Species of animals, millions of years old, could be wiped out by pollution and development in Croatia

"Jana Bedek and her team of bio-speleologists have recently discovered that the underground networks of the Balkans, especially Croatia, have the richest cave fauna in the world. "We are now in the place with the best range of cave animals in the world," she says. "The other countries have their own rich fauna in rainforests, marine ecosystems etc, but here in this area we have cave fauna. Really important at world level." But on a political and economic level, Croatia is emerging from decades of communism, and the devastating Balkan war, with a desire to develop. They are expected to join the EU in two years' time and the government has a queue of road, rail and power projects awaiting approval.One cave known as "Vilina Spila" or Fairy Cave, boasts archaeology alongside its biology. Athenian pottery adorned with the goddess' symbol of an owl can be found amongst broken Roman amphora which litter the floor. It is one of the biggest and most abundant caves in the Balkans, yet it is earmarked for an extraordinary hydro-electric scheme which will store water in the cave itself by sealing much of it with concrete."
 By Tom Heap /BBC News - continue reading /see video