylvanicus, Mimomys reidi, M. cf. blanci, Canis famil-

iaris, Felis silvestris, Ursus spelaeus, Meles meles, Martes martes, Sus scropha, Cervus elaphus, Capra ibex [sub "aegagrus"], Capra sp., Ovis aries, Ovis sp., Bos Taurus. The excavations are still on. SPELEOLOGY IN CROATIA Speleological activity in Croatia started with first human entrances underground, where shelters or dwelling places were found. Such examples of speleo people traces or paleolitical artifacts exist in Croatian karst in several places (eg. Cave Vindija in Hrvatsko Zagorje, Cave Hušnjakovo near Krapina, Cave Šandalja near Pula in Istria, Cerovaţke Caves in Lika, Cave Bezdanjaţa pod Vatinovcem in Lika, Cave Veternica near Zagreb, Cave Gromaţka vlaka near Dubrovnik etc.) The first entering were due to the needs, not due to curiosity. In 16th century started the period of first researches and expeditions. Croat from Dubrovnik, Nikola Guţetiš had in 1584 described his observations on meteorological measurements in caves near Dubrovnik and Cavtat. That year is accepted as the beginning of scientific publishing on Croatian caves. Later on researches were made in some caves known in that time (eg. Marin Getaldiš made some optical experiments in Betina Cave near Dubrovnik) or some researchers took place in investigating deeper parts or discovering completely unknown caves (in 17th cent J:V. Valvasor describes some caves of Trsat, Mt. Uţka and Dalmatia), Ivan Lovriš together with Alberto Fortis in 1774 and 1776 explore Gospodska Cave on Cetina river well. The first association that dealt with cave exploring in Croatia was Odbor za ureŤenje Baraţeve špilje that was found 12th of August 1892 near Rakovica in region of Plitvice lakes. That one is considered as first speleological organization in Croatia and is among the first in the world (after Wienna, Trieste and Postojna). Dr. Dragutin Gorjanoviš Kramberger and dr Josip Poljak at 31st July 1910 had established Comity for cave researches (Odbor za istraţivanje špilja) under Geological council for Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonija in Zagreb. That is considered as the first Croatian scientific association dealing with underground karst phenomena researches. During more than hundred years many speleological associations existed in Croatia. Some of them left significant evidences of their activities, the others had short existence but were important in historic terms. Traditions of Comity for arrangement of Baraţeve Caves (1892-1896) and legitimate successor of Comity for cave researches promotes Croatian Speleological Federation (Hrvatski speleološki savez) (1954-2002), established 2nd April 1954. in Zagreb. Today there are two bodies which co-ordinate speleological activity in Croatia - The Speleological Committee of the Croatian Mountaineering Association and Croatian Speleological Federation. The Committee was founded in 1956 and today has 19 members speleological sections of mountaineering club and speleological societies that are members of Croatian Mountaineering Association. At the county level there are local alliances, Zagreb Speleological Union and Istrian Speleological Union. Organizations that coordinate the work of caving lodges and clubs at the national level are Croatian Mountaineering Association with professional Speleological Committee and Croatian Speleological Federation. Both organizations are registered to perform caving activities and the relevant state institutions receive permission for caving research on Croatian territory. At the county level, the work of NGOs coordinated by regional alliances, Istrian Speleological Federation and Zagreb Speleological Federation . In addition to these acts , the Commission for CMRS Cave , professional Commission of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service that deals with the issue of rescue from caves. Today in Croatia exist 39 speleological associations, clubs and societies with about 600 cavers all together. More than 9500 of speleological object are known in Croatia today (caves and pits), which is considered great number related to dimensions of karst area and number of active speleologists. There are 15 touristicaly arranged caves in Croatia. Speleologists are associated in 39 speleological associations that are active in Croatian territory. 25

Important are discoveries of endemic underground animals - Proteus anguinus in more than 50 Croatian caves and pits and unknown underground species in two pits deeper than 1000 m. The deepest pits of Croatian karst are located Severni Velebit Mt: Jamski sustav Lukina jama – Trojama Hajduţki kukovi-1 431m; Slovaţka jama -Mali kuk-1 320 m.; Jamski sustav Velebita-Roţanski kukovi -1026 . The longest cave system in Croatia is Đula - Medvedica Cave System near Ogulin, 16,5 km long. Croatian speleologists are respected in the world and have organized or participated many international expeditions. Croatia is the member of UIS, International Union of Speleology, which has 60 members. Croatian karst is so-called locus typicus for all karst regions - it is considered for classic example of karst in the world, where first scientific theories of speleogenesis and karst groundwater flow were born. SPELEOLOGY IN GREECE Abroad In the 16th century the first explorers start visiting caves. The Italians Trissino, Negri and Valvassori explore caves of their own country. In 1627 J. A. Komensky draws the first map of a vertical cave. In 1723 Bella writes the first book about karstic phenomena, and in 1735 the German physicist Lesser publishes his “Observations on the Baumann caves”, for which the mechanic M. Nagel gives a detailed account in 1748. In 1850 Schmidl introduces the terms “cave study” and “cave exploration”. Around the same period the Austrian mechanic Lindner, after years of attempts, manages to reach the depth of 190 metres of the Trebiniano pit. In 1857 Lespes discovers the first cave-dwelling insects, and in 1860 the Spanish Santuola discovers in a cave the famous Altamira paintings. In 1879 the first association about “cave study” is founded in Vienna. Edouard Alfred Martell The first person who dedicated himself to the systematic exploration of caves (in France and elsewhere), and is considered as the father of speleology, was Edouard Alfred Martell. He began his work around 1888, and in 1895 he founded the French Association of Speleology. In spite of the primitive means, the results of his explorations were impressive. Thanks to Martell, in the beginning of 1900 a law was passed in France that prohibited the use of caves as dumps. Every country has its own pioneer in speleology. However, I am mentioning Martell because, apart from the fact that France is the global power in the field of cave exploration at the moment, Martell was also interested in the Greek caves. Greece One may say that in Greece some kind of cave searches began when the country was still part of the Ottoman Empire. However, those searches did not aim at exploring, but rather at finding a shelter, a stronghold, a shed, a stockyard, and also niter (an ingredient of gunpowder), activities which were mostly restricted to the first metres from the entrance of a cave. At the same period but also earlier, foreign travelers visited Greek caves, especially on islands, and more particularly Crete, for archeological purposes. Foreign and Greek travelers, researchers and archeologists In 1673 de Noindel, the French ambassador in Constantinople, visits the cave of Antiparos, after a false piece of information about the presence of a huge statue in some cave of the Cyclades. From 1700 to 1702 Tournefort travels to and describes 38 islands of the Aegean sea. The aim of his trip is to find new species of plants, but also a bit of espionage. During his trip he takes notes and visits known caves. About the mount Ida he says: “wherever we turned our eyes, from one peak to another, we could only see gorges and pits full of snow”. On 1st July 1700 he visits the Labyrinth, for which he writes a detailed account. Among other things, he mentions names and dates from previous visitors, e.g. P. Francesco Maria Pesaro Capucino, Frater Tadeus Nikolaus 1539. “We observed the following dates: 1459, 1516, 1560, 1579, 1699. We wrote, too, “1700” with a black rock at three different spots.” In 1765 R. Chandler, who travels around Attica, gives the first description of the Nympholeptos cave in Vari and also describes the cave of Pan in Keratea. Dodwell, who travels through Greece in 1801, 1805 and 1806, also visits the cave of Nympholeptos. He also provides information about and a description of the cave of Pan in Parnitha. Following his descriptions Ross (author of Wanderungen in Griechenland) as well as Lollong and Milchhofer (Karten von Attika), also visit the cave. In the beginning of the 19th century, the French traveler Fr. Pouqueville mentions the cave of Pan, located on the Southern part of Hymettus. On 21st January 1810 Lord Byron visits the cave of Keratea as well as the cave of Nympholeptos, which he names “Paneion”. In 1847 Ch. Parmenides visits the cave of Keratea. In the summer of 1854 D. S. Stroumpos visits a cave in Messinia, close to the village Koutifari, named “Katafygi”. He takes notes and mentions a siphon, with drawings and representations. In 1862 the German cartographer C. Bursian mentions the cave of Keratea in his book. In 1884-1885 the Archduke of Austria Ludwig Salvator conducts scientific research in Paxoi, where he stays for 6 months. He visits the “Graves” and writes a book entitled Paxos and Antipaxos. In 1886-1887 the cave of Keratea is noted as a karstic cavity on a map of the German cartographer J. A. Kaupert. In 1906 the German geologist R. Lepsius mentions the cave of Keratea as Pan‟s cave. The first hydrological researches are conducted by members of the French military expedition in the Peloponnese in 1829, at the lake Taka, where sinkholes of the area of Tripolis are mapped. This work is continued in 1891 by the French hydrologist 26

