rhychydwr1
Active member
EuroSpeleo Newsletter November 2015
It is with great pleasure that the
European Speleological Federation
(FSE) re-news its efforts to publish a
Newsletter. This Newsletter will be
exclusively available in electronic form
and it will be distributed through the
FSE mailing lists. It will be edited by the
FSE Bureau and will inform member
countries and individual speleologists
about important events nationally and
internationally; new developments and
the initiatives of the FSE and its member
countries.
This Newsletter will be released on an
occasional basis. As the official FSE
languages are English and French,
news in both languages can be
published.
With cordial speleological regards
The FSE Bureau, November 2015
This Newsletter is issued
by the Bureau of the
European Speleological
Federation (FSE)
B.P. 3067, L-1030 Luxembourg
Web: www.eurospeleo.eu
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eurospeleo
e-mail: contact@eurospeleo.eu
FSE becomes the first
Associated Speleological
Organisation in the UIS
The Bureau of the Union
Internationale de Sp?l?ologie (UIS)
has decided to accept FSE as an
Associated Speleological
Organisation at its meeting in
Sydney (Australia) on 31. October
? 1. November 2014.
Page 2
.
EuroSpeleo Forum 2015 in Italy (Pertosa-Auletta)
The Austrian Speleological Association
is deeply saddened to
announce the death of our
dearest friend and inspiring
colleague Sabine Zimmerebner.
She was hit by falling rocks
during cave exploration near
Salzburg. The cave rescue
operation, initiated immediately,
could not save her life.
Sabine was a very expierenced
and highly distinguished caver.
Her vigour and infectious
cheerfulness will never be
unforgotten.
The 22nd Italian Congresso Nazionale di
Speleologia, the 10th EuroSpeleo
Forum, open to all European
speleologists, was organized between
30th May to 2nd June 2015 by the
Societ? Speleo-logica Italiana,
Federazione Speleolo-gica Campana,
and Gruppo Speleo Alpinistico Vallo di
Diano. Ittook place both in the scenic
villages of Pertosa and Auletta about
120 km southeast of Naples. The
congress motto was ?Data Sharing?, in
all its aspects, to enable a fruitful
dialogue between scientists, cavers
and institutions as data is the
backbone for decision-making in
territorial planning and environmental
management.
More than 350 speleologists and karst
researchers from 11 European countries
and from China joined the event.
The FSE General Assembly Meeting
(GAM) was held on 30th May in
Auletta.
In August 2016,, the UK will be hosting the 5th
European Speleological Congress in the beautiful
karst region of the Yorkshire Dales national Park in
Northern England. The venue for this event will be the
Dalesbridge Centre a large open site situated near
the pretty villages of Austwick and Clapham. The
Yorkshire Dales is one of the UK?s primary caving
areas with spectacular caves and potholes only a
few kilometres from the event. There are also two
show caves in the locality and the opportunity to
climb the famous ?Three Peaks? of the Yorkshire Dales.
There will be varied and interesting lecture
programme, workshops and training sessions. In the
large trade hall numerous competitions will be held
and entertainment will be provided each evening.
Full catering will be available throughout the week, a
banquet and a well stocked bar serving some of the
area?s most famous mouth watering beers. Camping
will be available at the event as well as bunkhouses,
youth hostels and guest houses all providing
accommodation locally.
For those wanting more than a full week, there will be
pre and post congress gatherings in South Wales, the
Mendips, the Peak District and Ireland where
spectacular caving is on offer. There will also be
opportunities to visit mines in the north of England for
those interested in mine history and archaeology.
November 2015 ? FSE Newsletter ? European Speleological Federation (FSE)
All the major caves close to the venue will be pre-rigged
including Gaping Gill Britain?s deepest day light shaft
that can be easily descended on a specially
constructed mechanical winch. The caving trips are
varied and cover many different grades of difficulty.
Therefore there is something for everyone. Visit the
events web site www.eurospeleo.uk for more
information.
EuroSpeleo 2016
5th European Speleological Congress in the United Kingdom
The newly elected FSE Bureau, Pertosa-Auletta
From left to right: Henk Goutier (Treasurer, NL), Ged Campion (President, UK), Martina Dr?kov?
(new elected General-Sectretary, SK), Michael Laumanns (Vice-President, DE), Ernest Geyer
(Vice-Treasurer, AT), and Jean-Claude Thies (new elected Chairman of the European Cave
Protection Commission ECPC).
