THE PROJECTS

Photo FPfp1.
A view of the newly-appeared gravel bank at the base of the entrance shaft of Estavela "Obod".
This appeared as a result of the partial destruction of the estavelle dam at the top of the entrance shaft and the
resultant increase in dynamism of the estavelle's "ponor mode" during the receding intermittent lake of winter 2003-2004.
The gravel bank has now partly obscured the fine karren forms.
(Photo :  B. Lewarne, 13 July 2004.)

The Fatničko Polje Project is one of two sub-Projects feeding information into our Main Project No. 3. in Eastern Herzegovina, as detailed elsewhere on the Society's Website.

The aim of these pages is to describe in some detail the great wealth of individual karst phenomena that lie within the boundaries of the Polje itself, all of which combine in unison to
form the enormous natural hydrodynamic and hydro-regulating system of Fatničko Polje. We shall also seek to describe and demonstrate some of the powerful, natural
karst-environmental forces that are at work in the Polje.

To place this feature into a wider regional context, the Polje at Fatnica is itself but one small part of an even larger karst hydro-system, which dominates most of Eastern Herzegovina.
As such, it is part of the "Middle Horizons" of the Trebišnjica Karst River Catchment.

In connection with the disturbing information detailed in Section 13., we are desperately trying to capture images and information of this amazing karst feature in action, before any
future development permanently destroys its natural functioning. Proposals by the Hidroelektrane na Trebišnjici Co. to drive tunnels from the polje to its Bileća Hydro-electric
Reservoir and Dam, will totally hydro-meliorate the polje floor, with the result that there will be no future periodic flooding of this feature. This will have a major impact on the Fatnica
Karst Polje Ecosystem and the habitat of Proteus anguinus.

Many of the images and some of the information in this Section have been obtained in partnership with our colleagues, the President and Members of the Speleološko Društvo
"Zelena Brda" / Спелеолошко Друштво "Зелена Брда"/ "Zelena Brda" Speleological Society, of Trebinje, whom we would like to thank for their keen on-going interest and
co-operation. This fine Speleological Organization is set to contribute even more of the information necessary to complete the basic framework of the Fatničko Polje Webpages.

You can visit the Website of "Zelena Brda" Speleological Society by clicking on the dedicated Link below in the left-side column.
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We can also give an insight for the confirmed long-term future of this part of the Society's website. We have decided that the Fatničko Polje webpages in particular will remain as a permanent information reference feature within the Society's overall Website Content and Structure. However, please remember to use the Fatničko Polje Webpages in conjunction with the webpages for the Society's Main Project No. 3. in Bosnia & Herzegovina, where some of the broader-based Project control information has now been more logically relocated.

The Fatničko Polje Webpages are arranged in distinct Sections to help with navigation around the information. The INDEX page indicates the general Contents of each Section.
We suggest that you click on the INDEX page Link at the bottom of this page, before proceeding into the main Sections. The INDEX page provides its own Links to each and every Section of the Fatničko Polje Webpages.
A further insight into the Website Development Programme can always be gained by viewing the DKRS Website Main Directory, where the introduction of new but unpublished pages are always posted during the pre-publication stages of text preparation. A Link to the Main Directory is also provided at the bottom of this page. We have now activated the Link in Section 2. for the Link Page to Dejanova Pećina. This page is incomplete and we are periodically adding more paragraphs of text over the coming months. 

We hope that you will find the Fatničko Polje Section of the Society's Website to be educational, interesting and at times, even entertaining. We hope you will enjoy what you find.
Please remember that as part of an interactive developing Website, the Fatničko Polje Webpages are also continually under revision. In this connection, we have recently and permanently removed one complete page and vigorously edited another, in order to comply with the overriding principles of hypogean habitat protection contained in the Governing Statements of the Main Project.

We will always try to maintain a certain level of read-stability by retaining the existing Site Structure and system of Site Navigation.

Established in 1972., this is the oldest surviving active Speleological Society in Eastern Herzegovina.

So, dedicated webpages for Dabarsko Polje, Cerničko Polje, Gatačko Polje, Slato Polje and other areas are now in the very early stages of construction within a new part of the Root Directory of this Website. Substantial progress has been made with text preparation for some parts of this and we have now begun to web-publish information.

The information in this new part of the Society's Website will have no direct connection with the Society's active projects undertaken in BiH.

.....INDEX page of Sections for Sub-Project No. 2. "Fatničko Polje"

.....Practical Notes
.....(Giving extensive construction details about this Website and hints about how to improve your readability of our Webpages.)

and the following are Links to the Society's other two current Projects in Bosnia & Herzegovina :-

.....BiH Sub-Project No. 1.  "Dobromani Ponor Mills"

.....BiH Main Project No. 3.  "Proteus Project"

and other useful Links on this Website :-

.....The Devon Karst Research Society Home Page

.....DKRS Website Main Directory / Contents Page
.....(The Root Directory of the complete Website.)

.....Karstography of the Dinaric Karst in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

.....Specialised Karst Tours in the Classical Dinaric Karst of Eastern Herzegovina.
.....(Not yet Active.)
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