Quellenec, who, with a commission from the Greek state, undertakes to do research on the drainage of the Arcadic basins and the transportation of water from the Stymphalia lake to Athens. The French hydrologist is helped by the Arcadian mechanic N. Siderides. In the same year (1891) Mertell arrives in the area of Tripolis, in order to do research on the sinkholes of Arcadia. Martell, along with Siderides, explores the sinkholes of the lake Taka. Health issues (malaria) force Martell to leave Greece, leaving to Siderides the exploration equipment which he has brought with him. We may say that Siderides is the first Greek speleologist (as far as study and exploration are considered). The following year Siderides exlores many of the sinkholes of Arcadia, and in 1911 he pubishes his study in the French periodical Spelunca under the title “Les Katavothres de Grèce”. As far as the sinkhole of Kapsia is concerned, he is the first who mentions the plethora of human bones found there, as well as the traces of old floods in the cave. In 1889 the Curator of Antiquities D. Philios, during research that he conducts in the area of Megara, discovers the cave of Megara, and from his findings he deduces that it was used as a worship place. Towards the end of 1800 archeological excavations are conducted by Gell and Wolgraff in caves of Ithaka (the Antre of the Nymphs and Louizos‟s cave). In 1900-1901 the archeologist A. Skias conducts archeological excavations in the cave of Pan (Lichnospilia) on Parnitha. In 1905 and 1906 the archeologist K. Romaios conducts excavations in the same cave. In 1901 the American Scool of Archeology and Professor Charles Heald Weller conduct an excavation in the cave of Nympholeptos. In 1910 the archeologist S. Arvanitopoulos conducts excavations in the Antre of the Nymphs and Trypa in Magnesia. In 1910 the English R. Cole explores the sinkholes of Kopais. From 1928 to 1932 the Austrian A. Marcovitch explores the caves mainly of Attica. He explores three caves in Kakia Skala, and conducts excavations in two of them, the cave of Zaimis and the cave of the Canon (two of these caves were ruined by works for the local road). He explores about 500 caves all over Greece. His work, including 2000 karstic formations, is donated to the Greek University (after his own wish), and remains unexploited since then. Excursionists At the end of the 1880s and in the beginning of the 1900s there is a boom of outdoor activities and excursions, and the first clubs of the genre are founded. The pioneers in this movement are D. Kambouroglous, D. Chatzopoulos, I. Sarris, I. Christides, S. Cheiliadakis. The Walking Excursions Club is founded in 1888, the Excursions Club in 1899, the Traveling Club in 1922, the Outdoor Life in 1925, the Pan in 1927, the EOS (Hellenic Mountaineering Club) in 1928. These clubs start organizing excursions to the known caves (Keratea, Panos, Antiparos). In February 1928 an article by Chatzopoulos entitled “The caves of Attica of Hymettus – the terrible vertical cave close to the Gouri-i Samari. Descent in the depths. The most beautiful and sublime Stalactites of Greece” is published in the newspaper Greek Postman. The cave he describes is no other than the well-known today Koutouki, or cave of Paiania. This article is the first published descent into a pit, and based on it EOS organizes an expedition (1933) to explore the cave. In newspapers and periodicals of the time (1920-1930) we find from time to time various articles referring to caves, without there having been some kind of exploration in them. The first article about a cave after an organized expedition (an excursion of Pan) is published in the periodical Excursives by Kapsambelis, and it is the first detailed account of the cave of Keratea. This publication spurs more people to write about caves they had explored. The dawn of speleology Towards the end of the 1920s various groups start to emerge that are showing a particular interest in caves; this interest is not restricted to the beauty of the cave but also considers new aspects, such as the exploration of the cave, its mapping etc. Little by little we find articles about caves (in Excursives, The Mountain, Pan) that include „technical‟ details, such as the cave‟s dimensions, the possibility of further exploration, the biodiversity of the cave, its geology, as well as the first photographs. The decade 1930-1940 marks the dawn of speleology in Greece. Many speleologists who will leave their trace in history appear in this decade. The boom of speleology in Greece is almost simultaneous with the boom of mountaineering, and a major part in this is played by EOS of Athens. A Speleology Team (SO) is officially founded within EOS in 1936, which includes members of EOS interested in caves, who have already been part of cave explorations (in the caves of Koutouki, Agia Triada, Keratea, Hermes etc.). I. Sarris is the founder of the team, and its members include Erato Aggelopoulou, I. Nikolopoulos, G. Soutsos, A. Xanthopoulos, A. Kanellis and others. The couple John and Anna Petrochilos are also members of EOS and its speleology team. EOS founds annexes in almost every prefecture of Greece; many of those underfunction and eventually close down, but some of them prosper, like EOS of Chania, which is particularly active in the exploration of caves, mainly of Chania. The pioneer in this activity is Antonis Plymakis. Speleology as a goal In November 1950 the Hellenic Speleological Society is founded by John and Anna Petrochilos, Eleftherios Platakis, John Kapsambelis and others. The Society “undertakes officially and responsibly the scientific organization, the research and the touristic exploitation of the Greek caves”. Petrochilos, spurred by his past in EOS, sets the bases of contemporary speleology in Greece for the following ten years (until his death in 1960). His wife Anna will continue his work, dedicating her life to the caves. The HSS is recognized as an organization of scientific research on caves, its opinion being decisive for the caves‟ exploitation. The Society publishes the Bulletin of HSS, which, until 1994 (with 21 published volumes), constitutes the medium where all cave explorations are published, and is still a significant published work today. In the course of time the HSS founds several local annexes, some of which are active independently, such as those of Western Crete, Crete, the Dodecanese, Northern 27

Greece, Boeotia, Messinia. Among many speleologists who are active as members of the HSS we can distinguish I. Ioannou, who explores dozens of caves in Greece. We can‟t leave out Eleftherios Platakis, a co-founder of the HSS with a notable activity in Crete, whose work Caves and Other Karstic Forms of Crete, in two volumes, includes accounts of more than 3000 Cretan caves. Among the members of the HSS towards the end of the 1970s we also find Kostas Zoupis, Petros Romanas, Nikos Tsimtsilis, Eleni Koniari, N. Pantasoulas, George Dalamangas, who, along with new fans of explorative speleology, found the Hellenic Speleological and Exploration Club (SPELEO) in 1982. Thanks to the foundation of SPELEO, cave exploration comes to its zenith. The speleologists employ new techniques of vertical speleology (srt), cavediving, climbing, reaming, while emphasis was given to the “Alpine style” exploratory expeditions, lasting for a weekend or longer in a particular area. The decade of 1980 but also those that will follow remind the decade of 1920. Clubs are founded as well as speleological groups within the existing clubs or new ones that emerge dynamically. Speleology of Nafplion (SPINA) is founded in 1984 by Vassilis Yannopoulos, and AETOS of Glyfada in 1988 by Petros Romanas. The Hellenic Speleological Athletic Club (SELAS) is founded by cavers in 1997 in Athens. The Speleological Club of Crete (SPOK) is founded in 1999 in Heraclion, Crete, by cavers and outdoorsies. The club Speleology of Ioannina (SPISI) is founded in 2000. The Federation of Hellenic Speleology (FHS) is founded in 2001, and the statute is signed by the co-founding clubs SPELEO, SELAS, SPOK, AETOS, SPISI and SPINA. Caves in the course of time In the course of time, curiosity overcame people‟s fear of the unknown and various superstitions about caves, and many caves were fully explored by the brave, where there were no vertical parts. As for the vertical caves, they were also known to the locals, and each one of them had its own legend. These caves were first explored by speleologists, who solved the mystery hidden in them. The following table shows the increase of the depth of exploration of Greek caves in the course of time. -35m Koutouki 1933 EOS of Athens -67m Thrakia, Kalivia 1934 Outdoor Life and EOS of Athens -85m Parexigisi 1937 EOS of Athens -93m Parexigisi 1939 EOS of Athens -115m Parexigisi 1946 EOS of Athens -138m Megalo Pirgou 1948 Pan and EOS of Athens -165m Tzanis‟s Spilios 1961 EOS of Chania and EOS of Athens -280m Tzanis‟s Spilios 1964 French youths of Romans and EOS of Chania -405m Provatina 1967 English parachutists, 16th Parachute Brigade -455m Hasma tou Epous 1969 English speleologists – Peter Livesey -473m Tafkos, Petradolakia 1990 French speleologists – GRESPA -810m Tafkoura 1996 French speleologists – La Tronche, GRESPA, l‟ASBE -1208m Gourgouthakas 1998 French speleologists – Catamaran Written by Thomas Theodosiadis, Translation : Xenia Georgopoulou SPELEOLOGY IN FY REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA Carbonate rocks in Republic of Macedonia, as the basis for karst development, occupy 10.6% (2,724 km2 ) of its territory, and they are not equally dispersed. Most of the carbonate rocks occupy the western part of Macedonia, there are small areas in the middle part, and very few in the eastern part, so we can speak about more or less karst relief of an « oasis » character. Social and historical conditions in Macedonia, combined with the extension of carbonate rocks, and Macedonia‟s geographical position on the Balkan Peninsula (outside of the Vas Dinaric Karst) caused speleological activity to occur much later than the other parts of the Balkans. Knowledge was acquired in some karst areas in Macedonia (Porece, Kozuf, and Skopje Basin). The first speleological scientific information was about the cave fauna in Meckina Dupka Cave, near Ohrid (Jeannel, 1924). However, beginning of the speleological research in Macedonia, is regarded us having been the publishing of the results about Dona Duka Cave by Petar S. Jovanovic (1925). As a base for this article I have used two previously published articles regarding the history of Macedonian Speleology (Kolcakovski, 1989, 2005). Both of these articles were biased, referring only to speleological activity done mainly on the Institute of Geography (scientific activity). This is not an objective view of Macedonian Speleology because the biggest discoveries (the deepest shafts, the longest caves, and most of the discoveries) were made by the “sport” speleologists, or the speleological work of SD “Peoni” and the other speleological clubs and sections of the mountaineering societies and clubs in Macedonia. So for maintaining objectivity of the speleological activities in Macedonia, I‟ve also consulted the archive of the Macedonian Speleological Federation, the clubs and societies that participated in creating our Speleological History, and many popular and scientific articles regarding Speleology in Macedonia. The Macedonian speleological history can be divided into two major parts: before and after the Second World War. Caves ant potholes in Macedonia have been known to the local population since a long time ago, for which we can find proof in the songs and stories present in Macedonian folklore. People have used caves for shelter, hiding, cattle storage, as water sources, for religious needs etc. They used the caves during the revolutionary fights against the Ottoman Empire also. However, scientific 28