On 22nd October B?rbel Vogel, member
of FSE?s ECPC and President of the
German Speleological Federation, as
well as member of the IUCN/WCPA
Caves and Karst Specialist and Geoheritage
Specialist Groups, was unanimously
elected as a member of the
Board of the European Environmental
Bureau (EEB) in Brussels. This unpreceded
success is the result of the long
term efforts of ECPC to contribute to
European environmental legislation and
decision-making. It will allow FSE to
increase its efforts to ensure karst and
cave protection at European level.
Created in 1974, EEB (www.eeb.org) is
Europe's largest accociation of environmental
organisations with 140+ member
federations who gain their membership
from the general public thus representing
15 million European citizen. It acts
as the ears and voice of its members
towards the EU decision makers and
beyond.
EEB works on a vast array of environmental
issues and our policy officers use
experts, scientists, our members, and
politicians to work towards developing
and protecting environmental policies.
Take a look at our Activities section
which explains what we work on and
what we do, and our EEB Work
Programme 2015 for much more detail
on our activities this year.
FSE becomes a board member of the European Environmental
Bureau (EEB)
Some upcoming events
- 6-12 February 2016
17th Symposium of
Vulcanospeleology, Big
Island Hawaii, United
States
- 30 May-6 June 2016
Rupt du Puits 50 years,
Robert Espagne, Meuse,
France
- 13-20 August 2016
5
th European
Speleological Congress:
EuroSpeleo 2016,
Austwick, Yorkshire,
United Kingdom
- 15-16 August 2016
4
th European Protection
Symposium, Austwick,
Yorkshire, United
Kingdom
- 4-11 September 2016
International Speleo
Photo Meeting ESPM
2016, Suncillo, Burgos,
Spain
- 5-9 September 2016
Eurokarst 2016
Conference, Neuch?tel,
Switzerland
- 6-10 March 2017
Congress Hypogea 2017,
Nev?ehir, Cappadocia,
Turkey
- 23-30 July 2017
17th International
Congress of Speleology,
Sidney, Australia
All events,along with
detailed information, can
be found on:
https://www.facebook.co
m/eurospeleo/events?key
=events
Page 3 November 2015 ? FSE Newsletter ? European Speleological Federation (FSE)
The EEB office in Brussels closely coordinates
EU-oriented activities with EEB Members at
national level around Europe. EEB also works
in coalitions, such as the Green 10 and
Spring Alliance, or at a global level through
the Global Policies and Sustainability Unit as
well as in ad-hoc coalitions.
Please send all your
international events
(expedition, congress,
symposium etc.) to
contact@eurospeleo.eu
Page 4 November 2015 ? FSE Newsletter ? European Speleological Federation (FSE)
Caves & Karst - Protection and
Conservation under EU Law Proposal for a EuroSpeleo Rescue Fund
FundFund
With this proposal, made by FSE Vice-President Michael Laumanns at the
last General Assembly in Pertosa-Auletta, FSE intends to follow-up a
promise given to our Spanish colleagues, as well as to the whole
European community of speleologists, after the recent accident of
Cecilio Lopez Sanchez in a 400m deep cave near Chachapoyas, Peru.
More than 100 cavers were involved in the successful rescue of Cecilio.
However, most of the Spanish colleagues who joined the cave rescue
did so at their own expense and an amount of well over 200.000 EUR was
spent from personal resources of the cave rescue team. This was
followed by a European-wide crowdfunding call-up supported by FSE,
which found a tremendous echo amongst European cavers.
However, this support cannot overcome the fact that a general lack of
funds exists for rescue operations in FSE member countries bearing in
mind that currently the best special insurance available for cave
explorers is not offered outside their respective countries or on a PanEuropean
level.
Consequently, a voluntary, self-administered Cave Rescue Solidarity
Fund, gathering all individual European cavers could be a solution to this
apparent funding gap. Each member of the Fund would contribute a
one-time payment to the Fund and, only when the Fund was used up,
would a new payment then be necessary.
Such Fund has existed since 1995 in Germany and was an unexpected
success with currently over ? 40,000 being made available.
The proposal was discussed on the basis of a guideline paper presented
to the FSE Delegates in Auletta-Pertosa. This paper (in English) was
distributed to all FSE member countries and can be requested at any
time from the FSE Bureau.
