Cave Taping and Conservation.

[cap n chris]

@Leclused .... I was going to use the paint vandalism photograph in my earlier reply but didn't want to copy it and put it into my Flickr account for linking here without permission. Otherwise I would have done! 

Yes, it's a great presentation by SCAvalon and one which I have on my computer for showing to others - an excellent resource, for which many thanks.

 

[Pegasus]

I think it has been well established that red/white barrier tape is god awful stuff, that not only looks bloody horrible, but also the red dye from the plastic leaches out and can stain formations red.

Has it been well established??  I've seen too much of the awful, awful stuff in caves and couldn't agree with you more on how bloody horrible it looks.

 

[cavermark]

In some cases it delaminates leaving red and white flakes everywhere too - I guess it was easy to get hold of so plenty was used before people realized the problem..

 

[Kenilworth]

However, it does work. Often very well.

With parallel universe theory this is easily proven; it cannot be proven beyond doubt any other way though sadly. We do have caves adjacent to each other where one is actively managed and the other is free access; the FA ones are in a sorry state, the AM ones are near-pristine. Not absolute proof, but pretty darn close.

AM usually involves gating and warden leadership too; this, combined with taping, is presently the undeniably effectively best method of conserving sites for the long term while simultaneously allowing visits (many decades of effectiveness at some sites, which would otherwise be wholesale trashed by now if not).

What does NOT work is trusting visitors to be conservation-minded. Certainly in the UK this is a fool's paradise. Perhaps elsewhere too. It only takes one person a single trip to destroy a cave.

I wonder how much of the preservation is a result of taping and how much a result of the rest of the active management; gating, wardenship, etc.? Has taping been shown to make a difference in caves where it is the only measure taken?

Indeed, trusting visitors to be careful does not work. I don't think trusting them to respect the bounds of a taped path is realistic either. I suppose the only thing that really works is to keep people out unless they are known to be responsible or can be monitored.

Points made about population density relative to caves in the UK are well taken.

I suppose that my objections to flagging are really my way of mourning the disrespectful attitudes that make it necessary, and the little-minded motivations that lead people to place it unnecessarily. Most of the examples I've seen seem to have sprung from thoughts like these: "There's something pretty, we're supposed to put tape all over it, right?"
"For goodness sake yes! We must protect it!"

 

[Peter Burgess]

There are places where gating was already in place, but taping was deemed necessary as a later measure, to stop further deterioration.