interest in the caves and shafts in Macedonia first occurs in the 1930s when solid knowledge was acquired in some karst areas in Macedonia (Porece, Kozuf, and Skopje Basin) by Jovan Cvijic and his apprentices. The speleological activity in this period is associated with the arrival and scientific work in Macedonia by Petar S. Jovanovic, Stanko L. Karaman and Vojislav S. Radovanovic. The publishing of the results about Dona Duka Cave by Petar S. Jovanovic (1925) is regarded as the beginning of speleological research in Macedonia; karst relief forms at altitude have attracted scientific attention some time before: the first published photography is about the entrance of a shaft near Veles (Radovanovic, 1924), while R. Jeannel (1924) gives some information about the recent cave fauna in Meckina Dupka Cave, near Ohrid. In the post-war period, the first foundations of Macedonian Speleology are laid. The first speleological scientific article was published in 1954 (Kostovski) and it is about the caves in Pesti gorge. In 1955 a speleological section was founded by the Macedonian Geographic Society, and later (on 6.4.1958) it expanded into Speleological Society of Macedonia, which was the beginning of organized speleological activity in Macedonia. Protagonists of this speleological activity have been Trajan Petkovsi, Risto Garevski and the most significant figure in Macedonian Speleology, the father of speleological research in Macedonia – Dusan Manakovik. In the 1960s, Macedonian mountaineers also became interested in caves and shafts, at first helping the work of the Macedonian Speleological Society. That gave the motivation for expanding the speleological activity through the mountaineering societies, and in 1966 the Speleological Society “Peoni” was founded in Skopje. Also speleological sections were founded in many mountaineering societies as in PD “Zlatovrv” in Prilep, PD “Orle” in Kavadarci, PD “Solunska Glava” in Veles and PD “Josif Josifoski-Sfestarot” in Strumica. At the beginning of the 1970s, speleological activity through the mountaineering societies became stronger and the Commission of Speleology at the Mountaineering Association was founded as a coordinator of the speleological activities of the mountaineering societies. Both, the Speleological Society of Macedonia, and the Mountaineering Association of Macedonia, were members of the Speleological Association of Yugoslavia and the Mountaineering Association of Yugoslavia respectively, so they were united in the coordination and cooperation of the speleological activity in Yugoslavia. In 1968 the Speleological Society of Macedonia was host to the fifth Yugoslavian Speleological Congress, in Skopje and Ohrid. So, from the 1970s to the disintegration of Yugoslavia there was parallel speleological activity in Macedonia. One side on the Institute of Geography through the Speleological Society of Macedonia, where new scientists were educated (Stanko Stankoski, Tome Andonovski, Dragan Kolcakovski), continuing the scientific work, and on the other side through SD “Peoni” and the speleological sections of the mountaineering societies. In 1980, SD “Peoni” made the first Macedonian speleological expedition to mount Jakupica (in the central part of Macedonia) when the deepest pothole in Macedonia – Solunska 5 was discovered (-450m). After the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the activities of the Speleological Society of Macedonia slowly faded away, and as the only driving force of organized speleological activity was the Commission of Speleology at the MA, which expanded into Macedonian Speleological Association, and today Macedonian Speleological Federation (MSF). The main driving force of speleological research in the last 20 years has been SD “Peoni”, and also actively functioning : ID “Ursus Spelaeus”, and lately PSK “Zlatovrv”. Along side them with speleological activity inside the MSF are also PD “Orle” and DPS “Lisec”. Active on the scientific side in the last 20 years of speleological research have been Tome Andonovski and Dragan Kolcakovski, lately Ivica Milevski, BiljIn the eighty years of speleological activity in Macedonia, there have been nearly 500 discovered caves and potholes, most of them by the SD “Peoni” and Dusan Manakovik. For around 200 of them there are published scientific papers in domestic or foreign publications; most of them are speleomorphological works. The most significant speleological sites in the Republic of Macedonia are: SLOVAŢKA JAMA NA KARAŢVCI - depth of -610 m, length 2663 m – explored by Slovak cavers and SD “Peoni” and the deepest pothole in Macedonia ! SOLUNSKA 5, pothole (450m deep); researched by SD “Peoni” in 1980 KRAPSKI PONOR, ponor ( now 1km long and 150m deep); potentially the longest system in Macedonia. ! SLATINSKI IZVOR, cave (4km long); the longest cave in Macedonia; ! POD VRELO or MATKA VRELO, underwater cave (450m long and 210 m deep), ! PESHNA, cave; biggest entrance (30m high, 45m wide) Unfortunately, beside the solid knowledge of the speleological sites in the Republic of Macedonia, gathered through eighty years of speleological activity, there is no unified speleological cadastre or database as it is recently called, neither in the Institute of Geography, where most of the scientific work is done, nor in the Macedonian Speleological Federation. Because of this situation, in 2007 the Macedonian Speleological Federation began a project which includes the creation of Speleological database of the Republic of Macedonia. Written by Marjan Temovski

BRIEF HISTORY OF ROMANIAN SPELEOLOGY From more than 75 caving organizations founded in Romania starting with the year 1952, currently more than 40 associations and foundations are active, with a total of approx. 1,500 members of which 300 are member of the Romanian Federation of Speleology. Over time there were a total of 113 organizations and groups with more than 3,000 members. Speleological activity in Romania has 4 stages of development as follows: Phase I between 1700 - 1900. The activities for military purposes and knowledge of primary cavities naturalistic purposes. Then were explored approx. 100 cavities. Stage II between 1900 - 1970. It conducts research and biospeleological caving activities. Inventories appear first with maps and descriptions of approx. 1,400 cavities. Stage III between 1970 - 1990. It carries the largest activity about caves in Romania for discovering, exploring and mapping, approx. 10,500 cavities were discovered in 20 years. Stage IV from 1990 - present. The numbers of new caves decreased with only 600 new caves found in 26 years, the main goal went to reinventory and remapping of known caves which substantially raised the quality of research in caves. The participation in expeditions and international events became part of romanian cavers activity. We achieved numerous conservation projects or educational projects. The Romanian Federation begun a period of reform. The vision for the coming years is the development of FRS member associations and increase the number of cavities researched in Romania by 2020. FRS mission is to explore and research the romanian karst through its member organizations. The Federation participated in the founding organizations: the Regional Centre for Ecological Survey (1995), the Association of the Rangers in Romania (1996) Romanian Association for the Education of Children with Caving / Descopera (1996), the Romanian Association for Education Speleological / ARES (1997), the Romanian Initiative Centre for Environment / CRIM (2003), the NGO Coalition Natura 2000 Romania (2003), the Romanian Association of Canyoning (2007). Landmarks of the romanian underground: Peștera Vântului (42.165,0 m), Peștera Mare din Dealul Firii / Sistemul Humpleu (36.600,0 m), Peștera din Pârâul Hodobana (22.142,0 m). Sistemul Vărășoaia (- 653,0 m), Avenul de sub Varful Grind (- 541,0 m), Peștera de la Izvorul Tăușoare (- 461,0 m). Chronology of caving activity in Romania 1692 Dubova, Danube Gorge. Carry probably the oldest map of a cave in the world, cave Veterani. 1767 Cluj. It is published a dedicated book about mineralogy of Principality of Transylvania which contains six maps of caves. (J. Fridvaldszky) 1774 Vienna, Austria. It is published the description of the Fânaţe cave (E. Nedeczky). 1774 Haarlem, Netherlands. It is published the description of the Fânaţe cave (J. Benkő). 1780 Nürnberg, Germany. It is published the description of known caves in Transylvania (J.E. Fichtel). 1836 Cluj. It is published the map of the cave Meresti, Vârghiş gorge (I. Fekete) Transylvania 1858-1862. Is organized by The Academy of Sciences in Vienna a multidisciplinary large-scale expeditions in Bihor Mountains, Pădurea Craiului and Codru Moma. 1863 Cluj. Are published the research in caves Fânaţe, Scărişoara, Onceasa, Ferice and Meziad (J. Wastler). In 1868-1873 inside the published Descrierea Ţării Secuilor there are several aspects of geological, geographical, archaeological and historical related to the caves in the region (Balázs Orbán). In 1871 maps of the Băiţa Bihor region are published (F. Posepny). 1880 Cave Igriţa map is published. (L. Roediger). 1887 The map of Magura cave is published. (G. Hazai). 1891 Several maps of caves in the region of Hunedoara are published. (G. Téglás). 1863 Vienna. The study "Bihargebirge Das von der Grenze Ungarn und Siebenbürgen" is published. (Adolf Schmidl) 1884 Transylvania. An inventory containing 81 Caves was published. (EA Bielz) 1904 Mallorca Island. Emil Racoviţă start researching the Cueva del Drach fauna, creating biospeleologists as a science. 1920 Cluj Napoca. It is established the first institute of speleology in the world, by G. Racoviţă. 1921 - 1938 Western and Southern Carpathians. 180 caves have been explored and published in a volume called “Visitées des Grottes” (Emil Racoviţă, René Jeannel, Alfred Pierre Chappuis). 1952 Braşov. It is established the first organization of caving in Romania, Clubul de Speologie Avenul. 1956 Bucharest. It is reorganized the Institute of Speleology and the Institute of Speleology in Cluj Napoca become its subsidiary. 1957 Padurea Craiului. The wind cave is discovered by Béla Bagaméri. It is the longest cave of the country. 1965 Bucharest. It is published a map of karst areas in Romania which recorded about 1,000 caves. (ISER) 1971 Vadul Crişului. It is organized a meeting between several caving organizations that would act under the umbrella of Romanian Federation of Tourism and Climbing. 1972 Bucharest and Padina. It formalises the annual meeting of caving organizations, the event was given the name Speo30

