The Institute of Speleological Research of Greece urges all speleologists to contribute to documenting the stresses placed on the deteriorating caves of Greece.
This record will serve as a primary resource for evaluating the situation and developing standards that will support the endeavours of the speleological community and other stakeholders in rescuing and conserving our subterranean natural heritage.
INSPEE participates in the “Wildlife Alliance” program, an initiative funded by WWF Greece, that promotes the protection of the emblematic species of Greece.
The action of INSPEE in this program is entitled: “Conservation of cave-dwelling bats and underground ecosystems in Greece”.
Following the official presentation at the 24th International Conference on Subterranean Biology, the Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research launched an online data infrastructure which provides information on the taxonomy, distribution, conservation status, and referenced literature for all non-marine cavernicolous animal species in Greece. Furthermore, it provides information on the geography, the protection status and the fauna of each cave, as well as the referenced literature.
The Cave Fauna of Greece database (https://database.inspee.gr/), was developed within the framework of the project “Conservation of the Cave Fauna of Greece” funded by MAVA foundation and WWF Greece aiming to serve as a reference for several user-groups: Research scientists, policy and decision-makers, the nature conservation community, the education community, and citizen scientists. It was developed and launched to serve as a basic tool for research and conservation policies of cave species and caves in Greece.
The database currently holds data on 973 species and 777 caves from all 14 administrative regions of Greece. It also holds 100 taxa identified to generic level but these are visible only in the species lists of each cave. The census includes a total number of 2,573 records.
For each species, the following information is provided: scientific name and authorship; a map displaying the cave(s) location(s) recorded; higher taxonomy; distribution; distribution in caves of Greece; conservation status; protection status; links to IUCN red list, Fauna Europea , GBIF & NCBI; species literature references. Species synonyms are only exceptionally provided as the user can see them at the linked databases.
For each cave, the following information is available: The Greek name of the cave in Latin characters using the Greek – ISO 843 transliteration system; a map displaying the location; the cave name(s) used in literature; the closest settlement in the context of the 1/1/2011 administrative system established in Greece (Kallikratis reform, Greek Law 3852/2010); brief comments; the protection status; referenced species list; cave literature references and species literature references.
Any feedback on the content and usability of the database would be highly appreciated. Suggestions for improvements are also very welcome. Please contact CFG coordinator and editor, Kaloust Paragamian
Two more speleobiology seminars were organised at Thessaloniki (March 23-25, 2018), expanding our caver’s network to northern Greece. In total, 16 speleologists from 3 clubs (Thessaloniki Caving Club – PROTEAS, Speleological Group of Kavala and HSS – Northern Greece) participated. Presentations and indoors exercises included an overview on the biodiversity conservation needs of the caves of Creece and animal taxa identification. Field exercises were carried out in caves near Naoussa. Furthermore, a large amount of rubbish (mainly plastic) was removed from the cave “Apano Skala” in Naoussa. We are grateful to the School of Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Professor Evangelia Tsoukala for the concession of the lecture hall.
