Part 3-Restoration: Hildreth-Werker-Do No Harm 329 Section C-Restoring Cave Passages

Do No Harm Val Hildreth-Werker

Primum non nocere. First, do no harm.

All-important in cave restoration is the notion of leaving things better than we found them-while avoiding new harm to biota, habitat, or other cave resources. When considering a project-assess, plan, and avoid creating new problems. Thoroughly evaluate the restoration tasks. Carefully design the workload and crew assignments. Conscientiously avoid causing new restoration dilemmas in the cave passages. When the project is complete, clean up any leftover mess. These are simple, universal precepts. Can we actually achieve no harm when we're in a cave sopping, scrub- Many cave bing, scraping, and disrupting the microcosm? resources are The words, no harm, have a meaningful and memorable ring. It is a lofty, nonrenewable or idealistic objective. irreplaceable. Some The potential of causing no new harm is relative to the damage that has cave species and already been done, the number of visitors that have already tromped through, the fragility or durability of the resources, and the historical some speleothems stewardship of a passage. Previous anthropogenic alterations within a cave are fragile. will influence restoration goals and no harm objectives. Project planning Subterranean includes defining what natural or historical period to target restoration ecosystems, along a continuum of ecosystems, anthropological impacts, and aesthetics. sometimes hanging Many cave values are nonrenewable or irreplaceable. Some cave species and some speleothems are fragile. Subterranean ecosystems, sometimes in delicate balance, hanging in delicate balance, may be easily disturbed. Cultural materials may be easily may be forever lost. Harm happens regardless of our best conservation- disturbed. directed intentions. In many cave systems, no harm is literally impossible if humans enter. More realistically, we strive to minimize our harm-and we should recognize that whatever we do in a cave may damage the resources in some way we have not yet anticipated. In caves, causing no new harm may sometimes mean doing nothing to remediate horrible impacts. Other times, we decide to attempt restoration with sincere and well-considered efforts toward minimizing new damage to cave values. With our inadequacies acknowledged, maybe we should choose an axiom like minimize harm, but instead we use the admonition do no harm. It is a strong statement-it reminds us to reach for the depths of ideal caving ethics and informed restoration decisions.

Cave safe(v ... restore softly ... and do no harm. 330 Cave Conservation and Restoration