OCHRONA JASKIŃ W ŚWIETLE PRAWA

Samanta Kowalska

doi:10.21697/zp.2026.26.2.05

Published: 2026-06-30

Vol. 26 No. 2 (2026)

Protection of Caves in the Light of the Law

Samanta Kowalska

Zeszyty Prawnicze

Section: Artykuły

https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2026.26.2.05

Abstract

Man’s view of caves has evolved from seeing them as a place of shelter, a place where he could pursue his cosmological ideas, to treating them as a natural formation. Although the work to protect the natural environment has resulted in many national and international legal provisions and treaties, caves remain outside the mainstream of research in legal studies. This article puts forward a claim that caves are a phenomenal form of natural heritage closely connected with the social and cultural aspects of human aﬀairs. Its methodology combines the dogmatic method with a comparative study by referring to the legal regulations current in diﬀerent cultural milieus throughout the world. Recently, the rapidly growing popularity of climbing tourism has put rocks and dripstone formations under a greater threat of destruction. This article stresses the need for more eﬀective forms of protection, with a holistic approach to caves treated as a natural phenomenon, not just as tourist sites or places of interest. Caves are a component of natural history, which is not a closed book but has an eﬀect on the present day, prompting reﬂection on the diversity and multidimensionality of natural phenomena.

Keywords:

environmental law, caves, geological heritage, geodiversity, ecological holism

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Kowalska, S. (2026). Protection of Caves in the Light of the Law. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 26(2), 95–118. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2026.26.2.05

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