A number of questions were put forward by delegates related to what
the Fund might possibly cover, whether it might trigger rescue
organisations,so far working for free, to then issue unnecessary bills.
There were also queries related to administrative matters. As the
management of an additional fund with many potential members will
overburden the FSE treasury a different responsible organisation might
be needed. The possible abuse of the Fund was also discussed.
Contributions to the Fund could be adapted to the different economic
situation in member countries.
As a result, the FSE Bureau was tasked to investigate among member
organisations whether a EuroSpeleo Rescue Solidarity Fund would be of
interest and, if this was the case, to pursue the issue and to present a
fine-tuned proposal for further discussion at a later date.
As a result, all European cavers, as well as
speleological organizations representing an FSE
country, are invited to send their views, input and
suggestions regarding the possible creation of a
EuroSpeleo Rescue Fund to the FSE Bureau
(contact@eurospeleo.org).
The 4th EurosSeleo Protection Symposium
(ESPS) will be held on the 15th and 16th of
August, during the 5th European Speleology
Congress 2016 in Great Britain.
As the topic of the Symposium already
indicates, there is Conservation and there is
Preservation and finally there are laws.
How can and should we deal with
protection laws? How could we initiate
protection measures in our caves and on
our karst?
There are a number of best-practices in
cave protection all over Europe that show
how coordinated work between cavers,
scientists, nature protection and especially
authorities can be effective in the field and
also work to the satisfaction of all parties.
These case studies of good practice are
often transferrable to other regions in
Europe. We can learn a lot from such
success stories.
The 4th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium is
dealing with these matters. There is no age
limit when it comes to acting for a good
cause, so we invite you all to take part in this
2-Day symposium on the 15th -16th of
August during the 5th European Caving
congress 2016 in Great Britain.
The 1st circular with all relevant information
can be found at the FSE/ECPC website
http://eurospeleo.eu/en/commissionsen/cave-protection/ecpcactivities/eurospeleo-protectionsymposium.html
or at the congress website
http://www.eurospeleo.uk/about/ecpcsymposium.php
If you have further requests, please get in
contact with us at:
protection@eurospeleo.org
See you all in Great-Britain in 2016
The ESPS organisation team
I regret that the pictures did not turn out.
It is with great pleasure that the
European Speleological Federation
(FSE) re-news its efforts to publish a
Newsletter. This Newsletter will be
exclusively available in electronic form
and it will be distributed through the
FSE mailing lists. It will be edited by the
FSE Bureau and will inform member
countries and individual speleologists
about important events nationally and
internationally; new developments and
the initiatives of the FSE and its member
countries.
This Newsletter will be released on an
occasional basis. As the official FSE
languages are English and French,
news in both languages can be
published.
With cordial speleological regards
The FSE Bureau, November 2015
This Newsletter is issued
by the Bureau of the
European Speleological
Federation (FSE)
B.P. 3067, L-1030 Luxembourg
Web: www.eurospeleo.eu
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eurospeleo
e-mail: contact@eurospeleo.eu
FSE becomes the first
Associated Speleological
Organisation in the UIS
The Bureau of the Union
Internationale de Sp?l?ologie (UIS)
has decided to accept FSE as an
Associated Speleological
Organisation at its meeting in
Sydney (Australia) on 31. October
? 1. November 2014.
Page 2
.
EuroSpeleo Forum 2015 in Italy (Pertosa-Auletta)
The Austrian Speleological Association
is deeply saddened to
announce the death of our
dearest friend and inspiring
colleague Sabine Zimmerebner.
She was hit by falling rocks
during cave exploration near
Salzburg. The cave rescue
operation, initiated immediately,
could not save her life.
Sabine was a very expierenced
and highly distinguished caver.
Her vigour and infectious
cheerfulness will never be
unforgotten.
The 22nd Italian Congresso Nazionale di
Speleologia, the 10th EuroSpeleo
Forum, open to all European
speleologists, was organized between
30th May to 2nd June 2015 by the
Societ? Speleo-logica Italiana,
Federazione Speleolo-gica Campana,
and Gruppo Speleo Alpinistico Vallo di
Diano. Ittook place both in the scenic
villages of Pertosa and Auletta about
120 km southeast of Naples. The
congress motto was ?Data Sharing?, in
all its aspects, to enable a fruitful
dialogue between scientists, cavers
and institutions as data is the
backbone for decision-making in
territorial planning and environmental
management.
