Have you ever heard of Speleology? This peculiar word names the science that studies caves, grottos and other types of natural underground cavities. The term comes from the Latin spelaeum and the Greek spélaion, which translate to cave or pit.

According to the scientific journal Nature, Ecology and Evolution, Brazil is the world leader in  potential for identifying new species in its natural cavities. Currently, there are 25,522 cataloged caves in the country, according to the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cavernas (Cecav) [National Center for Cave Research and Conservation], linked to the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) [Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation]. However, the potential for discoveries of new caves is much greater.

Therefore, in addition to ensuring the conservation of Brazil's speleological heritage, researchers from Cecav have drawn up a map of the potential occurrence of caves in Brazil. The largest number of sites with high potential are concentrated in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte, but there are also areas in the Amazon with great chances of new discoveries.

According to geographer Abraão Levi Mascarenhas, Professor at the Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará (Unifesspa) [Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará], there are 4,603 cataloged caves within the Brazilian Amazon. The state of Pará stands out in the area, sheltering more than half of the cavities already mapped: 2,862, according to 2022 data from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]. The state has some main areas of caves concentration: the speleological provinces of Carajás; the Serra das Andorinhas State Park, in São Geraldo do Araguaia; Altamira-Itaituba; and the region of Santarém and other municipalities in the northwestern area of Pará and northeastern area of Amazonas.

PROBABILITY

It is precisely in the last two regions mentioned that the greatest probability of finding new caves is concentrated, according to the map prepared by Cecav. And it was in one of these regions that geographer Luciana Freire, a professor at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), conducted the studies for her doctoral thesis. The study presented an environmental planning proposal for the speleological province of Altamira-Itaituba, aiming to ensure the geoconservation of the speleological heritage of this region of the Amazon, as well as to propose the encouragement of geotourism in the caves.

Cavities preserve the history of the region

The study led by researcher Luciana Freire observed that some caves in the region are being used inappropriately, putting the preservation of the sites at risk. “When I talk about inappropriate exploitation, I mean that, due to visitations, we find points of degradation, such as, for example, the diversion of their underground waters, which are often the sources of rivers and streams. In addition, there are walls with graffiti, creating flaws in the rocks”, points out the geographer.

According to Resolution 347/2004 of the National Environmental Council, natural underground cavities are considered national speleological heritage and, therefore, places of environmental protection. “They preserve both biotic and abiotic elements, of specific beauty, but also related to cultural history itself, because they have archaeological records that provide information about how man lived in the distant past. They also preserve specific types of rocks and life, such as insects, arachnids and bats. In them, there are several types of species that we do not know about and that have yet to be recorded, such as the new species that were cataloged during the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant”, says Luciana Freire.

PRESERVATION

That is why, according to the professor, it is so important to preserve and study these unique places. “In them, we have shapes and rocks that are completely different from what we find in the external environment, in open-air areas, because these are environments without light. By studying speleology, we can understand a little about the importance of these caves and even value them and make them known, especially in the Amazon region, since few people know about their existence”, emphasizes the geographer. According to Luciana Freire, the environment without light produces a very specific biodiversity. “There is a branch of biology, called biospeleology, that studies the types of life that develop in caves. They are unique life forms, which may even contain cures for diseases,” she suggests.

Researchers study Amazonian geodiversity

According to Abraão Levi, from Unifesspa, the cave research field in the Amazon is very promising. “Today, there is a lot of talk about biodiversity, but little is said about geodiversity, about the importance of the geomorphological heritage for understanding this great Amazon. It is a very promising scenario for geosciences”, says the professor.

The professor is part of a group of researchers from Unifesspa who have been studying the caves in Southeastern Pará. “In partnership with the Marabá Speleology Group and the Fundação Casa de Cultura de Marabá  [Marabá Cultural Center Foundation], we have made significant efforts to study and protect these caves”, he reports.

Luciana, from Ceará, has also envisaged this potential when she chose the Altamira-Itaituba speleological province as her study locus. “When I arrived here in Pará, I was somewhat amazed by the state’s speleological wealth, and even more so by the fact that the caves are different from the best-known ones in the country. Most of the caves we know are formed in limestone rocks. In Pará, however, these are caves that are closely associated with sandstone and iron rocks, especially in the Carajás region”, she explains.

Serra das Andorinhas stands out in tourism

In Pará, the largest concentration of recorded and studied caves is located in the region of Carajás and  São Geraldo do Araguaia, on the border with Tocantins, a transition area between the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. The municipality is home to a complex of two conservation units: the Serra dos Martírios/Andorinhas State Park (Pesam) and the São Geraldo do Araguaia Environmental Protection Area (APA Araguaia).

In both units, 398 cavities have been recorded, including caves, grottos and shelters. “Of these, 64 are in the APA Araguaia and the rest are inside the park. And São Geraldo do Araguaia is one of the ten municipalities in Brazil with the largest number of caves,” says Wagner Bastos, a biologist at the Instituto de Desenvolvimento Florestal e da Biodiversidade (Ideflor-Bio) [Institute for Forestry Development and Biodiversity], the state agency that manages the units.

The specialist explains that the caves in the units are home to great biodiversity. “Since we have this intermixture where the Cerrado meets the Amazon rainforest, the biodiversity is incredible, in the Serra das Andorinhas as a whole, and in the caves, it is not different. We have ten species of bats that are endemic to these caves, that is, they only occur in these spaces and nowhere else in the world”, the biologist points out. “In addition, there is a carnivorous species that inhabits these caves, which is one of the largest bats in the Americas, with a wingspan of one meter, from the tip of one wing to the other”, he adds.

Wagner Bastos points out that the largest and best-known cave in the region is the Serra das Andorinhas Cave. “It has approximately one kilometer of gallery, which you can walk through. You can cross it from one point to the other: you arrive by passing through an area with closed and preserved Amazon rainforest, enter the cave, cross it and, when you come out on the other side, it is already a very typical area of the cerrado, with more open vegetation, lots of grass and few trees”, he explains.

TOURISM

Due to all these particularities, the Serra das Andorinhas Cave is the most popular in the region and receives many visitors: in addition to researchers interested in the geodiversity and biodiversity of the area, there are tourists who take tours around the two conservation units.

“We create trails to visit the caves, with smaller groups of no more than ten people. The idea is also to share a little knowledge, to bring people to learn about this world of speleology, to understand how the biodiversity that exists there works and how we should protect and preserve these spaces”, says Wagner Bastos. The tourist routes are carried out by trail guides trained by Ideflor-Bio in partnership with the a Secretaria de Estado de Turismo (Setur) [State Department of Tourism].

One of the tourists who visited  Serra das Andorinhas Cave was the physical educator Wesley Botelho, from Araguaína, in Tocantins. Used to hiking in nature, he says that the tour in Serra das Andorinhas was his first experience in caves, which led him to explore other cavities in other regions.

“I enjoyed the experience in São Geraldo do Araguaia and, when I went to Palmas, I also visited other caves, as well as the one in Chapada Diamantina, in Bahia. I plan to visit other parts of Brazil, but I still want to go back to São Geraldo to explore new caves that I haven’t visited yet,” he says. “The São Geraldo cave has large rooms and a flat floor, which makes it easier to visit. However, the diversity of fauna shows that tourism arrangements should be sustainable,” says the tourist, who is already aware of the need to preserve the Amazon’s speleological heritage.

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The production of Liberal Amazon is one of the initiatives of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Liberal Group and the Federal University of Pará. The articles involving research from UFPA are revised by professionals from the academy. The translation of the content is also provided by the agreement, through the research project ET-Multi: Translation Studies: multifaces and multisemiotics.