Sport. 1975 Leșu dam. Speleological Committee is hereby established within the Romanian Federation of Tourism and Climbing. It is the cooperation between FRTA and for the centralized ISER - Cadastre Caves Romania. It discusses the achievement of a group of rescuers and implementing internships cave rescue. 1976 Valea de Pești. It is established the Comisia Centrală de Speologie Sportivă (Central Comission for Caving Sports). It is organized the first photo exhibition. The foundations of the national speological calendar of activities. 1976 Bucharest. The first catalog of caves in Romania appear (Marcian Bleahu & John Burden) under the aegis of the Romanian Federation of Tourism and Climbing. Crivaia 1977. Romanian Speleological School was born and the foundations of Caving Republican Sports Contest. It is discussed the intention of establishing a cave rescue department under the FRTA. There are approved several documents regulating speleology: Caving status sporting circles; Republican contest rules caving sports for seniors; Regulation on underground caving sporting circles; Rules of protection of caves and karst landscape; Rules for the classification of speleologists athletes; 1977 Bucharest. Published the first issue of the Newsletter of the Central Commission of Speleology. Moneasa 1978. It is organized the first edition of the republican caving sports. The first cave maps in 3D is presented (Liviu Valenas). Moneasa 1978. Is organized the first national cave rescue meeting in order to form a body of cave rescuers. Padina 1980. It is organized the first National School of Speleology. Techniques for vertical caves and underground topography. 1980 Izvorul Mureșului. It is analyzed the posibilities to integrate cave rescue teams in mountain rescue centers. 1980 Râmnicu Vâlcea. It is organized the first edition of Speleology, Science, Art, Passion by CS Niphargus. Manzalesti 1980. 3.234m galleries were explored in the cave S6 from Manzalesti becoming the largest cave in the world formed in salt, the world record (Ica Giurgiu CSER). 1981 Bucharest. Published systematic catalog of caves in Romania (ISER) 1982 Cluj Napoca. Published the first issue of Speo - Telex (Paul Matos & col.) 1983 put up the first schools Romanian modern techniques for completing caves. 1983 Bucharest. Organize the first symposium of Theoretical and Applied karst science (ISER) 1984 Bucharest. It is the first public course support (translation manual technique of G. Marbach Alpine Caving Technique by Silviu Constantin). Tomeşti 1984. Took place the first concert of symphonic music in a romanian cave, at the Speo-Sport. 1984 Bucharest. The first volume of Theoretical and Applied Karstology (editor Traian Orghidan, ISER). 1986 Bucharest. Published manual equipment, methods and techniques used in caving (Walter F. Gutt). 1986 Mangalia. Discovery of Movile Cave, globally unique ecosystem found within it. 1987 cave rescue Subcommittee is established within the Central Committee of Speleology. 1987 Bucharest. It is published the manual about cave rescue techniques (Walter F. Gutt). 1990 Bucharest. Published the first textbook of caving - Practical Guide (Ioan Povară, Cristian Goran, Walter F. Gutt). 1990 Bucharest. Speleological activity is organized regionally, establishing Societatea Română de Speologie Carstologie (Romanian Speleological Society karst science), Societatea Ardeleană de Speologie (Transylvanian Society of Speleology), Societatea Moldoveană (Moldovan Speleological Society) and Societatea Bănățeană de Speologie (Banatean Society of Speleology). 1991 Vanga, Postăvaru. It is organized the romanian monitors body specialized in caving techniques. 1993 Oradea. It is published the first textbook of Romanian Speleological School for alpine caving techniques (Viorel Lascu, Andrei Posmoşanu). The 1993-1995. The Romanian Caving School structure was improved with the help of French Federation of Speleology and French Caving School, with a decisive contribution of Marcel Meyssonnier. 1994 Romanian Speleological Federation is established on the initiative of the Central Committee of Speleology, Romanian Speleological Society karst science, Transylvanian Society of Speleological Society, Banatean Society of Speleology and Speleological Group Underwater Explorations. 1994 Romanian Speleological Federation becomes a member of the International Union of Speleology. 1995 Herculane. Romanian Speleological Federation participates in the creation of the National Network of Protected Areas. 1997 The foot prints belonging to Neanderthal having an age of 62,000 years has been discovered and is the oldest traces discovered in Europe (Lauritzen S.E., Onac B.P., Viehman I.). Madrid 1998. Education conference in caving, Romanian Speleological School is internationally recognized as a training structure caving. 2000 This year mark the changing of the name of the national event Speo-Sport in the National Congress of Speleology. 2001 Romanian Speleological Federation body established Romanian Cave Rescue Corp (Corpul Roman Salvaspeo - CORSA) Anina 2002. The reveal of the oldest remains of modern man in Europe, dated to an age of approx. 40,500 years.

2004 Oradea. The manual of Spéléo Secours Français (French Caving Rescue school) is published in romanian language under the name of “Manualul salvatorului” (Ionuț Lațcu). 2008 Romanian Speleological Federation becomes a member of the European Federation of Speleology. Sighiştel 2009-2010. The discoveries of the Coliboaia engravings of Gravettian period (23000-29000 years) and Aurigracian (29000-35000 years) confirming the presence of parietal art events so old in Central and Eastern Europe. 2010 Romanian Speleological Federation becomes a member of the Balkan Speleological Union. 2014 Cluj Napoca. The Technical Manual of the Romanian Caving School is published by the Romanian School of Speleology (Tudor Marin). Resita 2014. It makes the first census of caving in Romania and published catalog caving organizations in Romania - FRS members. 2014 Herculane. Romanian Speleological Federation organizes European Congress of Speleology - EuroSpeleoForum. 2015 Hunedoara. The General Assembly of FRS adopted the strategy of the Romanian Federation of Speleology 20152020. Written by Bogdan Bădescu -President Romanian Speleological Federation