More than 350 speleologists and karst
researchers from 11 European countries
and from China joined the event.
The FSE General Assembly Meeting
(GAM) was held on 30th May in
Auletta.
In August 2016,, the UK will be hosting the 5th
European Speleological Congress in the beautiful
karst region of the Yorkshire Dales national Park in
Northern England. The venue for this event will be the
Dalesbridge Centre a large open site situated near
the pretty villages of Austwick and Clapham. The
Yorkshire Dales is one of the UK?s primary caving
areas with spectacular caves and potholes only a
few kilometres from the event. There are also two
show caves in the locality and the opportunity to
climb the famous ?Three Peaks? of the Yorkshire Dales.
There will be varied and interesting lecture
programme, workshops and training sessions. In the
large trade hall numerous competitions will be held
and entertainment will be provided each evening.
Full catering will be available throughout the week, a
banquet and a well stocked bar serving some of the
area?s most famous mouth watering beers. Camping
will be available at the event as well as bunkhouses,
youth hostels and guest houses all providing
accommodation locally.
For those wanting more than a full week, there will be
pre and post congress gatherings in South Wales, the
Mendips, the Peak District and Ireland where
spectacular caving is on offer. There will also be
opportunities to visit mines in the north of England for
those interested in mine history and archaeology.
November 2015 ? FSE Newsletter ? European Speleological Federation (FSE)
All the major caves close to the venue will be pre-rigged
including Gaping Gill Britain?s deepest day light shaft
that can be easily descended on a specially
constructed mechanical winch. The caving trips are
varied and cover many different grades of difficulty.
Therefore there is something for everyone. Visit the
events web site www.eurospeleo.uk for more
information.
EuroSpeleo 2016
5th European Speleological Congress in the United Kingdom
The newly elected FSE Bureau, Pertosa-Auletta
From left to right: Henk Goutier (Treasurer, NL), Ged Campion (President, UK), Martina Dr?kov?
(new elected General-Sectretary, SK), Michael Laumanns (Vice-President, DE), Ernest Geyer
(Vice-Treasurer, AT), and Jean-Claude Thies (new elected Chairman of the European Cave
Protection Commission ECPC).
On 22nd October B?rbel Vogel, member
of FSE?s ECPC and President of the
German Speleological Federation, as
well as member of the IUCN/WCPA
Caves and Karst Specialist and Geoheritage
Specialist Groups, was unanimously
elected as a member of the
Board of the European Environmental
Bureau (EEB) in Brussels. This unpreceded
success is the result of the long
term efforts of ECPC to contribute to
European environmental legislation and
decision-making. It will allow FSE to
increase its efforts to ensure karst and
cave protection at European level.
Created in 1974, EEB (www.eeb.org) is
Europe's largest accociation of environmental
organisations with 140+ member
federations who gain their membership
from the general public thus representing
15 million European citizen. It acts
as the ears and voice of its members
towards the EU decision makers and
beyond.
EEB works on a vast array of environmental
issues and our policy officers use
experts, scientists, our members, and
politicians to work towards developing
and protecting environmental policies.
Take a look at our Activities section
which explains what we work on and
what we do, and our EEB Work
Programme 2015 for much more detail
on our activities this year.
FSE becomes a board member of the European Environmental
Bureau (EEB)
Some upcoming events
- 6-12 February 2016
17th Symposium of
Vulcanospeleology, Big
Island Hawaii, United
States
- 30 May-6 June 2016
Rupt du Puits 50 years,
Robert Espagne, Meuse,
France
- 13-20 August 2016
5
th European
Speleological Congress:
EuroSpeleo 2016,
Austwick, Yorkshire,
United Kingdom
- 15-16 August 2016
4
th European Protection
Symposium, Austwick,
Yorkshire, United
Kingdom
- 4-11 September 2016
International Speleo
Photo Meeting ESPM
2016, Suncillo, Burgos,
Spain
- 5-9 September 2016
Eurokarst 2016
Conference, Neuch?tel,
Switzerland
- 6-10 March 2017
Congress Hypogea 2017,
Nev?ehir, Cappadocia,
Turkey
- 23-30 July 2017
17th International
Congress of Speleology,
Sidney, Australia
All events,along with
detailed information, can
be found on:
https://www.facebook.co
m/eurospeleo/events?key
=events
Page 3 November 2015 ? FSE Newsletter ? European Speleological Federation (FSE)
The EEB office in Brussels closely coordinates
EU-oriented activities with EEB Members at
national level around Europe. EEB also works
in coalitions, such as the Green 10 and
Spring Alliance, or at a global level through
the Global Policies and Sustainability Unit as
well as in ad-hoc coalitions.
