Balcarka Cave - Protection and research
CONSERVATION, RESEARCH AND USE OF THE CAVE
In 1956 the Moravian Karst was declared a protected landscape area and in 1998 Balcar’s Rock – Vintoky was declared a natural reservation area. All surface and underground karst phenomena, their biotic and abiotic components, are thus strictly protected according to Act No. 114/92 Coll., on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection.
Since 1991 the caves are in the direct administration and care of the state agency for nature conservation. According to the strict operational regime subordinated to cave conservation conditions and limiting both the number and frequency of visitors, the Balcarka Cave is now used for the public, field trips and research.
The underground spaces with unique and unrepeatable decoration of stalactites and stalagmites are also an important biotope of six protected species of bat. At present continuous microclimatic monitoring, especially for better understanding of karst processes, is performed in the cave. Speleological research is focused on related underground systems of active ponors of the Lopač Brook and paleoponors of Vintoky. This is how several hundreds of metres of new caves, created by the Ostrov waters on their unknown several-kilometre-long journey to Malý výtok (Little Discharge) in the Pustý žleb Valley, have been discovered in recent years.