Speleologists of the NSU Ecoclub have returned fr om the Altay cave Tut-Kush. An underground community work lasted a week. During it, young people have made an environmental campaign in the cave to collect garbage.
The Environmental Сave Protection Program started in the NSU Ecoclub in 2016. The cave Tut-Kush became the first and the primary object of the programб, so far. It is located 40 km fr om Gorno-Altaisk and considered as one of the largest and most beautiful caves in Altai. It is very popular with tourists. That's why cave had of a lot of garbage in it.
The Tutkushskaya Cave (in other words: Tutkushinskaya, Tutkush, Tut-Kush) is located in the Republic of Altai, Iolgo Ridge, Kulyum karst area, a few kilometers fr om the village Urluuspak. Depth -200 m, the length of the passages - 1400 m, category 2B. It is known to speleologists since 1985. It is a natural monument of the Altai Republic.
For several days, participants collected garbage in different parts of the cave, including a rotten staircase at the entrance, which had to be cut to pieces. They slept in tents on the surface.
Then, as it was planned, most of the group went home, and the organizers - NSU Ecoclub had started the second stage of the action. In the cave were the first-year student of the MMF NSU Artem Golovin, a member of the mountain tourism section of NSU Ivan Ryabchenko and the president of the Ecoclub Alexei Maslov.
Their camp, a yellow tent-cube, the participants have placed right in the cave, under the ground. In winter it feels much warmer there than on the surface. The next four days the participants were in the cave.
— We continued to collect garbage, packaging it. Preparing the winter action, we planned to clean the distant hard-to-reach parts of the cave, wh ere it 's hard to get in the summer since there is water, — says Alexei Maslov.
The participants are more than satisfied with their work. They have collected a huge number of batteries, wrappers from sweets, snickers, packages from chips, bottles, cigarette butts. One group of «tourists» has been throwing on the floor of the cave for a year, while the other group, apparently embarrassed, carefully covered the garbage with stones or hid it in the cracks. Participants have also found several surprising findings, for example, uncovered canned food and the untouched Snickers.
— We have removed almost all the garbage in the far parts of the cave. We only left that one, which is impossible to reach and which also was specially tamped into narrow cracks, wh ere you cannot even put your hand. We have removed all visible garbage,— says Artem Golovin.
For the whole time of the action, we, together with the participants of the first stage, have collected about a hundredweight of garbage — 10 sacks total. Now they are neatly folded by the entrance of the cave, wh ere personal things are usually being left. In the same place, we left empty bags as an appeal to everyone who wants to take part in cleaning the cave. We want people to take out the garbage and transport it to dumps gradually, — says Alexei Maslov.
Taking out the trash from the cave, and even in winter, is not the easiest task. No wonder, why the cave's name translates as «trap for birds». From the outside, it looks exactly like it - a deep dip in the Earth, and that's cave entrance. The first vertical descent is about 20 meters, and it is impossible to move here without carbines and ropes here. Try to pull 100 kg out of this well!
However, the participants of the speleological program do not rely on the consciousness of tourists. In the summer of 2017, the Ecoclub of the NSU plans to hold another action in the Tutkush cave, during which all collected garbage will be taken out. Organizers expect to arrange a massive summer cleaning of the entrance to the cave, which will finally make the cave look decent.
— Even after the cave is completely cleaned of debris, this natural cavity will no longer be pristine. Every tourist visit harms the cave, and we urge all visitors not to leave garbage, not to take hands for filigree formations and do not break them, do not lay new paths, do not disturb bats, and try to minimize damage to the cave, — says Maslov.
