2nd EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium

Will be held in Muotathal (Switzerland) from the 29th to the 30th of September 2012.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee we kindly invite all speleologists and scientists related to cave and karst protection, to participate at the 2nd EuroSpeleo Protection
Symposium organized jointly by the

Swiss Speleological Society and the European Cave Protection Commission/European Speleological Federation

and supported by the Commission for Scientific Speleology (SSS and SCNAT).

Organizing institutions:European Cave Protection Commission, European Speleological FederationArbeitsgemeinschaft fur Spelaologie RegensdorfArbeitsgemeinschaft HollochforschungHohlengruppe Muotathal
The aims of this symposium are to provide a platform for scientists and speleologists, active in the area of cave and karst protection, to share the state of the art and overview of their current work, to exchange views from both perspectives on best practices’ progress and applications in Europe. The outcomes of the symposia will be the firststeps in developing a framework document on cave and karst protection in Europe in the context of regulations approaching already this topic i.e. IUCN Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection, the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) and theRecommendation on conservation of the geological heritage and areas of special geological interest (Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, 2004) and other existing conventions at European and Global level. The role of thedocument will be to highlight the significant role of caves and karst as archives of natural (biological, geological, geomorphological, mineralogical, paleontological, hydrological, environmental, etc.), historical and cultural (archaeological, anthropological) values.
Furthermore, it will be an efficient tool for sustaining European caves, maybe also in the construction of a European Directive or European Recommendations and Regulations concerning caves’ protection.
Symposium schedule Saturday, 29th September: 12:00-17:30.Sunday, 30th September: 09:00-12:00; 14:00-17:30.
AbstractsAbstracts have to be written in English and French.

To submit your abstract.

Abstract submission deadline: May 1st, 2012.Abstract acceptance notification: July 1st, 2012.
All submitted abstracts will be evaluated by the Organizing Committeeby June 1st 2012.
The revised form of the abstracts should be sent to protection@eurospeleo.org no later than June15th, 2012.

RegistrationIn order to register please visit the online registration tool of the

13th Swiss National Congress of Speleology, 7th EuroSpeleo Forum.