Most emblematic caves of Romania Karstic System Ponorâci- Ciclovina, Șureanu Mountains Localisation The Ponorâci–Ciclovina karstic system is actually made up by Ponorâci and Ciclovina caves (Ciclovina 2, Ciclovina Uscată), forming a 1,5 ha natural reservation situated on the territory of Cioclovina village, in the North –Western part of the Sebeş Mountains. The cave is located at upstream end of Morii Valley (Cioclovina Valley), at the basis of Trisciori Hill, where is the majestic opening of the cave. The system also included the fourth cave Peștera din Valea Stânii (The cave from Stânii Valley). They are situated near the schist – lime contact, in the extreme South (Ponorâciul) and Noth (Ciclovina) parts of the Luncani karstic plateau. The Ponorâci cave opens at the basis of a 80 – 90 m high rock, close to the riverbed as Ponorâci Potholle. History The first written mentioning of the cave is attributed to Csato I in 1873 and in 1897, lajos A. makes a touristic description of the Ponorâci cave, pointing also to the Ciclovina cave. From the point of view of cave exploration, the two entrances of the cave were initially considered as two separate cavities. The first vertical from Ponorâci had been climbed down by Schadler Iosif, even before 1930. In 1953, a team of the Geological Committee in Bucharest did a huge discovery in the Great Chamber of the Ciclovina cu Apă (Ciclovina with Water) cave: a hallstattian (3000 years old) thesaurus formed of 5000 diverse pieces (amber, bronze, ceramics, coloured glass, processed stag horns). On April 8th 1959, there took place the first traverse which was recorded in publications of that time. It implied two teams of Speleological Insitute of Romania “Emil Racoviță” which met underground, after having started the exploration at the two entrances of the cave. Within 1972-1975, the Emil Racoviţă Caving Club Bucharest explored and took notes of the cave and discovered a part of a thesaurus: three bronze pieces In 1983, Marinaş Baicoană, member of the Proteus Caving Club in Hunedoara discovered the cave in Călianu Valley, Valea Stânii (The cave from Stânii Valley). The cave has over 1,5km in length, and in 1984, Maricel Marin, Gabriel Cotoiandi Botond Covesi find the passage to the underground river in Ciclovina Uscată (Ciclovina Dry) cave. These important discoveries in the area have stirred speleological research with the purpose of finding possible connections between the caves of this karstic system. The crossing of the four sumps from Ponorâci-Ciclovina cu Apă cave was done by speleologist divers Tomuş B, Neag I., Hauselmann P, Scheuner J.P. The maximum depth reached during divings was -12 m and the length of the sumps varied between 15 and 75 meters. Hydrogeology The circuit of the waters is conditioned by the geological and tectonic configuration. All water courses in the karstic pan 2063 spring and cover areas with non dissolvable rocks. By applying colour in the sumps area and by diving with the help of the autonomous diver the hydrogeological connection between the Ponorâci – Ciclovina cu Apă caves, Ciclovina Uscată, Valea Stânii cave has been proved. The galleries of the karstic system are marked on the surface by sinkholes. The surface course has presently reached its equilibrium profile, widely looping along the Ponorâci karstic contact depression The Trojan Dry valley indicates the underground course of the Călianu bourn in the cave bearing the same name. It appears in Ponorâci on the ‟Cheese‟ gallery, as a tributary stream from the right. In total, in the Ponorâci cave there are 7 water courses which together form the active of the Ciclovina cu Apă cave. Description Ciclovina cu Apă (Ciclovina with Water) cave represents the surface spring of the Ponorâci resurgence. The net of galleries cross the lime mass on NNV-ESE direction, on a distance of 6713 m and on a subsidence of 154 m. The surface distance between the two entrances is 1430 m. The karstic system can be crossed from upstream to downstream with specific spelaean equipment. Few meters from the entrance, there is the first 23 m pit, which leads to Ponorâci Chamber, which represents the greatest wideness from this part of the cave by its height, of over 25 m being beautifully decorated with stalagmites and home of a colony of Myotis myotis/Myotis bllythii bat‟ species, this chamber is definitely the key to the junction with Ponorâci Potholle. Right before the 14 m second vertical the active is intercepted and so it forms an impressive waterfall. The third 12 m pit is next. From here on, the main gallery follows a slightly abrupt course. The side galleries are few ‟ Candles / SALEM‟ ‚‟Bivouac‟ ‚‟Cheese‟ – this one brings the active from Călianu cave up to the Great Junction, where it connects with the waters in Ponorâci cave The Sandy Gallery represents in 32

fact an overfull level of the active gallery, capturing water surplus when it cannot be drained by sumps. The formations have a great morphological variety: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, gours. The communication with the exterior is made possible through an active gallery: the Ciclovina cu Apă cave‟ entrance represents an opening of 13 m at the basis and 16 m in height. were is located an important Nyctalus noctula and Nyctalus leislerii bat‟colony,together with other species as Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Rhinolophus hipposideros; Myotis natereri, Miniopterus schreibersii. Written by : Adrian Cristian Sopincean, Mihaela Sanda Sopincean, Oana Mirela Chachula Mountains Sports Club Hunedoara, Romania Șura Mare Cave from Ohaba Ponorului (Romania) LOCALIZATION Situated in the Southern Carpathians (Parâng Mountain Group), in Șureanu Mountains, Șura Mare Cave is located in the administrative district of Pui commune, in Ohaba Ponor village. Presently, it is under the custody of Grădiștea Muncelului-Cioclovina Natural Park, neighborhood of. To reach the cave go upstream following the course of the Ohaba stream (Ohaba Ponor village) up the gorge for approximately 400 meters. Registered in the Romanian Cave Registry as number 18/2064, Șura Mare opens out on the southern mountainside of Dealul Fruntea Mare (Hill). The term ”șură” (meaning ”shed”) is often used in Romanian rural areas. It describes a building which is an annexe to a rural household, providing a shelter for cows and tools and farm equipment are kept. When wide open, the doors of a shed should be large enough to let through a cart fully loaded with hay. HISTORY Şura Mare was first explored by local people at the beginning of the 20th century. The first 600m of the cave have been described by the geologist Iustin Gherman (1934), having already been studied by Iosif Schadler and Toma Ienciu. In 1964, Traian Orghidan and Margareta Dumitrescu established, through a fluorescein dye test, that the water from a major engulfment (the swallow hole of the Ohaba stream - Fundătura din Faţa Dealului), appeared in Șura Mare after 14 hours. The first 1000 m explored, was published in 1967 (Dumitrescu et al, 1967). Interest in Şura Mare Cave increased. Numerous contacts were made between researchers from the Emil Racoviţă Speleology Institute, the Karst Research Institute of the Slavonian Academy from Postojna and Caving Clubs from the UK, some of which reunited under the Joint Universities Expedition to Rumania (Gilmore, 1968). A seriously mapping campaign started in 1976. As a result of co-operation between these clubs, the cave now has a total length of 3143,25 m. Between 1981-1984, expeditions took place when theodolite mapping, was carried out by the Speotimiș Caving Club, being co-ordinated by Lothar Kalitzy (Aldica & Ponta, 2009). As a result of co-operation between Romanian and French cavers (Youth Committee of the French Speleology Federation), Şura Mare reached a length of 11.123 m and a difference in level of +425m (Marin, 2000; Chachula & Bondar, 2003). Thus, the cave reached the total length of 11.694 m (Marin, 2012). Starting with 2014 the Proteus Club members focussed on ”forcing the ceiling of the cave” in the entrance zone, on the main axis, and climbing the walls by unconventional methods. They discovered the original water course in the form of a fossil gallery, parallel and above the current floor (Sopincean et al, 2015). This colossus of the Romanian karst, Şura Mare Cave, has certainly not finished telling its story, and is still offering us pleasant surprises. GEOLOGY The Șureanu Mountains are formed mostly of crystalline schists relative to the Getic Groundwater. These surround to the North and the West karst perimeter known as Ohaba Ponor, consisting of Tithonic limestones (Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous), these are massive and homogeneous, with layers thicker than 400 m, formed during a marine cycle (Dumitrescu et al, 1967). The water courses, which issued from these rocks, merged underground, along a system of parallel faults oriented North-East – South-West, which is also the general direction of Șura Mare Cave. The two faults are approximately 800-900 m apart. The sudden changes in direction of the main gallery is considered to be supporting fractures following these faults (Ponta, 1989). In a sector approximately 2 km away from the entrance, but also in the nearby Anniversary Hall and galleries, the limestones alternate with sandstones (Mitrofan & Ponta, 1985; Tomuș, 2011). Another example of lithological contact, limestone – crystalline schist (micaschist), has been observed in the upstream part of Mendip Chamber (Sopincean et al, 2015). The characteristics of the limestones and the intense tectonics explain the impressive dimensions of the chambers in the cave. HYDROLOGY The Ohaba river, the right hand tributary of the Strei river, is one of the most important water courses which cross the limestones from the southern part of the Șureanu Mountains. At the exit of Șura Mare Cave, the river has a flow rate of 400l/s. This is the result of the underground confluence of water collected through the swallets of the Fundătura Ponor karstic depression (on the alignment of the Fundătura Ponor - Dâlma lui Coroi faults and on the sustaining faults), through Avenul de la Fundătura Hobenilor (Pit) and also other diffused surface water (along Dealul Mătușonilor – Fruntea Mare fault), (Dumitrescu et al, 1967). The references mention seven tributaries of the underground river, yet according to observations made in 2005, only six water sources with small flow rates between the entrance and the 2 m high waterfal have been identified. The river gains other 3 tributaries in the gorge sector, while in the downstream area, it confluences with Șipotul Cocolbei (Spring). One of the issues raised in exploring Șura Mare Cave is the danger of flooding. This occurs as a result of the large catchment area which supplies water to the cave, and causes it to flood in a very short space of time. It is not recommended to visit the upstream part of the Baldaquin area if wet weather is likely. DESCRIPTION The entrance is 42 m high and 8-12 m wide, and is the fourth largest entrance in Romania after Cetățile Ponorului, Prosăc - Topolniţa and Coiba Mare. The walls of the entrance are almost parallel, slightly widening towards the top. From the entrance, on the right, the cave is scattered with large boulders forming a series of rapids. The Great Hall is located 120 m from the entrance (45/35 m at the, base and 30 m in height). On the right side of the river, there is a 5-6 m high terrace, which is protected from floods even at higher flow rates. This is formed of gravel and sand deposits, finds include ceramics dating back to the Dacian period (Roman, 2008).

