Geopark, Underground Adventure

This splendid book, "Geopark, Escapade Souterraine", is on sale for just 20 €.

This prestigious 160-page book in four languages features glimpses of extraordinary, inaccessible places and the rare and fragile landscapes they contain.

This collection of photographs of the underground realm of the UNESCO Famenne-Ardenne Global Geopark reveals underground caves and quarries that are, by definition, hidden and often unseen except by a very few. Speleologists alone enjoy the privilege of exploring, studying, protecting - and photographing - this vast and lovely underground heritage.

To date, according to the Atlases of Wallonian Karst (Atlas du karst wallon) published by CWEPSS (Wallonian Commission for the Study and Protection of Underground Sites), no fewer than 1,000 karst sites (caves, sinkholes, resurgences and more) have been identified within the Famenne-Ardenne Geopark. The Union Belge de Spéléologie (UBS)relies on its extensive knowledge of these sites to manage the caves, both for their preservation and as an educational resource.

Here is a sample of some of those hidden landscapes that photography allows us to share on an exciting underground adventure.

About the author: a keen caver and active member of the Groupe de Recherches et de Photographie en Spéléologie (GRPS) since the age of 14, Gaëtan Rochez is a cave explorer who searches for new caves and cave systems both in Belgium and abroad. He has worked for over 15 years with the University of Namur Geology Department, guiding, overseeing the safety of and interacting with researchers on their scientific work underground. This book is the distillation of both his passion and his accumulated expertise.

PREFACE :

"Photography has the power to allow us all a glimpse of extraordinary, inaccessible places, and to reveal the rare and fragile landscapes they conceal. This collection of photographs of the underground realm of the UNESCO Famenne-Ardenne Global Geopark was compiled for just this purpose. Underground caves and quarries are, by definition, hidden and often unseen by most of us. To speleologists alone is reserved the privilege of exploring, studying, preserving - and photographing - this underground heritage, so vast and so beautiful. To date, according to the Atlases of Wallonian karst (Atlas du karst wallon) published by CWEPSS, no fewer than 1,002 karst sites (caves, sinkholes, resurgences and more) have been identified within the Famenne-Ardenne Geopark.Here is a sample of some of those hidden landscapes that photography allows us all to share. I hope you will enjoy this underground adventure.”

Gaëtan Rochez -author & photographer