Stolen Stalactites

At first glance, stalactite theft perhaps doesn’t seem like an environment or sustainability issue. Involving formations that remain motionless for thousands, sometimes millions of years, it's certainly not a poster child for conservation. But it is nonetheless worth considering and taking action against.

In the depth of Chom Ong, a 16.4km-long cave in the northeast of Laos whose name means ‘chasing the wasp’, Mr Shengshoulixai starts slapping the palms of his hands against a million-year-old overhanging white limestone curtain. He beats a rhythm on the differently-tuned stalactites, whose bass reverberates through the darkness.

Mr Shengshoulixai knows and loves the cave like his own home. He is keen to show me around even though I have just shown up unannounced and already weary from the 18km hike to get there. It is so remote, very few tourists make it – unless they are shuttled there in a 4WD by special spelunking tour agencies. The nearest town, Oudomxay, is an industrial dystopia.

The cave was ‘discovered’ only in 2006, and opened to the public in 2010. It was actually discovered by local farmers many generations ago, but for some reason these things are only truly considered ‘discovered’ when Western scientists show up to measure them and draw pictures. As we clamber over the slippery stalagmites, Mr Shengshoulixai points out the demarcations where the local tourism office is planning to set up a trail. ‘Good thing you came here before 2020,’ he tells me, ‘by then this place will be full of tourists!’

He is hopeful about this. The adjoining Khmu village where he lives is very basic, with bucket showers and no electricity. Daily dinner is sticky rice and the local staple, bamboo shoot, with some zesty chilli (frog is also a specialty). Obviously, the more visitors, the more income he will make for his family. He’s looking for connections and investors in his plans for an eco-resort in the vicinity, but he only wants to partner with Westerners, despite a strong Chinese presence and interest in the area’s development.

He says that Chinese people do come here, but that they are not interested in exploring the cave like the Europeans are. They want to buy his land and build hotels. Sometimes they even try to break into the cave without paying him for his guidance services, which isn’t permitted. He shakes his head when he talks about the stalactite thefts.

A few years back, some individuals broke into the cave and hacked off pieces of stalactite, perhaps with some kind of saw or club. The evidence of this is clearly visible—the normally rounded ends of the ‘tites have sharp cornered edges where they have been broken clean off. A formation of several thousands, maybe millions of years old, severed in an instant.

Mr S. knows it was the Chinese. He is aware that there is some kind of stalactite trade in China, which I’m initially dubious about. But then I recall the many stalactites I have seen in souvenir markets in the southeast of China being sold as mantelpiece ornaments. Why would anyone steal bits of cave? I hadn’t realised that was even a thing.

Market in Guilin, south China

Much less work has been done on the ethics of trade of geological heritage compared to biodiversity. China is notorious for breaching international trade rules on ivory and other endangered and non-endangered species, but there’s so little information on the scale or causes of mineral trafficking, and effects this pillage has on communities like Mr S’s.

While perhaps this doesn’t at first glance seem to have a tangible impact on the natural environment (it is unknown what ecosystem purposes stalactites might serve, if any), as a slap in the face to the beauty of the planet and its diverse habitats, as well as an affront to the people that try to protect them, these activities should be up there with illicit trade and theft of biological organisms.

Mr S has had to put a giant padlock on the gate of the cave mouth, to stop anything like this happening again. If it were to continue, it could ruin not only the cave and its formations that visitors come from all over the world to marvel at, but also his livelihood. He hopes that further development, under the watchful eye of the authorities and in partnership with environmentally-aware investors, will bring enough attention to the threat Chom Ong is under and grant him more capacity for protecting it. For now, only he holds the key.