Please send all your
international events
(expedition, congress,
symposium etc.) to
contact@eurospeleo.eu
Page 4 November 2015 ? FSE Newsletter ? European Speleological Federation (FSE)
Caves & Karst - Protection and
Conservation under EU Law Proposal for a EuroSpeleo Rescue Fund
FundFund
With this proposal, made by FSE Vice-President Michael Laumanns at the
last General Assembly in Pertosa-Auletta, FSE intends to follow-up a
promise given to our Spanish colleagues, as well as to the whole
European community of speleologists, after the recent accident of
Cecilio Lopez Sanchez in a 400m deep cave near Chachapoyas, Peru.
More than 100 cavers were involved in the successful rescue of Cecilio.
However, most of the Spanish colleagues who joined the cave rescue
did so at their own expense and an amount of well over 200.000 EUR was
spent from personal resources of the cave rescue team. This was
followed by a European-wide crowdfunding call-up supported by FSE,
which found a tremendous echo amongst European cavers.
However, this support cannot overcome the fact that a general lack of
funds exists for rescue operations in FSE member countries bearing in
mind that currently the best special insurance available for cave
explorers is not offered outside their respective countries or on a PanEuropean
level.
Consequently, a voluntary, self-administered Cave Rescue Solidarity
Fund, gathering all individual European cavers could be a solution to this
apparent funding gap. Each member of the Fund would contribute a
one-time payment to the Fund and, only when the Fund was used up,
would a new payment then be necessary.
Such Fund has existed since 1995 in Germany and was an unexpected
success with currently over ? 40,000 being made available.
The proposal was discussed on the basis of a guideline paper presented
to the FSE Delegates in Auletta-Pertosa. This paper (in English) was
distributed to all FSE member countries and can be requested at any
time from the FSE Bureau.
A number of questions were put forward by delegates related to what
the Fund might possibly cover, whether it might trigger rescue
organisations,so far working for free, to then issue unnecessary bills.
There were also queries related to administrative matters. As the
management of an additional fund with many potential members will
overburden the FSE treasury a different responsible organisation might
be needed. The possible abuse of the Fund was also discussed.
Contributions to the Fund could be adapted to the different economic
situation in member countries.
As a result, the FSE Bureau was tasked to investigate among member
organisations whether a EuroSpeleo Rescue Solidarity Fund would be of
interest and, if this was the case, to pursue the issue and to present a
fine-tuned proposal for further discussion at a later date.
As a result, all European cavers, as well as
speleological organizations representing an FSE
country, are invited to send their views, input and
suggestions regarding the possible creation of a
EuroSpeleo Rescue Fund to the FSE Bureau
(contact@eurospeleo.org).
The 4th EurosSeleo Protection Symposium
(ESPS) will be held on the 15th and 16th of
August, during the 5th European Speleology
Congress 2016 in Great Britain.
As the topic of the Symposium already
indicates, there is Conservation and there is
Preservation and finally there are laws.
How can and should we deal with
protection laws? How could we initiate
protection measures in our caves and on
our karst?
There are a number of best-practices in
cave protection all over Europe that show
how coordinated work between cavers,
scientists, nature protection and especially
authorities can be effective in the field and
also work to the satisfaction of all parties.
These case studies of good practice are
often transferrable to other regions in
Europe. We can learn a lot from such
success stories.
The 4th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium is
dealing with these matters. There is no age
limit when it comes to acting for a good
cause, so we invite you all to take part in this
2-Day symposium on the 15th -16th of
August during the 5th European Caving
congress 2016 in Great Britain.
The 1st circular with all relevant information
can be found at the FSE/ECPC website
http://eurospeleo.eu/en/commissionsen/cave-protection/ecpcactivities/eurospeleo-protectionsymposium.html
or at the congress website
http://www.eurospeleo.uk/about/ecpcsymposium.php
If you have further requests, please get in
contact with us at:
protection@eurospeleo.org
See you all in Great-Britain in 2016
The ESPS organisation team
I regret that the pictures did not turn out.