From the Great Hall, the gallery continues north-east with a succession of lakes named ”Dorne” by the first explorers, interspersed with cauldrons where water flows at a reduced speed. The height of the gallery is similar to that in the entrance zone, but it cannot be fully measured due to the impressive blocks, which are embedded in the walls, which, therefore, restrict the view of the ceiling. This is true for throughout a fairly large portion of the cave passage. Recent explorations (2014-2015, by the Proteus Club Hunedoara) have shown that there is an upper fossil level in the cave. The newly discovered sections include large chamber, equivalent to that on the active level. V30 gallery has a total length of 540 m, being beautifully decorated with cave formations, with paleokarst sections, about +112 m from the entrance. V 48 gallery is 140 m long and it is formed from a former meandre of the underground river. There is a further chamber worth mentioning which is 26 m x 16 m x 30 m (Bogdan Tomuș, 2015, pers comm.). A characteristic of the underground river is the speleothemes formed through percolation, named Baldaquins or Medusas. Sometimes, they almost block the gallery, from one wall to another and down to the water level. The first tributary to enter Șura Mare (on the left side), with an approximately 1 – 2 l/s flow rate comes from Avenul Dosul Lăcșorului (Pit) – Galeria Noroioasă (Mud Gallery) (Mitrofan & Ponta, 1985). Upstream from this, the gallery retains a relatively constant width, of 2-3 m, with a canyon-like aspect. Upstream from the confluence with the tributary from Dosul Lăcșorului Pit, the gallery continues with a successions of cauldrons. Crossing the Baldaquins can be done from below, during lower flow rates or even from above, by climbing. Upstream from the 2 m waterfall, Tributary No.2 appears in the right wall, from a low gallery situated at floor level. Approximately 2150-2220 m from the entrance, the ”semi-sump” or the ”pseudo-sump”, formed by a large size stalagmite which almost entirely blocks the passage is to be found. After 150 m upstream from the ”semi-sump”, Tributary No.3 appears, in the form of a waterfall from the ceiling (Ponta, 1989). Mendip Chamber, the most impressive chamber in the cave, is situated approximately 2700 m from the entrance. The dimensions of Mendip Chamber are impressive: over 100 m long with a maximum height of 45m. Located at the crossroads of some diaclases, it certainly owes its evolution to tectonics. Large boulders, broken speleothemes fallen from the stepped ceiling and the recent cracks in the calcite layer indicate active tectonics. Upstream from Mendip Chamber, the passage is lower compared to the entrance section, with bilateral erosion levels, well contoured, at approximately 40-50 m from the thalweg. Tributary No.4 opens up into the main passage through the Green Sump (or Static Sump) in the right hand side wall. The sump is 10 m long and 6 m deep. Behind it, the passage is blocked by large fallen rocks and calcite. The water from this tributary flows over several Baldaquins until it reaches the main river. In this section, the passages are formed on three levels. Beyond the Englishmen‟s Sump, the main passage gently ascends, with the appearance of a canyon and is interrupted by several steps formed by boulders and Baldaquins. After Tributary No.5, the next section was named ”the Canyon”. It is strongly inclined, with several noisy waterfalls which ”calm down” after approximately 150m. Following the stream in Tributary No.6, and after two sumps and climbing some large crumbling boulders, an active passage enters Bab‟s Chamber. Passing through another naturally restricted area allows us to enter the Anniversary Chamber, the largest chamber in the cave (310 m long, 20 - 60 m wide, 35 – 40 m high). At the end of Anniversary Chamber a vertical passage goes up in steps. A, climb of 45 m leads to an area with impenetrable cracks. The upstream section of Tributary No.6 is characterised by a passage approximately 500 m long. The end of this is +425 m above the entrance. Upstream from Tributary No.6, following the main passage profile gets more uneven. There is a series of waterfalls which are difficult to climb due to the high flow rates of the underground river and the rocky piles of boulders. Friendship Chamber is called following the bivouac exploration camps and good inter-club co-operation. This opens on the right side of the underground river, approximately 350 m upstream from Tributary No.6. The stepped gours from this room occupy a larger surface area compared to those in Mendip Chamber, but most of them are dry. Upstream from Friendship Hall, the passage exhibits two or three erosion levels and two waterfalls. The Final Waterfall, because of its size is one of the most impressive karstic phenomena in Romania. The initial climb was carried out during 1983-1985 and reached +120 m at which point it was blocked (Petrescu, 2009). Due to recent discoveries, and more accurate surveying in recent years, the total length of the cave exceeds 12 km (Sopincean et al, 2015). It should be noted that the present description is general and should not be used as a visit guide. Speologists intereted in a visit to Șura Mare Cave are kindly invited to contact a local caving club. FAUNA The first bat observations were made between 1953 and 1954. In December 1962, at 350 m from the entrance, one of the biggest hibernation colonies of Pipistrellus pipistrellus (the Common Pipistrell Bat) was discovered. The population was then estimated at 60.000 – 70.000 individuals and then, in 1967, at 100,000 individuals (Dumitrescu et al, 1967). Since 2000, several research teams have been periodically studying this hibernating area. The bat population estimates have not exceeded 40.000 individuals within the period 2000-2003 (Nagy & Szántó, 2003; Murariu et al., 2007). In the last 10 years, Mountains Sports Club Hunedoara members together with the chiropterologists contributed to the research and monitoring programme of one of the largest colonies of bats in Europe (Chachula et al, 2014). According to the national monitoring protocol, succesive counting is carried out twice per winter, in December and February. The most numerous bat species in Șura Mare Cave is Pipistrellus pipistrellus. It forms, together with Nyctalus noctula (preferring the cracks in the cave walls) colonies closer to the entrance. Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Miniopterus schreibersii (the Common bent – wing bat), species are crowded in large clusters on the ceiling up to 17 m high in the cave. Their number exceeds 120.000. Small size clusters of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum species (the Greater Horseshoe Bat) and Myotis myotis / Myotis blythii (the Common Continental Bat / Blythii‟s Bat), as well as some isolated individuals from Rhinolophus hipposideros (the Lesser Horseshoe Bat), Barbastella barbastellus (the Barbastell Bat) and Eptesicus serotinus (the Serotine Bat) species have been identified (Sopincean et al, 2015). The size of the maternity colony is 500 individuals formed by Myotis myotis / Myotis blythii and Miniopterus schreibersii species.

Writen by: Adrian Cristian Sopincean, Mihaela Sanda Sopincean, Oana Mirela Chachula Hunedoara - Romania

Mountains Sports Club

Polovragi Cave Separating the mountains of Parâng and Căpățânii, the Olteț river gave birth to an underground meander that is known today as Polovragi cave. The cave is situated in Gorj County at the Northeaster side of the Polovragi village and is the largest cave in this area with a development of 10 793 meters. The access to cave is on a forest road that run near the famous Polovragi Monastery through the narrow gorges formed by Olteț

river, the Oltețului Gorges. This road brings us to the entrance of touristic portal, the main entrance. 30 meters below it there is the spring entrace. Continuing our way through gorges, upstream, over other 1, 4 km, at road level a small opening is revealed, the speleological entrance. The XIX-th Century saw the first descriptions of the cavity: in 1862, Joannes made the first description of the cave, followed later by Alexander Vlahuţă in a separate section in the book "Romania Pitoreasca", published in 1901. In 1929, founder of the first institute of speleology in the world, Emil Racoviță visited the cave together with René Jeannel. In 1951, A.Winkler and P.A.Chappuis wrote a new description of the cave and in 1961 Silvia Iancu and Ilie D.Ion published a study on the Olteţului Gorges which contain the first map of the cave for the first 900m from downstream entrance. In 1974, Prof.Ilie D.Ion from the faculty of geology-geography of Bucharest bring to the attention of Speleological Association Focul Viu the importance of the cave. In the autumn of that year took place the first expedition in the area. At the end of same year a big caving camp was organized in which the underground passages were systematically explored. In this first camp were mapped the first 1.6 Km of the main gallery and began exploring the many sides of main corridor. Was found a passage that intercepts the active route to the cave , and after a short digging, the most part of the Gallery 27 was discovered. In January the next year, the Active Hall was discovered by forcing a tight crawling passage that ends in a shaft. The Active Hall exploration activities have been temporarily limited by the two sumps found downstream and upstream , later called sumps No. 5 and 6. In February 1975 , it is climbed the biggest chimney in the cave in the Gallery 27, riching + 28m , the highest point in the system at that time . The speological camp in May 1975, brings together almost all club members , including founding members and the results of this effort both exploratory and scientific consisted of 3.5 kilometers of galleries, discovery of Halls I and Hall II at the end of Gallery 27 and the terminus point is reached upstream. Between summer of 1975 and 1976 in Polovragi camps were organized with international participation of cavers from PFUK Niphargus of Prague. At the end of the last camp that took place in 1976 the cave development reaches a 9.12 km and a depth of 65 meters. Since 1980, several research teams have worked surveying sectors of submerged cave. Florin Păroiu was the most involved in this action, with several attempts to move upstream Active Hall. In 1982 submerged sectors enters the agenda of Group for Underwater and Speleological Exploration - G.E.S.S. With appropriate equipment, Șerban Sârbu and Marcel Oancea crossed upstream sump, 6m deep and 50m long. Other divers involved in these bold actions: C.Vânău, I.Povară. A final team of Șerban Sârbu and Cristian Lascu started diving of the second sump upstream the Active Hall reaching -22m, the current record in this cave. Going downstream from Active Hall teams led by Șerban Sârbu and made up of A.Solomon, S.Guiu, I.Puşpurică and Michal Piskuła together with a team of Czechoslovakia did junction with Water Cave from Olteţului Gorge, after five consecutive sumps so that downstream siphon from the Active Hall it is now Sump no.5 and upstream siphon became Sump no. 6. Resurgence of the river is the minimum depth of Polovragi Cave. The length of passages, partly submerged mapped at this stage was about 900m, so the cave has reached a development 10350 m in 1982. In the year 2000, the cave re-entered in the agenda of Speleological Association Focul Viu. The protection of this jewelry was the main goal, in 2002 being discharged waste over 250 Kg from 6 Km of underground passages. Seeking the missing links in the cave between the years 2006 and 2010, many crawling ways in the main gallery and Gallery 27 were forced. The attempts to go on to the limestone massif innards remain without results. Working point was moved at the end cavity where a perpendicular diaclaze on Hall II promised. Searching the three dimensional maze of cracks didn‟t reavealed anything notable except a new chimney in Gallery 27 which ended at +18m.

