András Rácz: the government has spent about one and a half billion forints on the preservation of caves in the past decade

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 02. 27. 09:10

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The government has spent around one and a half billion forints on the preservation of caves in Hungary over the past decade, said the State Secretary for Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Agriculture (AM) at the opening event of the initiative Let’s Cave! – March is the Month of Caves in Aggtelek on Thursday.

András Rácz said that hiking trails have been built, the stability of caves has been improved and bat-friendly access has been made possible. He added that interventions have been made in one hundred and sixty caves and fifteen artificial cavities in the past ten years. He highlighted that in addition to preserving caves, the government has also created three visitor centers with almost four billion forints: the Bat Museum in Abaliget, the visitor center built in front of the Lóczy Cave, and the Szeleta Park Visitor Center on the outskirts of Miskolc.

The State Secretary said that according to the national cave registry, there are about 4,200 caves in Hungary, with a total length of 300 kilometers. Five of the ten Hungarian national park directorates – the Duna-Ipoly, Duna-Dráva, Balaton-felvidéki, Bükki and Aggtelek National Parks – have caves.

He said that there are thirty caves in Hungary that are used for tourism and can be visited safely. In these places, the directorates offer programs ranging from stroller and wheelchair hiking to “adventure hiking”, noted András Rácz.

He said that the directorates of the national parks are gradually and continuously developing their tourist and ecotourism offerings. According to the State Secretary, there is an increasing demand for this in Hungary, since – as he said – the ways of relaxing are changing and active tourism is becoming increasingly popular.

András Rácz explained that the ten Hungarian national parks are visited by almost 1.6 million registered visitors each year. A third of these guests, or about five hundred thousand people, bought tickets for one of the cave programs, he said.

The State Secretary highlighted that the March Cave Month event is being organized for the eleventh time. During the initiative, all caves used for tourism will be opened to the public, where they will be welcomed with discounted, previously unadvertised tours.