Karst caves and abysses are definitely part of our highly polluted environment

Kočevska is recognized by the highest density of karst caves and abysses in Slovenia, during the monitoring in 2015, 1829 caves were registered.

Karst caves and abysses are definitely part of our highly polluted environment. It is estimated that the amount of waste in 90 caves in Kočevska region that are located near settlements and forest roads is from 1.310 to 2.106 m3.

In the years 2016 and 2017 cavers of the Caving Club Novo mesto and the Society for cave expolration Ljubljana carried out cleaning of 7 contaminated caves and removed 165 m3 of waste.

The practice of disposing of waste to karst caves and abysses must be terminated, since this type of act is illegal and criminal.

For further reading please see the article (SI), written by Tina Kotnik.

photo credits: Tina Kotnik