2011 is the beginning of new cave explorations in Polovragi. At the end of a campaign of five laps, continuing digging beyond the known passage above the Active Hall, a new chamber was discovered, immaculate Hope Hall. The hall is basically a gallery with a lenght of 40m, full of calcite on the floor which "flows". A river of calcite with a length of 10 m and an inclination of 45 degrees papered with stalagmites. Nearby, cave pearls, a wonder of nature seen in the first instance by the explorers. Simultaneously with this discovery, a climb of 34 meters in Hades chimney that opens in the vicinity of passage unclogged was reached. The chimney is intersected in the upper part of a new passage which ends with a shaft which becomes impenetrable after 10 meters. The northern end of this gallery closes in a small lake. In the same year, another break through two clogged passages, rise the cavity lenghts at 10500 m and a bump of 91 m. At the end of 2014 we mapped a last missing link from the past: Costi Ungureanu passage. A gallery that opens in the floor of the main gallery not far from downstream entrance. With this last link, Polovragi cave has now reached 10 793 meters. Written by: Radu C. Dumitru Speleological Association Focul Viu SPELEOLOGY IN SERBIA Historical overview The history of speleology in Serbia starts in the 19th century. Before the scientific approach as we know it today, there were occasional travel-records in which the authors described one or more caves, with basic ideas on their hydrology and morphology. The first travellers who published certain cave-related information were Joakim Vujiš, Ami Boué, Otto von Pirch, Felix Kanitz… All of them left at least some notes on first speleological explorations. The most significant authors of the period 1850s to 1880s are Milan Đ. Miliševiš, Josif Panţiš, Jovan Ţujoviš and Vladimir Kariš. Detailed scientific explorations of Serbian caves were first conducted by Jovan Cvijiš, geographer who started the systematic work on karst research. In 1891, Cvijic published a thorough work on the Prekonoška Pešina cave, including the first plan and profile of a Serbian cave, but also a morphogenetic discussion, which makes this a significant step from descriptive towards scientific speleology. Authoring one of the milestone works in karstology at a global level – „Das Karstphänomen“, Cvijiš became the leading figure in Serbian science on caves. In order to help the future generations of cave explorers, Cvijiš founded the Speleological section of the Geographical Society (in 1924). One year later, he published a short „Instruction for cave exploration“, where he stated that the explorers have „three main tasks: 1 – cave survey, 2 – determination of hydrological characteristics, 3 – detection of geological settings“ (1925). After the Second World War, the period up to the 1970s was characterised by mostly individual explorations carried out by university professors in the field of geography (e.g. B. Jovanoviš, Ţ. Miliš, R. Ršumoviš, D. Petroviš, D. Gavriloviš), who were accompanied by their assistants. The results were published mostly in scientific publications of that time. On the other hand, a shortcoming of these explorations was that they were restricted to horizontal, easy accessible caves because the explorers were not technically trained to work on ropes or in physically requiring caves. Such a situation started to change gradually in 1970s, when the number of amateur cavers, gathered in caving clubs and societies, started to increase significantly. Several university professors of karst geomorphology, such as J. Petroviš, R. Lazareviš and M. Lješeviš, were members or close contributors of caving clubs. This tendency was growing in the subsequent years and decades. The development of SRT caving brought an immense improvement to exploration of vertical caves. The role of amateur explorers grew significantly, straightened by the fact that various basic occupations of these explorers brought a nice touch of interdisciplinarity into speleological activities. The Federation of Speleological Organizations of Serbia (Savez Speleoloških Organizacija Srbije, SSOS) was initiated in 1977 and formally established in 1984 by three caving clubs, the only active ones in Serbia at that time: “SOB-PSB“ from Belgrade, “V.M.Manda“ from Valjevo, and “ASAK“ from Belgrade. After a temporary break of its activities in the 1990s, the Federation resumed its work in 2005. In the following years, three new caving clubs, founded in the meantime, joined the Federation: „As“ from Belgrade, “Kraljevo“ from Kraljevo and „Dvig“ from Vladiţin Han. In 2011, the seat of the Federation moved from Belgrade to Valjevo. Three commissions deal with, respectively, cave register / protection, speleological school, and cave rescue. From 2005 on, the representatives of the Federation have included Serbia among the members of the UIS, the FSE and the BSU, appointing the delegates in the assemblies of these organizations. SSOS was a co-organizer of several international events, mostly related to education in speleology. In 2005, it was the “Stage initiateur fédéral”- the international school for speleological teachers, organized together with the French Caving School (FFS-EFS) on Mt. Miroţ in Eastern Serbia. In 2007, we co-organized the International training course “Technical Improvement in Speleology” on the Dubašnica Plateau, with the French, Belgian and Romanian Caving Schools. In 2011, the exam for caving teachers (initiators) was organized with the Romanian School. The year 2012 was marked by the event “Spéléo Féminin 3”, organized in Valjevo by two caving schools – French (FFS-EFS) and Romanian (FRS-SRS), and two national federations – Serbian and Slovenian. As in 2007, this was again the “EuroSpeleo Project FSE” and held under the auspices of the UIS educational department. The most attended international speleological event in Serbia was the 8th Balkan Cavers‟ Camp in Valjevo in 2014, with 113 registered participants from 9 countries. It was organized by the SSOS, patronaged by the BSU, and financially supported by the FSE as a “EuroSpeleo Project”. The international program for cave rescue education “Proteus” was held in 2008 in Valjevo, co-organized by the Slovenian Cave Rescue and SSOS. In the years that followed, the Serbian cave rescuers were represented at the international meetings by the members of the Mountain Rescue Service of Serbia (GSS). There are sound and cooperative relations between the SSOS and the Speleological Commission of the Mountaineering Association of Serbia. Three clubs are at the same time members of both the SSOS and Speleological Commission MAS (SOB36

PSB, As and Dvig). Regional overview Limestones occupy about 9% of the Serbian territory and are distributed in two main belts: Dinaric on the west and Carpathian-Balkan on the east. In a complex geological composition, the limestones occur in relatively small patches and belts, with long lines of contact towards the surrounding non-karstic areas. In the Dinaric part, the limestones are mostly of Triassic and Cretaceous age, while the Carpatho-Balkan area contains the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones. The thickness of carbonates mostly does not exceed a few hundreds of meters, so the Serbian karst is relatively shallow compared to other karst areas in the vicinity. The longest cave in Serbia is Lazareva Pešina cave, with the length of 12.175 m and denivellation of 105 m. It is situated in the eastern foothill of Mt. Kuţaj (more precisely, Mt. Malinik), in the Lazarev Canyon. This is an active outflow cave with siphons, clastic sediments and attractive speleothem. The current explorations are led by the club „Rock and Ice“ from the town of Bor. Almost all caving groups in Serbia have participated at some stage in the explorations of Lazareva Pešina. The deepest cave is Rakin Ponor, on Mt. Miroţ, close to the Iron Gates gorge in northeastern Serbia. Its total explored depth is 285 m, out of which the lowest 29 m are submerged in a siphon. The ponor is seasonally hydrologically active. The dry part was explored by the club ASAK from Belgrade, and the diving in the final sump was done by the club SOB-PSB. Recent publications Unfortunately, Serbia does not have a regular specialized caving magazine similar to those in other European countries. The Board of Karst and speleology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts issues the scientific journal named “Recueil des travaux du Comité Detail from the Lazareva Pešina cave pour le karst et la spéléologie”. It is published in Serbian language, in irregular intervals, and up to now, during 40 years of existence of the Board, 10 volumes have been published. The journal covers various fields o f karst research, including surface morphology, speleology, hydrogeology, biospeleology, palaeontology and archaeology. In 1999, the Geographical Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts published the “Speleological Atlas of Serbia”, edited by P. Djurovic, which included short descriptions and basic maps of 81 caves, significant either by size or b y biospeleological and archaeological characteristics. The maps are preceded by introductory thematic texts related to Serbian karst. There is a drawback, however, because the book does not adequately reference the role and contributions of amateur cavers, who are underestimated and often improperly cited. Since the year 1990, there has been a series of meetings under the name Symposium on Karst Protection, organized by the caving club ASAK from Belgrade. The Symposia are intended to bring together various karst researchers, from amateur cavers to experts and professors. Up to now, there were 8 Symposia, with more than 150 published papers. Written by : Jelena Ćalić, SSOS SPELEOLOGY IN TURKEY 40 % of Turkey‟s surface area consists of carbonate and sulfate rocks prone to rapid erosion (Nazik et al., 2003). This shows that Turkey is very rich in terms of karst and caves. Many authors estimate the total number of caves in Turkey to be around 40,000. Approximately 3,000 caves have been studied by the end of 2012. As all over the world the interest for outdoor sports has recently increased in Turkey. As a consequence, caving activities and speleological studies have increased as well. Here we give a short history of cave studies in Turkey, followed by an introduction to the Speleological Federation of Turkey, founded in 2009. In Turkey, cave research started rather late. According to the records, the first cave study is the one carried out in 1927 by Professor Raymond Hovasse from Istanbul University in the Yarımburgaz Cave in Istanbul on its biology (Pancarcı and Ünlü, 2003). The second study was conducted by Professor Cemal Alagöz from Ankara University and called “Karst Phenomenon in Turkey” (Alagöz, 1944). Later in the years 1949 and 1950 K. Lindberg from Sweden did research on the fauna of some caves in Anatolia and published it in Annales de Speleologie in France with the title of “Notes on a few Turkish Caves” in French (Pancarcı and Ünlü, 2003). The first team to investigate a cave in Turkey was that of Temuçin Aygen and his friends that studied the Konya Maraspoli Cave in 1955. Until 1965 many caves were investigated under Aygens leadership. In 1964, upon the establishment of the Cave Research Society caving studies speeded up (Pancarcı and Ünlü, 2003). University clubs and associations founded afterwards increasingly contributed to the speleology of Turkey. Technical abilities were developed more and more and serious expeditions into the deeper caves were initiated. Until the mid „80s only three groups (Cave Research Association, Boğaziçi University Cave Research Club, and General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration) carried out speleological research with almost no communication between the groups; communication was only among individuals. After the early 1990s when the first deep cave exploration was done by the Turkish cavers, caving in Turkey accelerated and new student clubs and communities were founded. The First Speleology Symposium in 1990, in İstanbul, was the first truly national meeting of Turkish cavers. At the begin37

