To monitor the health status of
Proteus anguinus, the famous blind amphibian living in the cave
waters of the Dinaric Alps, a valuable source of fresh
underground water for a large basin shared by Italy, Slovenia,
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. This is one of the
main goals of the fifth international meeting 'SOSProteus,' to
be held on Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8, in
Kranj, Slovenia. This year's meeting, titled 'Proteus and its
habitat in karst groundwater: research methods and data to
assess its conservation status,' is also important because it
will elaborate and discuss the proposal for the establishment of
the International Day of Caves and Karst at UNESCO.
Participants at the conference will come from all parts of
Europe (Slovenia, Italy, France, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, the
United Kingdom, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Germany), and
research contributions will be preceded by an introductory note
by Nicola Bressi, of the Trieste Civic Museum of Natural
History, investigating what remains to be discovered about the
Proteus. It will then discuss its habitat, from the shallow
waters of resurgences to those of the underground karst aquifer,
and then address the problem of microplastics and other sources
of pollution, particularly in the distribution area of the Black
Proteus (Proteus parkelj). The The conference will be held under
the honorary patronage of the President of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Slovenia, Urška Klakočar Zupančič.
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