The International Year of Caves and Karst is organized by the International Union of Speleology (UIS) to celebrate caves and karst internationally and teach the world about their importance. On Monday, 13 September 2021, we celebrated the International Year at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Many governmental ambassadors and influential people were at the meeting in Paris. We asked for three specific things (in additional to their general support in their countries):
1) Encouraged UNESCO to develop inventories of all caves, karst features, and theircontents in UNESCO protected areas.
2) Suggested that UNESCO evaluate protected areas for adequacy of cave andkarst protection, and expand protection as needed.
3) Invited UNESCO to join the UIS to develop an international ban in the trade ofcave materials (speleothems, animals, sediments, and rocks).
The first two requests apply to everyone who manages and protects cave and karst lands, not just UNESCO protected areas. The third request is a new initiative of the UIS. We are seek partners to help us develop the exact text of an international ban and partners to promote and have it broadly accepted.
Overall, the celebration at UNESCO was important and a major accomplishment, but now the real work starts. We must turn that meeting into tangible results for caves and karst. We are following up with UNESCO officials and will continue to need your support.
To watch the celebration and all International Year videos, go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzSiErLj5x6viNbvAdehDvA. For more information about the International Year, visit the website (www.iyck2021.org).
Also like us at the UIS Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/uisspeleo), UIS Twitter account (https://twitter.com/uisspeleo), and/or the UIS Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/uisspeleo/).
We welcome your organization to join our 243 International Year partners (http://iyck2021.org/index.php/partners/) and to announce your International Year events and activities at http://iyck2021.org/index.php/events/.
George Veni
President, International Union of Speleology