ning of the symposium the groups had a chance to introduce themselves and their research. The Cave Research Community, the Boğaziçi University Cave Research Club, the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, the Nature Researches Association, the İstanbul Technical University Diving Club and the Zonguldak Cave Research Club participated in the symposium. This was the first glimpse on a national federation but its prospects were not seen promising at that time. At the end of the symposium it was decided to settle first for a communication web among cavers. In 1992 the Boğaziçi University Cave Research Club had an accident in Düdenyayla and the Cave Research Community joined the group in the rescue. After that the importance of communication among the groups and the necessity of a cave rescue group were understood well. In 1993 a panel was held in İstanbul on the “The problems of Turkish Caving and Suggested Solutions”. Here a national union was mentioned for the first time under the name “Turkish Cavers Union”. As a result of this meeting the “Turkish Caving Groups Coordination Board” was founded and the prime goals of the group were defined as to provide inter-group communication and coordination, to have a rescue organization, to establish a Turkish cave inventory and to organize communication with foreign groups because of an increasing number of unauthorized explorations by foreign cavers. With the proclamation prepared and presented by the Cave Research Community and the Boğaziçi University Cave Research Club during the Second Speleology Symposium held in Ankara, the foundation of the Turkish Cavers Union was announced and a legislation proposal was presented. The association was accepted by the other groups participating in the symposium. The proposal contained the definition and the goals of the association, terms of membership, composition of an executive council, and rules and missions of the procedure. A short text announcing the foundation of the association informed caver groups abroad. The first meeting of the Turkish Cavers Union was held on 14th January, 1995, in Ankara leading to the commissions on standardization and rescue. After the meeting in 2004, the work of the Union accelerated. In regular workshops cave rescue was trained. To some of these cave rescue teams from Bulgaria, Belgium, France and Slovenia were invited for cooperation and training. After the meeting in Eskisehir in 2004, SRT techniques were practiced in Olympos, Antalya. Following this, cooperative rescue was trained with Bulgarian cavers in Oylat, Bursa, in March 2005. Belgian, French, and Slovenian cave rescue teams were invited at different times and cooperation and training was organized. These activities strengthened the Union and meetings were held annually: İstanbul 2006, Eskişehir 2007, İzmir 2008 and Antalya at the end of 2008. During the last general assembly of the Turkish Cavers Union it was decided to become a federation. As a result, the Speleological Federation of Turkey was founded 17th November, 2009. 3. Speleological Federation of Turkey (SFT) The SFT unites caving communities and university clubs. The SFT‟s prime missions are:  To provide communication among caving groups;  to maintain a national cave rescue team;  to protect our caves and karst landscapes;  to defining training standards; and  to represent Turkish cavers at national and international platforms. By end of 2012 six associations and nine university clubs are members of the SFT. In addition the SFT cooperates with the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, and the Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks. The administrative board of the SFT is formed by representatives of all associations and university clubs. Its main duty is coordination among groups. The tasks of the federation are performed by the following commissions: The Cave Rescue Commission organizes national rescue trainings, coordinates with national and international search and rescue organizations and manages S&R operations in case of caving accidents. The Cave Protection Commission determines possible threats on caves, prepares and performs action plans on cave protection, and conducts courses on cave protection. The Training and Documentation Commission keeps training standards updated, formulates documents and organizes publications within the federation. These are the current members of the SFT and the organizations working in close cooperation with it: Mağara Araştırma Derneği (MAD) / Cave Research Association: It was the first caving organization to be founded in Turkey, Ankara, 1964. It cooperates with other clubs during cave expeditions both nationally and internationally and conducted many cave meetings. It keeps the Turkish cave inventory and trains new cavers. It still plays an important role in Turkish caving and is active in Ankara and Bursa. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Kulübü (BÜMAK) / Boğaziçi University Cave Research Club: This is the first university caving club, founded in 1973. It conducted many successful expeditions into deep caves, such as reaching the endpoint of Peynirlikönü Düdeni at 1429 meters depth, still the deepest cave in Turkey. It is still active in İstanbul. Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Müdürlüğü Mağaracılık Birimi (MTA) / General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration Caving Unit: This is the first governmental speleological organizing, established in 1978. Until now it is pioneering the Turkish cave inventory, and provided a great deal of information, helping other institutions, associations, university clubs and groups. It is active in Ankara. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Kulübü (HÜMAK) / Hacettepe University Cave Research Club: Founded in 1988, it surveyed many caves, organized symposia and caving photography contests. It is active in Ankara.

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Kulübü (DEÜMAK) / Dokuz Eylül University Cave Research Club: It was founded in 1994 and is active in İzmir. Eskişehir Mağara Araştırma Derneği (ESMAD) / Eskişehir Cave Research Association: It started cave research in 1995 and became an institution in 2006. It is active in Eskişehir. Ege Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Kulübü (EMAK) / Ege University Cave Research Club: It was founded in 1996 and is active in İzmir. Toros Mağara Araştırma ve Koruma Derneği (TAMAK) / Toros Antalya Cave Research and Conservation Association: It started as Toros Outdoor Sports in 2002 and became an association in 2008. It is active in Antalya. Ankara Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Birimi (ANÜMAB) / Ankara University Cave research Unit: It was founded in 2004 and is still active in Ankara. Akdeniz Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Kulübü (AKÜMAK) / Akdeniz University Cave Research Club: It was founded in 2006 and is active in Antalya. İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırma Kulübü (İTÜMAK) / İstanbul University Cave Research Club: It was founded in 2007 and is active in İstanbul. Ege Mağara Araştırma Derneği (EGEMAK) / Aegean Cave Research Association: It was founded in 2008 and is active in İzmir. Boğaziçi Uluslararası mağara araştırma Derneği (BUMAD) / Boğaziçi International Cave Research Association: It was founded in 2008 and is active in İstanbul. İzmir Mağara Araştırma Derneği (İZMAD) / İzmir Cave Research Association: It was founded in 2008 and is active in İzmir. Anadolu Üniversitesi Doğa Sporları Kulübü (ANADOSK) / Anadolu University Outdoor Sports Club: It was originally founded in 2000 and established a caving unit in 2008. It is active in Eskisehir. Doğa Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlüğü Mağara Koruma Birimi (DKMP-MKB) / Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks Cave Protection Unit: It was founded as a unit affiliated with the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, in 2008. It is active in Ankara. Uludağ Üniversitesi Mağara Araştırmaları Topluluğu (UMAST) / Uludag University Cave Research Group: It was founded in 2012 and is active in Bursa. These clubs and associations add nearly 200 caves to the inventory every year during the expeditions they organize. The Federation is also a member of international unions. SFT refreshed its membership as a federation to Speleological International Union (UIS) during the last international congress of organisation, at Brno, Check Republic, in july 2013.Recently, became a member of Speleological Federation of Europe (FSE) in November 2013.Since 2006 SFT, which has been a member of Balkan Speleological Union (BSU), participates in the Balkan Cavers Camp which is organized every summer. SFT had this camp in Antalya Olympos in 2006 with the attendance of 250 cavers. The federation holds regularly a national cave science symposium. The last one was in Eskişehir, 1st Balkan Speleology Symposium and 6th National Cave Science Symposium in November 2012. (www.speleolojisempozyumu.org). Also, the federation publishes a magazine called SpeleoTurk since 2004. Written by Selçuk Canbek , Meltem Pancarcı