Gift of new books for schoolchildren in the county through the project “Filling School Libraries”

Gift of new books for schoolchildren in the county through the project “Filling School Libraries”

The school libraries in Šibenik-Knin County have received a new volume published by the Public Institute of Krka National Park: the collaborative book Speleological Guide to Krka National Park, written by a number of authors.

The project “Filling School Libraries” was launched in 2007 with the aim of donating books published by the Public Institute of Krka National Park to primary and secondary schools in Šibenik-Knin County to nurture the love and fondness children and youth have towards the Park and nature in general. Education is one of the most important roles of protected areas, and knowledge is the only thing that is multiplied when it is divided. That is why children have long been recognised as the Park’s greatest spokespeople, and those who understand how to protect the environment are an investment in our future.

The book Speleological Guide to Krka National Park presents a cross-section of the speleological and biospeleological research conducted within the Park boundaries from 1956 to 2010.

There are about a hundred caves and pits along the course of the Krka River, with 82 falling within the National Park boundaries. Among them are the cave Miljacka II (longest topographically recorded cave in the Park area), Stara Jametina pit (deepest known pit) and Sedrena špilja iza mlina (tufa cave behind the mill), Oziđana pećina cave and Jazinka cave. To date, about 170 cave taxa have been recorded in the speleological structures in the Park area, many of which are endemic to the Dinarides and to Croatia, while four are stenoendemic, meaning they are found only in Krka National Park.

The underground world of karst is exceptionally rich in rare and protected animal species, and the underground holds about 70 percent of Croatia’s drinking water reserves, making its protection one of our most important tasks. That is why it is up to us together to educate the public about the proper ways to dispose of waste and to avoid disturbing the sensitive cave animals.